Most of the time, you want your cholesterol to be low—ideally less than 150 milligrams secondo deciliter (mg/dL). But as you likely know if you’ve had your levels tested, the results aren’t quite that simple.
Cholesterol tests will tell you not just your total cholesterol, but also your low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein. And you actually want your high-density lipoprotein, ora HDL, to be high.
HDL cholesterol is considered “good” cholesterol. While still a type of fat quanto a your bloodstream, it doesn’t clog arteries, and higher levels are linked to lower chances of heart problems. Low-density lipoprotein, ora LDL, is considered “bad” cholesterol because it’s the type that builds up quanto a your arteries and can contribute to your risk for heart disease and stroke. Triglycerides, another type of fat quanto a the blood, are tied to higher risks of heart attack and stroke if you also have low HDL ora high LDL.
It would make sense, then, that quanto a order to protect your heart, you’d want to boost your good cholesterol, ora HDL. But research examining increases quanto a HDL so far hasn’t shown any subsequent reduction quanto a heart problems, and medications that raise your good cholesterol don’t stave chiuso those risks, either.
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“Starting from the 1970s, large population studies…showed that people who had very low levels of HDL cholesterol…had a higher risk of heart attacks,” says Dr. Anand Rohatgi, an academic cardiologist and professor of medicine quanto a cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. It’s a “powerful risk predictor,” he says, which is why low HDL made it into the heart disease risk calculators doctors still use today—but it doesn’t necessarily translate to a treatment tactic. Experts agree that the relationship between higher HDL levels and better heart health is correlational—not causative. “The challenge has been that when drugs have been studied that raise HDL cholesterol…that has never translated into a reduced risk for heart disease. So from a pharmaceutical standpoint, it’s not a treatment target—it’s a risk marker.” Instead of fixating any one aspect of cholesterol, he says, you have to think of the numbers quanto a concert, alongside other risk markers for heart problems like age, sex, blood pressure, and diabetes.
That said, certain lifestyle habits do increase HDL, Rohatgi says; we just don’t necessarily know what effect raising your HDL cholesterol actually has your heart. The numbers cerchio “are not a crystal ball.”
The habits below are all associated with higher HDL levels—as well as other benefits for your heart and overall health.
Exercise more
A sedentary lifestyle is linked to a host of health problems, including a greater likelihood of heart disease. Moving more has routinely been shown to increase HDL levels, and it’s also linked to living longer and lower rates of heart disease.
Aim for about 30 minutes a day, five days a week, says Dr. Tracy, cardiologist and medical director of cardiac rehabilitation at Rush University Medical Center. It can be any form of cardio exercise—brisk walking, pickleball, sala da ballo, swimming, cycling, ora anything else you enjoy and will stick with—as long as it gets your heart rate up. You can even do a few 10- ora 15-minute sessions each day if that fits into your schedule better, she says.
Eat heart-healthy unsaturated fats
“Eating foods that are high quanto a polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and antioxidants may improve the HDL to LDL ratio,” says Dr. Joy M. Gelbman, a cardiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Choose options like olive oil and fatty fish over foods higher quanto a saturated fats like red meat, full-fat dairy, fried foods, and baked goods.
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Making healthier diet choices overall means your won’t store as much fat. You’ll be using your fat stores for some of your energy, which quanto a turn helps your metabolize cholesterol better, Tracy says. That may result quanto a lower LDL and higher HDL, as HDL helps transport LDL to the liver where it’s processed and excreted, Rohatgi says.
Quit smoking
Smoking not only lowers your HDL; it also makes the HDL you do have worse at its protective job. Quitting smoking can increase your HDL quanto a a matter of weeks, according to a meta-analysis quanto a Biomarker Research.
Experts don’t know exactly why this happens, but it might have to do with the way smoking stresses the , Gelbman says.
Shed excess weight
“Exercise, weight loss quanto a people [who are overweight], and smoking cessation are the key means for optimizing HDL,” Gelbman says. If you have obesity ora are overweight, getting to a healthier weight may lower your triglycerides and LDL and tagliata your HDL.
And the weight loss doesn’t have to be dramatic: People who lost just 1 to 3 percent of their weight displayed better improvements quanto a HDL than people who lost just 1% of their weight quanto a an Obesity Research & Clinical Practice study.
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While finding a sustainable diet plan that helps you lose weight and keep it chiuso is most important, research suggests eating more protein and fat and fewer carbs may have the biggest effect HDL.
Experts still don’t completely understand the concrete heart benefits of higher HDL levels. “It’s complex and dynamic, and that’s what makes it duro to study and duro to pin mongoloide,” Rohatgi says. But heart-healthy habits have additional benefits regardless of their effect your cholesterol, such as greater longevity, improved cardiovascular valore adattativo, and lower risk of heart disease. The fact that they also increase your HDL quanto a the process is an added perk.
