Safe, effective ways to manage your cholesterol!

 

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What the latest cholesterol guidelines reveal to help protect yourself against heart attack and stroke Dear Reader, For years, doctors have responded to high cholesterol readings by prescribing a statin to reduce total cholesterol to under 200 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol to under 100 mg/dL. But today, things have changed. New treatment guidelines have shifted away from that numbers-based approach in favor of a highly personalized approach to cholesterol medications. How does this new approach affect how you manage your cholesterol and lower your risk of heart attack or stroke? Now, the heart health experts at Harvard Medical School have published a Special Report that provide the answers you need, such as... Do you need a statin at all? If so, at what strength? What non-statin meds are available to you? How does your age, sex or race affect your cholesterol management? What foods best reduce dangerous LDL (bad) cholesterol? From detailed explanations of dozens of cholesterol-lowering drugs to simple natural steps to safely bring down dangerous LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, you’ll find the research-proven answers you need in Harvard’s Managing Your Cholesterol Special Report. LEARN MORE RESPOND NOW and lock in your 30% discount on Managing Your Cholesterol Order this research-backed report today and you’ll soon discover new options to help keep your cholesterol at healthy levels. For example... Unsure if you need a statin drug? Learn about the revealing test that can help you confidently make the right decision. The combination drug that’s shown to lower cholesterol — and reduce serious cardiovascular events in high-risk patients — more than a statin alone. 4 ways to make sure a statin is working as well as it can, no matter the type of statin you’re taking. Why statins do much more than just lower a number on your lab test report. They shrink fatty plaques and prevent plaque rupture, the main cause of heart attacks. Already taking a high dose statin? Get the scoop on the cholesterol-lowering drugs that can slash LDL by 50%. The most important dietary change you can make to lower your cholesterol (Hint: it’s not eating fewer cholesterol-laden foods.) The best-known dietary supplements touted for their ability to improve lipid levels — what research shows about their ability to improve lipid levels. And more. You’ll discover why a low-fat diet is no longer recommended to combat high cholesterol...the cholesterol-taming role of exercise... heart-healthy foods to eat and foods to limit or avoid...and much more. CLICK HERE to learn about the wealth of practical heart-protecting advice from the experts at Harvard Medical School...and discover the surprising impact that even simple steps can have on your health. LEARN MORE SPECIAL SECTION: How to Lower Your Cholesterol Without Prescription Drugs Managing Your Cholesterol also includes a special section that’s overflowing with dozens of take-charge tips to help improve cholesterol levels and lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. You’ll learn about: Everyday foods that bind dietary cholesterol and ushers it out of the body before it gets to the bloodstream. 5 ways to lower harmful triglycerides in your bloodstream. The breakfast alternative with more than three times the beneficial fiber than steel-cut oatmeal. And more! LEARN MORE & GET STARTED TODAY! Harvard Medical School offers special reports on over 60 health topics. Visit our website at http://www.health.harvard.edu to find reports of interest to you and your family. PHONE ORDERS - please call our toll-free number: 1-877-649-9457. Visit our website at: www.health.harvard.edu Email us at: healthbeat@health.harvard.edu FOLLOW US ON:  Facebook Twitter Copyright © 2026 by Harvard University. The advantages of body-weight exercise All exercise is beneficial. But even stacked up against other types of workouts, body-weight exercise has a lot to offer. Not only does it provide an excellent workout, but it can also help you overcome some common excuses for avoiding exercise, like “I don’t have time to go to the gym” and “I don’t have space for a stationary bike at home.” All you have to do is move your body. Here’s a closer look at some of the pluses: It couldn’t be more convenient. No matter where you are, you’ve got your body, so you can start exercising anywhere, anytime — in your bedroom when you wake up, in the kitchen while you’re waiting for water to boil, in your hotel room when traveling. That makes it easy to find the time. Get your copy of Body-Weight Exercise The health and fitness experts at Harvard Medical School perfected workout routines that use your own body weight to strengthen your whole body — routines that offer a wealth of better health and more pep in your step. They’re all in the Body-Weight Exercise Special Health Report, along with step-by-step directions and how-to photos. You can do these feel-younger exercises at home and adjust them to your fitness level. And there’s positively no equipment necessary to get great results.   SHOW ME MORE → The price is right. With body-weight exercise, there’s nothing to buy other than a pair of shoes. You don’t need stylish clothing. You don’t even need a yoga mat, much less an expensive gym membership, although you can certainly do these workouts at the gym, too. You might want a few props, such as a chair, bench, or counter to modify some moves, but these are all items that you have on hand. The intimidation factor is low. You can do these exercises solo. You don’t have to walk into a gym full of buff exercisers and complicated-looking weight machines that require adjustments and may still not fit you properly. It’s effective. Research published in the journal Physiology and Behavior found that, as a form of resistance training, body-weight exercise helps build muscle “independent of an external load.” But it does more than that. When researchers looked at the effects of 10 weeks of body-weight exercises on various physical fitness parameters in a small group of young women, they found improvements in seven out of nine of the parameters. The biggest gains were in aerobic capacity, with a 33% improvement. Muscle endurance, particularly in the core, increased by 11%, while lower-body power posted a 6% gain. Even flexibility was better after the training. You don’t necessarily have to do a lot of it. While it’s good to meet the Physical Activity Guidelines, smaller amounts of body-weight exercise can also deliver results. In a small study of active people in their 60s, Japanese researchers found that a workout consisting of eight simple lower-body exercises increased the participants’ muscle strength and power by about 15% after 10 months. That may not sound like much, but during this stage of life, strength and power are often declining. What’s more, the participants achieved these gains by doing only six workouts a month. It provides functional exercise. Most body-weight exercises work multiple muscles at once rather than training an isolated muscle or muscle group, as many exercise machines and dumbbell exercises do. Therefore, body-weight exercises are considered more functional, using more muscles and joints at a time, engaging balance, and mimicking everyday activities. It can be adjusted to your fitness level. It may not be obvious how to do this at first. When you’re using your body as the weight, you can’t just remove 10 or 20 pounds as you can with machines or dumbbells. But there are ways to modify moves to decrease or increase the resistance. You can adjust your body position — for example, doing push-ups against a wall rather than the floor — or you can change the number of times you repeat an exercise or modify the pace you’re working at. It’s good for your health. Literally thousands of studies have shown that the more you move, the lower your risks for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, multiple types of cancer, joint pain, and Alzheimer’s disease. Exercise can also lift your mood, reduce your stress level, and improve your sleep. Body-weight exercise is no exception. For more fast, equipment-free ways to get strong, fit and healthy, check out Body-Weight Exercise, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School. Image: © Yagi-Studio/Getty Images Share this story:

FEATURED CONTENT Body-Weight Exercise • What is body-weight exercise? • Safety first • Program overview • Basic-level workouts • Post-workout stretches • SPECIAL SECTION: Staying motivated • Bonus workouts Click here to learn more »