The National Heart, Lung and Blood institute (HTLBI) recently lowered it's cholesterol guidelines. The recommendations indicate that people at high risk for heart attacks should have the LDL cholesterol (“the bad kind&radquo;) under 100mg/dl instead of 130mg/dl.

Unfortunatly this may mean that more people will start taking cholesterol lowering drugs in order to meet the new guideline.

Even though some people may need these drugs to help lower their cholesterol you should not overlook how some simple lifestyle changes can help. Nothing major; simply adjusting some habits may make a difference.

Factors that help reduce the bad LDL cholesterol include good nutrition, controlling your weight and exercise.

Adding whole wheat and whole grains, nuts, nut oils and salmon may help. The whole wheat, grains and nuts have fiber to help lower your LDL cholesterol while nuts, nut oils and salmon help raise your good (HDL) cholesterol levels while lowering the bad (LDL) cholesterol.