Having a high cholesterol level can lead to cardiovascular disease. One life is lost every 33 seconds due to cardiovascular disease.

Everyone should have their cholesterol levels tested to know if they are at risk. Maintaining healthy eating habits and exercising regularly may lower your cholesterol levels.

Here are a few ways you can fight high cholesterol in your diet.

* Stick with the basics. Basic foods like raw fruits and vegetables can help you lower your cholesterol.

* Reduce your fat intake. Learn what the label really means. Just because a label says "low saturated fat," "low cholesterol" or "cholesterol-free" does not necessarily mean the product is low-fat.

* Substitute healthy sides. Fruit is much better for you than fries.

* Do not eat poultry skin. It is high in cholesterol.

In addition to eating right, ask your doctor about dietary

supplements that can aid you in your fight. For instance, Advanced Plant Pharmaceuticals Inc. (APPI OTC BB) produces a product called Lo-Chol designed to help you maintain healthy cholesterol levels naturally. APPI is a pharmaceutical company that uses whole plants to develop products for the treatment of human diseases.

Lo-Chol is derived from six selected plants that work in concert to help normalize cholesterol levels.

Unlike almost all other herbal supplements on the market, Lo-Chol does not contain any extracts. Instead, it utilizes the entire part of a specific plant that is processed and standardized to deliver optimum potency and nutritional benefits. In clinical studies, people using Lo-Chol have shown cholesterol reductions of up to 58 percent with an average of 29 percent.