How Long Does It Take To Lower Cholesterol
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How Long Does It Take To Lower Cholesterol

Lowering cholesterol is a vital step toward improving heart health and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. How long it takes to lower cholesterol levels depends on several factors, including your starting cholesterol levels, the lifestyle changes you adopt, and any medications prescribed.

While some improvements can be seen within a few weeks, significant and sustained reductions often take several months of consistent effort. This process involves a combination of dietary adjustments, regular physical activity, weight management, and, in some cases, medical intervention.

Understanding the timeline and strategies for lowering cholesterol is key to achieving long-term health benefits.

What is cholesterol?

All of your body’s cells use cholesterol, a fatty material. When it is present in the proper amounts, cholesterol can be beneficial. The following are some of the significant roles that cholesterol plays:

  • Constructing cell membranes
  • Making vitamin D
  • Creating bile for digesting
  • supplying the building blocks for all steroid hormones, including testosterone and estrogen.

Animal items in the diet are the source of cholesterol. The liver produces it as well. Certain blood proteins known as “lipoproteins” are responsible for transporting cholesterol throughout the body. During a cholesterol test, the lipoprotein level is measured. Included in these lipoproteins are:

  • The reason HDL is referred to as “good cholesterol” is that it transports cholesterol from your blood back to your liver. It is then eliminated from your body by the liver.
  • Low-density lipoprotein (LDL): Often referred to as “bad cholesterol,” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) can build up in your arteries and result in heart disease and stroke. These deposits, referred to as plaques, may obstruct your organs’ and tissues’ normal blood flow.
  • Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL): This is also present in artery plaques. It clings to your triglycerides.

What are normal cholesterol levels?

A normal, or healthy, cholesterol level will vary depending on your age and gender. As a general rule, for adults such levels are:

  • Total cholesterol: under 200 mg/dL
  • LDL: under 100 mg/dL
  • HDL for men: higher than 40 mg/dL 
  • HDL for women: higher than 50 mg/dL

The following are considered normal cholesterol levels for those under 19:

  • Total cholesterol: under 170 mg/dL
  • LDL: under 100 mg/dL
  • HDL: higher than 45 mg/dL

On your lipid panel, “triglycerides” is another test that is included with cholesterol. Despite not being composed of cholesterol, triglycerides can aggravate heart disease. No matter your gender or age, your triglycerides should be below 150 mg/dL.

How long does it take to lower cholesterol?

It may take a few weeks to months before your cholesterol levels significantly improve. However, each person will have a different chronology. Numerous factors, such as the following, affect how long it takes to lower your cholesterol:

  • Genetics: Individuals with specific hereditary disorders, such as familial hypercholesterolemia, which results in elevated cholesterol, may require more time to reduce their cholesterol levels.
  • Treatment: It may take longer to reduce cholesterol with dietary modifications alone than with diet and exercise. Medication frequently has the quickest effects, but determining the right drug and dosage for you may take several months.
  • Consistency: Lowering your cholesterol may take longer if you are inconsistent with your diet, exercise routine, or cholesterol medication.
  • Severity: Changing drugs or altering dosages may be necessary for really high cholesterol, and it may take longer.

How can you lower your cholesterol?

Often, a comprehensive strategy is used to lower cholesterol. Changes in diet, exercise, and lifestyle are typically the initial step. Then, if needed, medications are added to this endeavor.

Diet:

Certain dietary modifications can reduce cholesterol in as little as four weeks. Blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol can all be lowered by switching to a plant-based, high-fiber diet.

The DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) and TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) diets are two dietary regimens that can reduce total cholesterol. Both diets have the following limits:

  • High-fat meat slices
  • Full-fat dairy
  • items that have been processed
  • Added sugar

Rather, according to these meal plans, you should consume:

  • Whole grain
  • Vegetables
  • Fruits
  • Lean meats
  • Fish

When you adopt a low-fat diet, you can anticipate a 5% decrease in cholesterol on average. A drawback of diet-only cholesterol reduction is that it may also result in a drop in excellent HDL cholesterol.

