If you have high cholesterol, then you have probably been instructed by your doctor about a variety of ways to treat it. Some options include altering your diet and taking medicine to change the way your body interacts with foods and other stimuli to get a lower cholesterol measurement.

However, one of the most frustrating things about regulating cholesterol and fighting high cholesterol for many people is that it just plain takes too long. Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is a daily battle, but sometimes the results can take weeks or even months to manifest themselves. Often, people find that altering their diets is just too hard, and that adding in exercise when they have gone without it for years can be seriously tedious.

But what if you could do something in just about five seconds a day that could potentially lower your cholesterol dramatically in addition to potentially resolving a number of other health problems like migraines, arthritis, joint stiffness and macular degeneration? Now, before you get carried away, this does *not* mean that you can forego all of the other stuff that is hard and takes more time. But imagine if you also had one thing that you were doing that was easy, fast and relatively inexpensive. You would probably stay more motivated about the whole thing, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. And that is where omega fatty acids come in.

Studies have shown that people who have adequate omega levels tend to have lower cholesterol and tend to be able to lower their cholesterol more quickly than people who have omega 3 deficiencies (and that’s most of us!). Omega’s are found in fatty fish like tuna and salmon, but in order to get enough omega 3 via diet alone, you would have to eat nearly 2 pounds of fish a day. Not surprisingly, most people prefer to supplement their omega 3 levels via an omega 3 dietary supplement rather than with tank-full after tank-full of fish.

Omega 3 fish oil supplements may not replace your cholesterol medication, and they cannot be taken in place of a healthy diet. However, they can speed the changes in your body and your physiological systems that will ultimately make you more healthy.

For more information on omega 3′s and fish oil benefits, access http://www.omega-3.us.

Michael Byrd has over 25 years of education and experience in the fields of physical therapy, health, fitness and nutrition. His pursuit of wellness has shown him many fish oil health benefits as well as the benefits of using natural whole foods to help you look younger, feel better and stay healthy. Michael will even send you a Free CD when you visit his site at http://www.omega-3.us.

Why then, are we constantly told that we need to cut down our cholesterol levels? It is because our bodies actually manufacture all the cholesterol that they need. Cholesterol only becomes a problem for us when we consume it in excessive quantities. About three quarters of the cholesterol in our blood is manufactured by our bodies.

Your liver is extremely sensitive to your cholesterol requirement, so if you consume a somewhat greater quantity of it at some point, your body will manufacture a somewhat lesser quantity to keep the overall level in balance. A problem only arises when you consume so much that the ability of your body to properly balance the quantity is compromised.

The average individual requires something under about 14 grams of fat per day to enable them to acquire their requirement of essential fatty acids, but in the United States the average daily consumption is at least eight times that amount. That is, the average daily consumption is greater than 112 grams when only about 14 grams are required. This excess builds up in the arteries and sets in train a health time bomb in the bodies of the individuals concerned.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that cholesterol levels and blood pressure levels increase in proportion to the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol consumed. This results in an increased risk of coronary heart disease, and in fact if you eat excessive quantities of saturated fat and cholesterol and your blood pressure and cholesterol levels still do not rise all that much, you are still at a greater risk of suffering from coronary heart disease.

Cholesterol is commonly divided into two groups: good and bad. The good cholesterol is high density lipoprotein (HDL) and the bad cholesterol is low density lipoprotein (LDL). The so called good cholesterol shifts cholesterol from the artery walls and back to the liver, whereas the bad cholesterol keeps the cholesterol in the bloodstream which results in the arteries becoming clogged up with deposits. To reduce your levels of LDL limit the quantity of saturated fat that you consume and increase the quantity of fibre that you consume by eating such things as oatmeal and other whole grains as well as peas and beans and fruits. Psyllium is considered to be a very good food for reducing LDL as well. To raise your HDL levels you need to lose excessive weight and get moderate amounts of exercise, and try to have a supplement of a gram or so of Omega 3 fatty acid per day.

Animal products and processed foods are the most risky foods to consume in excess in terms of saturated fat content. It has been demonstrated that those who consume a low fat vegetarian diet maintain low levels of blood pressure, low blood cholesterol levels and low rates of heart disease.

Adrian is an online writer and researcher, and he invites you to visit his website Under Counter Refrigerators for information about these appliances from a range of manufacturers, including Sub Zero Refrigerators.