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Does physical activity help lower cholesterol?

Grace1975External User
If so how often should you exercise?
1 Responses
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15695260 tn?1549593113
Hello and welcome to the forum.  Yes, physical activity has been shown to help lower total cholesterol. It does this by increasing HDL cholesterol which then counters the bad cholesterol, LDL, which improves your total cholesterol number.  Physical activity will also help you lose or maintain appropriate weight which is important as well for cholesterol.  https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/features/exercise-to-lower-cholesterol#1  

As to how often, this has been debated. But the American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity such as walking, biking, swimming a day.  And that is for at least 5 days a week.  And remember, all exercise does count, even gardening and house cleaning.  

Best of health to you.
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2 Comments
WWJ0907External User
In addition to providing the above information and link, though the below statement is within the link on page 3, I think it should have been mentioned as well in the response
Of course, exercise alone won't guarantee a low cholesterol level. Genetics, weight, age, gender, and diet all contribute to an individual's cholesterol level
WWJ0907, yes that is true information.  No one should strictly believe exercising will improve their cholesterol, however, it does eliminate the risk factor of cardiovascular disease of inactivity and is proven to increase HDL cholesterol which will raise the total cholesterol.  But absolutely, it is just one piece to the whole part of good cardiovascular health. Thank you for sharing and hope you come back to this or any of our other 200 plus forums on various health issues.  
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