The more you smoke, the lower your HDL cholesterol is likely to be. Lose weight if you're overweight. Being overweight is often associated with low HDL levels. Increase physical activity. This has a slow but steady elevating effect on HDL, which tends to rise in direct proportion to the amount of physical activity per week.
Cholesterol lowering itself is safe, as is the diet used to lower cholesterol.
These results have been confirmed by a combined analysis of 16 recent studies. I'm young and healthy. Young adults 20 years of age and older should have their cholesterol measured. Studies have shown that the buildup of plaque in the arteries that supply the heart begins in late adolescence and early adulthood, and a cholesterol level measured at about age 20 predicts the risk of a heart attack over the following 30 to 40 years. Waiting until midlife to measure and lower cholesterol reduces the benefit that can be obtained.