Leading a healthy lifestyle is the ultimate way to keep your body in control. High cholesterol is harmful to an individual’s health as it bears the risk of heart diseases. While there are medications available to reduce cholesterol, a certain level of self-involvement and disciple has to evolve from the individual in order to have a healthy and balanced life without letting cholesterol take over.

Here are five healthy and natural changes that you can try and implement at home in order to reduce and control cholesterol or even boost the cholesterol-lowering effect of your medication:

• Healthy diet
  Stick to heart-healthy foods. Diet is a term and a concept that is often ignored as one perceives it as a restriction to their lifestyle. But following a balanced diet only requires quite a few conscious decisions to change and adjust certain foods in order to lower cholesterol levels and avert the risk of heart diseases. Some steps that you need to take on this front includes reducing the intake of saturated fats which are high in dairy products and red meats. This is one of the most common culprits for high cholesterol levels, and reducing this can help eliminate the bad cholesterol. In addition, ensure that you avoid any form of trans fats, and include foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, soluble fibers, and whey proteins. Consulting a dietician or even engaging in preliminary research on the Internet can help you figure out a diet suitable to your health requirement.

• Physical exercise
  Another natural try at home cholesterol treatment which is quite effective for balanced health, in the long run, is adopting an exercise routine. While food is a major key to a healthy life, an active life is also critical to ensure that your body is maintained. Physical exercise helps you sweat out all the toxins and keeps your blood flow regulated. Just these two lifestyle changes go a long way in building your body into a healthy machine.

Make sure to lose weight as weight is a major cause for cholesterol build up. Getting onto an active routine can help you to move more and shed off any extra pounds which are turning out to be harmful to your body.

• Habitual changes
  Make sure you quit smoking right away as it is also another factor that affects your cholesterol levels. The effects of quitting smoking are felt from the very same moment as it not only brings the blood pressure to normal levels but also reduces the rate of heart conditions by half.

In addition to this, make sure you quit drinking as well. When consumed in excess, the cholesterol levels can end up being out of control and may lead to high blood pressure along with chances of a stroke.