Exercise:

You can increase your healthy HDL cholesterol by engaging in regular physical activity. You can also reduce your triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol by engaging in more vigorous exercise. One tiny study found that moderate exercise could change cholesterol in as little as 15 weeks.

The American Heart Association suggests engaging in moderate aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes every week. Aerobic workouts might consist of:

  • Cycling
  • Walking
  • Swimming
  • Rope jumping
  • dancing

By using weight training in your exercise routine, you can also see improvements in your cholesterol. Resistance training is beneficial on its own, but it lowers cholesterol even more when paired with aerobic activity. For health benefits, resistance training should be done twice a week.

Lifestyle changes:

Your lifestyle decisions may have an effect on your cholesterol levels. According to research, modifying one or more aspects of your life can help you reduce your cholesterol to a certain extent:

  • Stopping smoking
  • Handling stress
  • Sleeping enough
  • Keeping up a healthy weight

These adjustments are frequently suggested in conjunction with medicine, exercise, or a nutritious diet. Cardiology specialist and CVS Caremark medical director Dr. Vaughn Payne suggests “about 3 months of lifestyle modification, including dietary instruction and exercise advice.”

Medications:

Dr. Payne advises taking medication if diet, exercise, and lifestyle modifications alone don’t result in “satisfactory improvement in lipid levels.” If you have known cardiovascular problems, you may need to start taking drugs earlier, he adds.

Some drugs can start lowering cholesterol in as little as two weeks. Lowering cholesterol levels can be achieved with a variety of efficient drugs.

Among the most popular kinds of drugs used to reduce cholesterol are:

  • Statins: They function by preventing cholesterol from being produced. Lovastatin and simvastatin (Zocor) are two examples.
  • Sequestrants of bile acids: These drugs hold cholesterol in the bile until the body eliminates it. Cholestyramine (Prevalite) and colesevelam (Welchol) are two examples.
  • Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid, lowers LDL and triglycerides while increasing HDL.
  • PCSK9 inhibitors: These are injectable drugs for very high cholesterol levels. They can be used alone or alongside statins. Repatha and Praluent are two examples.

Summary

  • A key component of preserving your general and heart health is lowering your cholesterol.
  • Some lifestyle adjustments, such as modifying your daily diet and exercise routines, may have an impact and reduce your cholesterol levels in as little as three weeks. It might take three months or more, and that time frame might be longer.
  • Additionally, in certain situations, your doctor could suggest that you begin taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.
  • Your healthcare provider can suggest more frequent cholesterol checks than the usual 4–6 months after your results are within the desired range.

FAQ’s

How quickly can cholesterol be reduced?

Within weeks, lifestyle modifications may alter cholesterol levels. But it could take longer, typically three months or longer. If, after 12 weeks of lifestyle modifications, a person’s LDL cholesterol has not decreased, some doctors advise adding a cholesterol-lowering medication.

What removes cholesterol fast?

Foods high in soluble fiber, such as beans, apples, prunes, and muesli, prevent your body from absorbing cholesterol. LDL decreased in those who consumed 5–10 grams more of it daily, according to research.

At what cholesterol level is medication required?

Cholesterol that is low in density lipoproteins, or LDL.
You probably won’t require a statin if your risk is very low unless your LDL is more than 190 mg/dL (4.92 mmol/L). A statin might be beneficial even if you don’t have high cholesterol if your risk is really high, such as if you’ve previously experienced a heart attack.

What cleans cholesterol out of your body?

After that, your liver eliminates the cholesterol from your system. To increase your HDL (good) cholesterol and decrease your LDL (bad) cholesterol, you can do certain actions.

References:

  • Goldman, R. (2024, November 26). How long does it take to lower cholesterol? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol/how-long-does-it-take-to-lower
  • Frank Schwalbe, MD, (2025, January 21), https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/high-cholesterol/time-to-lower-cholesterol

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