Cholesterol is a waxy fat-like substance found in the body needed for making hormones and vitamin D. Several studies suggest that high cholesterol levels present a higher risk of heart disease.
How can men over 40 manage their cholesterol levels? For most people, it starts with a healthy diet and exercise. Medications are also available to help reduce your cholesterol, and they should be done with healthy lifestyle changes, not in place of them.
How Regular Exercise Can Help Men Over 40 Manage Their Cholesterol Levels
People who exercise regularly generally enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Exercise can help you feel more confident, improve your mental health, and increase your energy level. It can also help you maintain a healthy body weight, decrease appetite, and reduce stress. Plenty of evidence suggests regular exercise can help you manage your cholesterol levels.
The most effective exercise for managing high cholesterol is aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercises increase your heart rate and boost your metabolism by burning fat. Depending on your fitness level, you can choose from various aerobic workouts such as running, swimming, biking or walking.
Another type of exercise that can benefit men over 50 is resistance training or weight training. This type of exercise is an excellent way to increase muscle strength, which can prevent bone fractures and osteoporosis in later life.
For example, a study published in the journal Atherosclerosis found that individuals who performed resistance training had higher levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol than their peers who didn’t participate in resistance training.
However, before starting a new exercise routine, it’s always best to consult your doctor to ensure it’s safe for you. This is especially true if you’re overweight or have other serious health issues.
Men over 40 should be physically active for at least 150 minutes per week. That can do that in small, brisk sessions throughout the day, or as part of a more extensive program. The most effective way to keep up a healthy workout routine is to find an activity you enjoy and stick with it. Consult your doctor or a physical therapist if you need clarification on the proper exercise.
If you’re feeling strained or in pain while exercising, try switching to a more gentle exercise like swimming or using a rowing machine. This can be a great alternative to running because it works your whole body. Swimming is a low-impact exercise that can also be relaxing and help you manage your cholesterol levels in the long term.
What Foods to Eat and Avoid to Lower Cholesterol for Men Over 40
The way you eat plays an important role in managing your cholesterol levels. The most important way is by reducing the amount of saturated fat in your diet. You can achieve this by cutting back on red meat and full-fat dairy products and replacing them with low-fat versions of these foods.
In addition, reduce the amount of trans fats in your diet as well. These fats are found in many prepackaged foods and can increase your cholesterol levels. Replace them with healthy alternatives such as avocado and olive oils.
You should also increase your fiber intake and cut downon foods high in sugar. A diet high in soluble fiber helps remove excess cholesterol from your bloodstream and improves cardiovascular health. You can get soluble fiber from oatmeal, beans, brussels sprouts, apples, and pears.
Maintaining a healthy weight is also essential for controlling your cholesterol. Losing just 5% to 10% of your body weight can make a big difference. Being overweight can raise your bad LDL cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease and strokes.
The key is to balance your foods with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, poultry without skin, fish, lean meats, unsalted nuts, seeds, and dairy products. It is also a good idea to limit your intake of sodium, which is added to processed foods and can cause your cholesterol to rise.
A balanced diet is also vital in maintaining healthy body weight, as overweight men are likelier to have high cholesterol and other health issues. This is because being overweight can increase the amount of fatty deposits in your arteries and cause them to narrow.
In addition, a balanced diet includes enough nutrients that help your body function properly, such as B vitamins. These vitamins include B6, B12, and folate (folic acid). Folic acid is critical for healthy cell function, aids in preventing heart disease, and keeps your blood from becoming thick and clumpy.
How Quitting Smoking Can Boost Your Good Cholesterol and Protect Your Heart
Smoking can make your cholesterol levels worse, making the bad LDL cholesterol stickier. It also lowers the good HDL (healthy) cholesterol. It can also damage the walls of your arteries and increase your risk of blood clots. This can cause heart attacks and strokes.
After you stop smoking your cholesterol levels will improve within a few days. Women will be much more likely to get pregnant and have a healthy baby if they quit smoking before they try to conceive. Your lungs will benefit from quitting too, especially if you smoke for long periods of time. When you quit, your lungs will heal, making it easier for them to fight off infection and prevent respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia and asthma.
