Lower Your Cholesterol

Having your level of cholesterol read is very important for your health. Cholesterol readings consist of total cholesterol, low level lipoprotein cholesterol levels (LDL cholesterol), triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol level (HDL cholesterol). When you are having your cholesterol level checked by your doctor you should have all 3 types checked. The desirable total cholesterol readings are 200mg/dL with a borderline limit of 200 mg/dL to 239mg/dL. You are at risk of developing heart disease if you have a total of 240mg/dL and above cholesterol reading.

LDL Cholesterol Levels

Low density lipoprotein is more commonly known as the "bad" cholesterol. At high levels it may cause deposits in the walls of the arteries which increases the risk of heart disease. The desirable LDL cholesterol level is below 200 milligrams per deciliter of blood or 200 mg/dL. The borderline limit of LDL is between 200-239mg/dL. It is dangerous if you have a LDL cholesterol level of above 240mg/dL.

HDL Cholesterol Levels

High density lipoprotein is the "good" cholesterol. High density lipoprotein washes away excess cholesterol from the tissues to the liver. The liver then breaks it down and it becomes part of the bile for removal. An HDL level of 40mg/dL is suggested. You must maintain your HDL level within 40mg/dL to 45mg/dL. It should not go below 40mg/dL. Levels above 60mg/dL are said to protect the heart and is beneficial to brain functions because it protects the cerebral blood vessels as well as coronary vessels.

Level of Triglycerides

Triglycerides are another type of fat. It is accumulated as fat in our body that flows in the blood stream. Almost all of the fats in our diet are triglycerides. Triglycerides are one of the main factors of heart disease. At high levels, it thickens the blood and may possibly lead to heart attack or stroke due to blood clotting. It is best that you maintain your triglyceride level at 150 or below with a borderline limit of 150 to 199. It should not exceed 200.

In maintaining your cholesterol level, remember, there are no ideal cholesterol readings per se. They vary for each person. It will depend on the individual’s risk factor (family history, sex, health condition and age.). Though experts suggest that having a total of over 240mg/dL is an indication that a lifestyle change is needed, because having higher than this increases the risk of developing heart problems.

National guidelines recommended that those who have a high blood cholesterol level should be checked every 1 or 2 years.

How To Lower Your cholesterol - Your Choices

There are many choices when it comes to knowing how to lower your cholesterol levels. These include lifestyle changes such as improvements to your diet and more exercise, medication and natural remedies. Depending upon how high your cholesterol levels are and your specific circumstances you may need to ask your doctor's opinion on how to lower your cholesterol level most efectively.

Before you make any decisions about treatment, however, you need to know exactly what your cholesterol level is. You can find this out with a home cholesterol test such, if you have a family history of high cholesterol or you are showing symptoms of heart problems you will need to have a blood sample sent to a professional lab. If the results come back at an unhealty level you will need to decide upon how to lower your cholesterol to a normal level and will, most likely, need to be tested at least once a year going forward.

However, even though high cholesterol can lead to atherosclerosis, which in turn can cause heart disease it does not mean that you will end up with heart disease. You can control your cholesterol and can live a long and healthy life by doing so.

Your body produces cholesterol naturally and absorbs additional cholesterol from the foods that you eat. This is why changes in diet are often recommended in order to improve your health. If you are prescribed cholesterol medication your doctor will most likely recommend that you also exercise regularly and eat healthier food alongside taking the drugs.

One way to improve your diet is to cut out white breads and replace them with wheat, rye and other types of whole grain breads. Also eat less red meat and meats generally that are high in satuated fat. It is not a healthy choice to eat food with lots of saturated fats or cooked in grease and oil. Purchase meats that have the fat trimmed or the skinned removed in order to lower cholesterol levels in your body. Oatmeal for breakfast is always a good choice.

When it comes to snacks eat foods that are high in fiber, and low in fat. Try frozen yogurt bars, dry wholegrain cereals, cereal bars, fruit bars and juice bars or skim milk ice cream. Look for popcorn that is light, or unbuttered, rice cakes and low fat pretzels. And, of course, don't forget to ear plenty of fruit. Some people swear by grapaefruit juice as a good choice in how to lower your cholesterol.

