Elevated blood cholesterol levels are an important health concern, but smart diet and lifestyle choices can help you take control of risk factors and keep your heart healthy.

Cholesterol 101

Although we frequently hear about the health risks of too much cholesterol, it’s worth remembering that cholesterol has important functions in the body. For example, it’s a building block for cell membranes, an essential part of many hormones, and it’s used to make bile, which is necessary for proper digestion. Even though cholesterol is important for health, you don’t need to consume it as a nutrient. Your body already makes all the cholesterol it needs to support these essential functions.

Consuming too much cholesterol from foods in addition to the amount that is naturally produced by your body can contribute to a buildup of excess cholesterol. When there’s more cholesterol than your body can use, the excess cholesterol remains in your blood stream and can accumulate on the inner lining of blood vessels. This can lead to a narrowing and hardening of the arteries known as atherosclerosis that can result in heart attack, stroke, and other serious complications (1).

Heart attack and stroke remain the leading causes of death and an elevated blood cholesterol level is a common risk factor, affecting more than one third of adults (2,3). Although you can’t change some of the factors that make an impact on cholesterol levels such as age, gender, or family history, your blood cholesterol level is strongly influenced by your diet and physical activity level. This means that everyone can take steps to reduce risk and protect their heart through smart diet and lifestyle choices.

Keeping Cholesterol in Check

Small changes in your daily routine can go a long way toward helping you maintain healthy cholesterol levels. These are three smart choices that are recommended by the American Heart Association, and other experts, to help manage cholesterol levels and protect your heart health.

  • Be Active Every Day

Among its many benefits, regular physical activity can help lower levels of unhealthy cholesterol. Aim for at least 30 minutes a day, most days of the week.

  • Maintain a Healthy Weight

Carrying excess weight is a risk for developing high blood cholesterol levels. If you are overweight, weight loss is an important step to help lower your cholesterol numbers.

  • Choose a Heart-Healthy Diet

The foods you choose have a big impact on your cholesterol levels. Limiting foods that are high in cholesterol and saturated fat is an essential step for improving your cholesterol numbers. Instead, focus on whole grains, fruit, vegetables, and lean protein for heart-healthy meal options.

Ingredients for Heart Health

Heart Shake Booster adds the right ingredients to complement smart lifestyle choices for heart health. Designed for use with Isagenix shakes, Heart Shake Booster is formulated to help reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels. †

Heart Shake Booster’s powerful ingredients include plant sterols, pantethine, which is a derivative of vitamin B5, and a blend of other ingredients inspired by a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet.

Plant sterols reduce the amount of cholesterol your body absorbs from foods, helping the body eliminate excess cholesterol (4-6). Because plant sterols are most effective when consumed twice a day with food, Heart Shake Booster is designed to be blended with your favorite Isagenix shake twice daily for a delicious and convenient option to customize your Isagenix System (7, 8).

Smart lifestyle choices, such as being physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, and choosing a heart-healthy diet are essential first steps in keeping cholesterol levels in check. Heart Shake Booster is a convenient choice to complement your heart-healthy lifestyle that may help reduce your risk of heart disease.

†Foods and supplements containing at least 0.65 g per serving of plant sterol esters, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 1.3 g, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. A serving of Heart Shake Booster supplies 0.65 grams of plant sterol esters.

References

  1. Eckel RH, Jakicic JM, Ard JD, et al. American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. 2013 AHA/ACC guideline on lifestyle management to reduce cardiovascular risk: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014 Jul 1;63(25 Pt B):2960-84.
  2. Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS, Arnett DK, et al. American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics–2015 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2015 Jan 27;131(4):e29-322.
  3. Kuklina EV, Carroll MD, Shaw KM, Hirsch R. Trends in high LDL cholesterol, cholesterol-lowering medication use, and dietary saturated-fat intake: United States, 1976–2010. NCHS data brief, no 117. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2013.
  4. Mattson FH, Grundy SM, Crouse JR. Optimizing the effect of plant sterols on cholesterol absorption in man. Am J Clin Nutr. 1982 Apr;35(4):697-700.
  5. Malina DM, Fonseca FA, Barbosa SA, Kasmas SH, Machado VA, França CN, Borges NC, Moreno RA, Izar MC. Additive effects of plant sterols supplementation in addition to different lipid-lowering regimens. J Clin Lipidol. 2015 Jul-Aug;9(4):542-52. doi: 10.1016/j.jacl.2015.04.003.
  6. National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). Circulation. 2002 Dec 17;106(25):3143-421.