As with any problem, a solution is easier to reach if you have a plan of attack. Follow these steps and you will be on your way to a healthier life. Some of these steps take some time. But as you progress through your own plan, you will see and feel immediate results that should encourage you to continue.

Schedule a Doctor's Appointment

The first step is to determine your cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as how your body reacts to what you eat and the fats and cholesterol in those foods.

Your doctor will take blood samples and have them evaluated for total blood cholesterol, HDL/LDL ratios and levels, and triglyceride counts. He may request a fasting blood glucose test to see if your body reacts to too many calories by producing too much insulin, which can cause inflammation in your arteries.

Your doctor may ask a nutritionist to consult with you to develop a healthy eating plan. Diet and exercise may be enough to bring your cholesterol under control. If not, there are other options.

Lose Weight

Since your body can make cholesterol from amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, and alcohol, it's important to balance your consumption of calories and to not overindulge. It's best not to lose weight too quickly. A pound or two a week is a good goal. Adding exercise is important to tone muscles and develop strength, as well as improve your cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

If you are overweight, especially around the middle, and have high insulin levels along with high blood pressure, you may be suffering from metabolic syndrome, which is a group of risk factors for heart disease.

It can be tricky to diagnose, but your doctor can help. This syndrome is treated by losing weight, changing your diet to include whole foods and healthy fats, and adding exercise to your daily routine.

Stop Smoking

You've heard this time and time again, but one of the best things you can do for your health is to quit smoking. Worldwide, smoking kills 5 million people, and secondhand smoke kills 53,000 Americans each year. That's almost one in four deaths in North America and Europe. Furthermore, smoking raises LDL levels, increases free radicals, hardens the arteries, and increases blood pressure. Cigarette smoke causes disease in almost every organ in your body.

Luckily, once you quit, your body can begin to repair the damage. Starting the day you quit, you reduce your chances of developing cancer and heart disease. Within eight hours, the oxygen level in your body increases to normal. Within a year, the risk of heart attack caused by cigarette smoke drops 50 percent.

There are many programs available to help you stop smoking. Contact the American Lung Association, or see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Prescription Drugs

If all else fails, there are drugs, including statins, that you can take to reduce cholesterol levels, especially LDL levels. However, these drugs may have some serious side effects. Only you and your doctor can decide if a prescription drug is necessary in your fight against heart disease.

Many doctors recommend that you really try to lose weight, change your diet, and add exercise before you try statins. Don't turn to them unless you have really tried natural methods and they just didn't work for you.

Change Your Diet

The recipes in this book will help you with a diet makeover. Start slowly, adding more healthy foods each week and each month. If you suddenly and drastically change your diet, you could have problems with digestion, so it's a good idea to make the change gradually.

The nutrition information for the recipes in this book, as well as the information in the tables in this chapter, have been calculated by NutriBase Clinical version 7.0. Total calories, fat, saturated fat, fiber, sodium, and cholesterol amounts are included for each recipe.

If you're used to looking for low-fat foods, study these recipes with this fact in mind. Some of the recipes that offer more than 30 percent of fat by calories per serving use olive oil or other healthy oils like grapeseed oil or avocado oil, so you don't have to be afraid to include them in your diet.

Include the foods discussed in this chapter in your everyday diet. Concentrate on adding good amounts of those listed as raising HDL cholesterol, lowering LDL cholesterol, reducing inflammation, and slowing down free radicals. Let's cook!