What Is HDL Cholesterol?
Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky
8. How Your Other Lifestyle Choices Affect HDL Levels
Researchers have observed that individuals who stop smoking have increased HDL levels compared to when they were smoking. Mild to moderate alcohol intake has also been found to be beneficial as it increases HDL levels.
Insulin use and weight loss also increases HDL levels. The use of cannabis in both past and current cannabis studies were not found to help with HDL levels. HDL levels were also observed to decrease with recent illness, obesity, stress, starvation, and the use of medications such as beta blockers, steroids, and thiazide diuretics. There is also some evidence that individuals with low HDL cholesterol levels have poor memory. As the levels decrease throughout a 5 year follow-up, the memory also declines.
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