What Causes High Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a fatty, wax like substance that is present in our cells and blood steam. Cholesterol plays an important part in our body by producing cell membranes and contributing to a number of hormones as well. Why then are we told to avoid high levels of cholesterol and what causes it?

Two Types of Cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol. One is good (HDL or high density cholesterol) and the other is bad (LDL or low density cholesterol). The good cholesterol should be in levels of minimum 40md/dL or more and the bad cholesterol should be less than 200mg/dL.

The bad cholesterol is responsible for causing clogged arteries and thus provoking coronary heart disease.

The Cause of High Cholesterol

The cause of high cholesterol is primarily due to eating an excess of food products which contain trans fat and saturated fats as well as cholesterol. This increases the levels of cholesterol in the blood stream. There is more than one cause of high cholesterol however, such as excess weight, genes, gender and age.

Obesity

Excess weight plays a big role in the cause of high cholesterol as it occurs when the body mass is mostly made up of fat which in turn contains cholesterol. Therefore, it is important to keep your weight under control at all times and should you have some pre-existing conditions which might lead to obesity you should consult a doctor for alternate options in order to control your cholesterol levels.

Heredity

Your family's health history is transmitted to you in the genes so if anyone in your family has suffered from high cholesterol you may have a predisposition to the same. This situation can be controlled through medication as well but only under a doctor's supervision.

Age

Men have been found to be prone to high levels of cholesterol in their teens and women after menopause. Both men and women can control and maintain a normal level of cholesterol if they act in time and with the right life style changes.

Preventing High Cholesterol

Mostly the cause of high cholesterol is our own negligence and therefore, if we pay more attention to what we eat as well as to how much exercise we actually do everyday we can prevent and improve the levels of bad cholesterol we have as well as maintain it at the right level. Start taking charge of your cholesterol levels today. Eat right, exercise and check your cholesterol level regularly.

Why Improving Your Cholesterol HDL Ratio Is RecommendedThere are quite a few studies pointing to the fact that HDL cholesterol (which is the good cholesterol), when maintained high levels, protects us from heart disease. The same effect is possible from lowering the LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) but to a much lesser measure. So we need to keep an eye on our LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio.

A rather disturbing and recently found result from recent studies is that low HDL cholesterol levels would be indicative of a high risk of heart disease. In other words even if the total cholesterol and the LDL levels are normal, if the HDL cholesterol is low, then the risk of heart attack stays high. This indicates that somehow the HDL cholesterol is able to protect the heart from disease. So it's the HDL Cholesterol ratio to LDL that is most important. Studies are now being carried out to find learn what the main ingredients are in HDL cholesterol that protect the heart from harm.

Properties Of HDL Cholesterol

Some preliminary studies have been conducted which show that HDL cholesterol contains a very complex molecule made of protein, lipids, and cholesterol. This molecule’s role seems to be to “clean” the walls of the arteries, thus removing the bad cholesterol from it and depositing it within the liver for cleansing. The HDL cholesterol here is performing the role as the ‘cleaner’.

Nowadays doctors whose patients have low HDL cholesterol are recommending that they try to increase it immediately and the treatment prescribed will be aimed at this goal. This means that even if the person has been found to have normal levels of cholesterol in the blood, but reduced good cholesterol, efforts are made to increase it and to get it to above the normal levels, thus changing the cholesterol's HDL ratio.

Methods to Increase Good Cholesterol

Lose Weight – it is now well known that obesity is one of the leading causes of heart attack. Loosing weight not only results in increased HDL cholesterol and decreased LDL cholesterol (i.e. a change in the ratio between them) but also in good overall health.

Exercise Regularly – it has been proved time and again that aerobic exercise can increase the levels of the good cholesterol in the body.

Cut out Smoking and Reduce Consumption of Alcohol – smoking and drinking can aggravate heart disease and cause heart attacks.

Improve Your Diet - add plenty of fiber to your diet such as that found in oats, legumes, fruits, etc which should be consumed on a daily basis for increasing the good HDL cholesterol ratio.

Choelsterol HDL ratio to LDL is very important to your overall health and both should be looked at in conjunction with each other. Attending to one without the other won't be as effective to your health as working to improve the levels of both.

If you are looking for one main cause of high cholesterol, then you are in for a big surprise, because there is more than one and each of them is as important as the other. Cholesterol causes can be divided into two types: ones you can control and ones you can't.

Causes of High Cholesterol That You Cannot Control

There are always things that you can and cannot help. In this case, there are causes that are beyond your power to control, such as your age, gender, and genes. You cannot help it if you are a male and by default fall into the high category of bad cholesterol; you cannot help it if you are growing old and slowly building up cholesterol because of your increasing age; and lastly, you cannot help it if you carry the bad cholesterol genes causing the liver to produce more than the required amount of cholesterol.

Men usually have higher cholesterol levels than women until age fifty, after which women overtake men in the reading of cholesterol. However, because men tend to have cholesterol from their thirties onwards, the medical guidelines have put them in the higher danger bracket.

Causes of High Cholesterol That Can Be Controlled

There are always some parameters by which you can control your health. With cholesterol, the parameters usually converge upon your intake and the way you treat your body. Hence, the major areas that you can help are in your diet, weight, stress level, and the amount of intoxicants you take (smoking, alcohol, etc).

Diet is the most important factor and the most powerful for controlling cholesterol. Today it is not difficult to adopt a cholesterol free diet because the market is full of products that will help you keep your body cholesterol free.  If the diet is healthy you will have 90% of the battle won. The last 10% will depend upon the other factors.

Now, if you maintain a cholesterol free diet, your weight will also be in control. But if you are already overweight and are trying to control your diet, then you will have to take the advice and help of a nutritionist and/or medical practitioner to reduce your weight to the acceptable limits. Being overweight is one of the main causes for compounding heart problems.

How to Reduce Bad Cholesterol

If you want to reduce bad cholesterol in your body, then there are several things that you will need to take into consideration. There is much you can do by simply changing your diet. For instance, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is key as they are low in calories and fat and also contain a number of vitamins and other antioxidants that help to prevent cellular damage and also aid in a number of cellular processes.

The most important aspect of diet however, is probably to remove foods that are posing a risk. For example, any foods that are high in saturated fat should be removed in order for to reduce the cholesterol in your overall diet as they are one of the most major causes of high cholesterol levels. If you can't completely avoid eating saturated fats then you should as least be eat less of them. They are usually found in fried foods and in animal meats.It is important to realize that lean meats such as chicken, turkey, and fish contain less saturated fat than red meat.

You should also realize that carbohydrates are an important and quick energy source and so you need to keep these as a part of your diet. Since these are converted into sugar once they are in the body, however, consumption of too many carbohydrates will result in weight gain, as well as in elevated glucose levels in diabetics. There has also been further research done which has indicated that consuming too many carbohydrates can lower HDL which is the good cholesterol.

Another method you can try is to increase the amount of physical activity in your life. Exercise is an incredibly important factor to anyone’s life especially if that person is looking to lower cholesterol levels. Remember you want to reduce bad cholesterol not good.

No matter what it is also important to make regular visits to your doctor because everyone is different. What works well for one person may not work for another. Consulting with your doctor will help you to decide which method to reduce bad cholesterol would work best for you as well as what the next step should be.

NEWS 2 USE: Cholesterol check shows heart health
Detroit Free Press - HDL is driven by exercise and often is called good cholesterol. • Your triglyceride, or blood fat, level. This should be less than 150 mg/dL. HOW TO CONTROL LEVELS • Know your cholesterol numbers. • Control high blood pressure. • Avoid tobacco
Source: www.freep.com