Welcome to our weekly tip for the 28th week. This week we will look at what you can do to control your cholesterol levels. High cholesterol levels have been linked to coronary heart disease (CHD) in many studies. Having high LDL (bad) cholesterol levels puts you at risk of CHD. So, what affects your LDL cholesterol levels? There are many factors that determine this level and we will outline the main ones below: Heredity - Unfortunately, a high rate of LDL cholesterol production in your body can be inherited through family history. We do not have power control over our genes, unfortunately, but the next factors are in our control. Diet - Diet plays the biggest role in cholesterol levels. The two largest contributors to high LDL cholesterol levels in our diets are saturated fats and cholesterol. Both of these fats are most common in animal products. Saturdated fat is the greatest factor affecting cholesterol levels in North America! Eating right is a very important step that must be taken in order to lower LDL cholesterol levels. Weight - Having excess body fat tends to raise LDL cholesterol levels. Losing weight will lower your LDL cholesterol levels and triglycerides, and increase HDL (good) cholesterol. Physical Exercise - Physical exercise may actually lower LDL and raise HDL cholesterol levels! Stress - Some studies showed that high stress levels and cholesterol levels may be in fact related. The most common link between the two is eating habbits of people under stress compared to when they are not under stress. People tend to eat more 'bad' foods under stress. Alcohol - Although alcohol increases HDL (good) cholesterol levels, it does not decrease LDL levels. Drinking alcohol moderately may prove benificial, however, over-consumption will result in more damage than good. Alcohol should NOT be used to help redude heart disease.