We have no control over our family history and the medical conditions that we inherit but we can make lifestyle changes that can potentially reduce or prevent high cholesterol. Eliminating unhealthy foods from your diet and adding healthy ones to your eating routines can help treat high cholesterol. Physical activity can also help.

Here are some of the things you can try to treat or lower your risk of high cholesterol. The first two have to do with your diet. First, Eat a low fat, high fiber diet that contains foods that lower cholesterol. Also, Avoid binge drinking alcohol.

Quit smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Maintain a healthy weight.

Exercise regularly.

Some people believe that specific herbal supplements can also help lower cholesterols. If you are interested in this, then you may want to do further research on the following supplements:

• Garlic
• Psyllium
• Plant Sterol
• Hawthorn
• Red yeast rice
• Flaxseed

If you have high cholesterol your doctor may want to prescribe you medication for your condition. The most common medicines for high cholesterol are called statins.

Statins decrease the levels of cholesterol in your blood by blocking your liver from producing more cholesterol. They do this by preventing your body from producing HMG-CoA reductase, the enzyme that your liver needs to make cholesterol. Statins can also help your body absorb cholesterol that has already built up in your arteries.

Here are some common statins:

• Zocor / simvastatin
• Crestor / rosuvastatin
• Lescol / fluvastatin
• Lipitor / atorvastatin

Having high cholesterol can seem daunting but together, you and your doctor can figure out how to reduce your cholesterol levels and decrease your risk for heart attacks, strokes, and the other negative effects that high cholesterol can cause.