Cholesterol Ratio

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Sunday, September 9th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

What is Your Cholesterol Ratio?

You have probably heard your doctor or a family member mentioned the importance of your cholesterol ratio at least once. But maybe yet did not make the effort to find out what it is and why should you maintain its levels. This article will put that right.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is something which is normally present in our cells and blood stream. It is an important part of our body system which helps to produce cell membranes and various types of hormones. However, there are two types of cholesterol and they are termed good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL). While the good is essential for our body the bad can cause fatal heart stokes by clogging the arteries.

The only way to find out your cholesterol ratio levels is to conduct a blood test. The normal levels of cholesterol are of a maximum 200mg/dL of LDL or less and a minimum of 40mg/dL or more of HDL.

Some doctors calculate the cholesterol ratio in order to make it easier for the patients to understand the cholesterol level.

How to Calculate the Cholesterol Ratio

In order to obtain your cholesterol ratio you first need to obtain the total cholesterol levels and then divide the HDL cholesterol level by the total cholesterol. Personally I always found it easier to calculate the HDL and LDL separately as well as monitor them in that fashion without working with the cholesterol ratio. However many find it easier to calculate and work with their cholesterol when they are aware of their cholesterol ratio.

Managing Your Cholesterol Levels

Besides the large amount of drugs available on the market for lowering and controlling cholesterol levels you can also play a big role by monitoring your food intake closely. Items that contain cholesterol and trans or saturated fats should be avoided. You can be helped with this by reading labels carefully before you purchase.

Exercising and eating healthily goes a long way towards staying fit and well and everyday practice will bring you a better and longer life. Also regular visits to your doctor will help you keep informed of your cholesterol levels as well as enable you to act before it becomes an emergency situation.

Cholesterol is not calculated by your weight. You can be slim and yet have high levels of cholesterol. Therefore watching the ingredients in your food becomes doubly important to maintaining a good cholesterol ratio since putting on weight is not a sufficient sign that you are at risk. Educate your self and lead a richer, healthier life.

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