Photo: Joao Paulo Esperanca, Flickr

Heredity is not on my side when it comes to cholesterol. So once my "bad" cholesterol hit 285, I backed off on saturated fats almost completely. (The "almost" is Phish Food.) It helped: My LDL now hovers between 225 and 235. But new research shows my exercise routines might also be helping to keep the level less high.

In the first study to find a link between fitness and dips in levels of LDL, an hour of moderate or a half hour of vigorous activity yielded a decrease of almost 4 milligrams per deciliter of LDL cholesterol in white women, and more than 10 milligrams for black women. And for those past menopause, the benefits were even greater: 5.9 milligrams for whites and 14.68 for blacks. The study was conducted over nine years and included almost 9,000 people between the ages of 45-64. The decrease wasn't found in men.

Besides working out and limiting your intake of saturated fats, you can also eat more of some foods that are known to reduce LDL levels such as walnuts, salmon, oatmeal and flax seed. You might also consider taking an omega-3 supplement once a day.

High LDL isn't the only factor associated with cardiovascular disease. Click here to learn more and find your risk score for a heart attack.