So, when you need to decide how to lower your cholestrol, consider diet, exercise and, if necessary, cholesterol medication.

A Common Cause of Heart Attacks is High LDL CholesterolLDL cholesterol (or the bad cholesterol) is known to be one of the main causes for heart disease leading to heart attack. This is because LDL cholesterol coats the inside of the arteries with fat narrowing them by building up debris on the inside which causes atherosclerosis. So you'd think that knowing how to lower LDL cholesterol and taking action upon your findings would improve the situation but this is not the case. Even people who have normal levels of LDL cholesterol or just a little high LDL levels can be at risk of developing atherosclerosis and heart attacks.

LDL Cholesterol – The Silent Killer

Knowing how to lower LDL cholesterol is no guarantee that this will prevent atherosclerosis and/or heart attack. There have been many times where the patient in question took the right medication, followed the right diet and exercise regime very seriously and was able to lower and keep their LDL cholesterol at the lowest possible levels. However, the same person still developed progressive atherosclerosis and still experienced mild heart attacks.

This happens even in ideal conditions, i.e. even when the patient does not indulge in unhealthy habits such as smoking, or heavy drinking of alcohol, etc. So, if at all possible it is better not to develop high LDL cholesterol levels in the first place.

Although it looks like knowing how to lowering LDL cholesterol will solve the problem, once the thickening of the arteries sets in this is not enough. It needs something that de-activates the atherosclerosis process to lower the risk of heart attack. This is possible only with the increasing of HDL cholesterol.

HDL cholesterol or good cholesterol is known to remove the debris of fat that has settled on the inside walls of the arteries, thus cleaning the pathway and enabling free flow of blood. The fat and other particles that the HDL cholesterol picks up from the clogged arteries are then sent to the liver which breaks them down and expels them out of the system.

Hence, in order avoid the dangers of heart disease and impeding heart attack it is necessary to avoid the formation of bad cholesterol in the first place. Secondly, it always pays to have increased levels of HLD cholesterol or the good cholesterol because of its ability to clear the arteries of the debris and hence keeping the cardio-vascular system safe and sound.

The studies that have been done till date have clearly indicated that increased LDL cholesterol can be fatally dangerous. The only way to combat the ensuing heart disease is to keep the bad cholesterol levels at the lowest possible in the blood and actively increase the formation of good cholesterol. Knowing how to lower LDL cholesterol levels is a help but it is not sufficient to improve your changes of avoiding heart problems.

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.

Survey: Women concerned over cholesterol - Science Daily (press release)

Source: news.google.com

How To Distinguish Low Cholesterol Food

Those of use who suffer from high cholestrol would do well to learn how we can change our diet to include more low cholesterol foods and fewer high fat foods in order to lower our overall cholesterol levels. Information about low cholesterol foods is needed in order to plan a diet chart that can reduce high cholesterol levels.

Foods that are low in cholesterol

There are various types of food that can go into the low cholesterol group so there is a possibility that the foods you love may be in this list. THis means that you will not have to forego them. However, one of the leading causes of high cholesterol is saturated fat and so you should try to remove any and all foods that contain a high amount of saturated fat from your diet.

Eggs, poultry, meat, cheese and milk all come from animals and all contain cholesterol. In fact, part of the cell membrane structure of all types of cells in animals is made up of cholesterol. If you remove the skin from a chicken, for example, you will also be removing most of the fat. However, it will only remove some and not all of the cholesterol.

Animal cells contain cholesterol to much the same extent no matter what animal they are found in. So although the fat content of any animal muscle may vary widely between fish, chicken, turkey, beef, and pork  they all have relatively equal amounts of cholesterol.

In the case of dairy products however, the fat content decides how much cholesterol there will be. Milk is secreted from animal cells and so it is not made up of cells like meat is. Therefore, it has no cholesterol-containing cell membranes but because cholesterol is fat soluble it stays with the fats in milk and milk-based foods. Therefore, all in all, the more fat a dairy product contains, the more cholesterol it will also contain so this needs to be taken into consideration when you are thinking about low cholesterol food.

From the foregoing facts you can see that animal foods tend to be high in cholesterol. Use this information to help you create a diet that will improve your health. Eat lots of low cholesterol food and cut down on saturated fights for a diet that is healthy.