A study published in the journal Reuters Health suggests that people who successfully quit smoking may enjoy yet another positive effect: increased “good” cholesterol levels. The researchers looked at the cholesterol levels of a group of men who had quit for one year and compared them with those who relapsed into smoking.
They found that those who quit smoking experienced a small, but meaningful, boost in their HDL, or “good,” cholesterol, after their first year of being smoke-free. This is a surprising result given that most of the men in the study were already overweight at the beginning of the research.
According to lead author Dr. Adam Gepner of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, U.S., these findings could encourage physicians to emphasize abstinence even in light smokers.
Many people who quit smoking experience some withdrawal symptoms, such as strong cravings and feelings of irritability or hunger. These symptoms will fade over time, but they can still be unpleasant and are not something everyone wants to go through.
You can find several resources and programs online to help you quit smoking, including free and low-cost tools for helping you stay committed and focused on your goal of quitting.
When to Consider Cholesterol-Lowering Medication for Men Over 40
A healthy diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes can help reduce the amount of cholesterol in your blood. But if you continue to have high cholesterol, your doctor may recommend taking medication to help manage it.
Cholesterol builds up inside your arteries, making it harder for your heart to pump blood and increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease. Too much cholesterol can block your arteries and cause serious problems, including coronary artery disease, heart attack, or stroke.
The American Heart Association recommends that most people have their cholesterol levels checked every four to six years. Those at increased risk should be tested more often. This is especially true for men and women over 40 since high cholesterol levels increase with age and if you have a family history of heart disease or other risk factors.
Ideally, your cholesterol levels should be below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) for both men and women. It would be best if you also had higher HDL cholesterol levels, considered the “good” cholesterol.
If you have high cholesterol, your GP can prescribe a cholesterol-lowering medication called a statin. These medications can reduce your cholesterol levels by lowering the amount of LDL cholesterol in your blood. They can also help raise your HDL cholesterol levels, which helps keep the bad cholesterol out of your arteries.
Many different types of statins are available, so be sure to discuss your options with your GP. Some are available as tablets, and others come in a liquid form you drink as needed.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people who take cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as statins, can live longer than those who do not. However, these drugs do not cure high cholesterol. You must take them in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle to be effective.
Taking cholesterol-lowering medications should be essential to your overall health plan in your senior years. A recent report by the government’s heart tsar, Roger Boyle, called for all men over 50 to be on a statin to protect them from coronary disease and stroke. Statins would reduce hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, he said.
If the cholesterol levels are higher or lower than the recommended range, it may indicate a risk of heart disease or other health problems. Men over 40 should consult their doctor if they have high or low cholesterol levels and follow their advice on how to manage them. Some lifestyle changes that can help lower cholesterol levels are:
Eating a healthy diet that is low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, and high in fiber, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
Exercising regularly for at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
Quitting smoking or avoiding exposure to secondhand smoke
Maintaining a healthy weight and body mass index (BMI)
Limiting alcohol intake to no more than two drinks per day for men
Taking medication as prescribed by the doctor, such as statins, bile acid sequestrants, or niacin
By knowing and managing their cholesterol levels, men over 40 can improve their health and reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke.
Peter Amaral (aka Mauricio Boston), the editor and curator of this site, has done "over 40" nearly twice. He's picked up a few tips over the years on what men must do to thrive and flourish in health, wealth, and their relationships with family and friends. For a backgrounder, Maurcio is an 82nd Airborne alumus, served as a combat engineer platoon leader in Vietnam, and practiced law for 20+ years. Before earning his professional degree, he worked in film production, sales and marketing, and did stints as bar tender and iron worker. He's been married to the same exceptional woman for longer than maybe most of you have been alive, has three exceptional daughters and a parcel of grandchildren. Mauricio does some of the research for the site. He's not a medical doctor, and never got closer to shooting par than that damn one stroke, but he is an ersatz woodworker, does have personal experience with prostate cancer and can speak intelligently with his cardiologist, with whom he disagrees on the supposed bad effects of red meat. In other words, we write about lots of things we've learned and experienced. Expert professional writers do the rest, always under the careful eye of our chief editor.
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