For some people reducing cholesterol can seem like a huge challenge, but it’s not always as difficult as it might seem. Today, around 70 million adults throughout America have a problem with high cholesterol according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, only about one in three of these people have their condition under control, and fewer than half of those afflicted are getting any kind of treatment.

The good news is that there are simply options available that can help you to reduce your risk level fast. Here, we’ll be taking a look at some common tricks to lower your cholesterol that could help you to get back on track in no time.

1. Keep Track of Your Weight

Your weight has a huge part to play when it comes to maintaining good cholesterol levels. Even the smallest amount of excess weight can be enough to contribute to significant cholesterol levels. The good news is that even if you’re overweight, you don’t need to starve yourself or try to lose all of the extra pounds at once. Sometimes, shedding as little as five percent of your total body weight can be enough to reduce your cholesterol level significantly, according to experts.

2. Get More Exercise

Since many of the common tricks to lower your cholesterol recommended by doctors are options that help you to lose weight, it makes sense that exercise would be an important part of your strategy towards success. Even if you’re not overweight, exercising can help to improve the levels of good cholesterol or HDL in your system, which also fights off bad cholesterol. Ideally, you should aim for around two and a half hours of exercise every week. This could enhance your cholesterol management significantly.

3. Get Rid of Trans Fats

When it comes to managing your diet, one of the best common tricks to lower your cholesterol involves simply removing trans fats from your meals as much as possible. These substances are responsible for lowering your good cholesterol levels, and increasing your bad cholesterol. Most of the time, you can find trans fats in fried and fast foods, and the amount of this substance in food has been decreasing since the FDA began to issue warnings against trans fats a few years ago. Make sure that you check the ingredients on your food before you eat it.

4. Stop Smoking

Smoking can be a huge risk factor when it comes to high cholesterol and the heart problems that can occur following a high cholesterol diagnosis. Smoking can cause your arteries to harden, while making the artery walls around your heart rougher, which allows cholesterol to stick to it more easily. If you can quit, you could save yourself a lot of problems.

5. Consider Medication

Finally, while some might think that medication isn’t exactly one of the most creative common tricks to lower your cholesterol, it can be the key to success. If lifestyle changes can’t bring your cholesterol levels back down, you’ll need to take a medication that can lower your cholesterol levels instead. The most common option is known as statins, which are responsible for blocking the pathways your body uses to develop new cholesterol from your diet.