What Causes High Cholesterol for Americans?

May 12, 2011 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

What is it about high cholesterol that about 100 million Americans have it? High cholesterol comes in different sources. It may come from what you eat and the family history that you have. Here are some common causes of high cholesterol.

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High Cholesterol – Causes of High Cholesterol

May 28, 2010 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

Cholesterol is a waxy, fatlike substance that your body needs to function normally. Cholesterol is naturally present in cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines, and heart.

Your body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat. It takes only a small amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs. If you have too much cholesterol in your bloodstream, the excess may be deposited in arteries, including the coronary (heart) arteries, where it contributes to the narrowing and blockages that cause the signs and symptoms of heart disease.

At normal levels, cholesterol is not a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s an essential raw material used by the body to build cell walls and produce hormones such as estrogen and testosterone. The body produces its own supply of cholesterol in the liver, and it’s found naturally in all animal products (such as meats, eggs, milk, and cheese). It poses a problem only when the body is unable to use or eliminate excessive supplies.

Cholesterol levels begin increasing for both men and women as age goes up. Women generally have a lower level than men do between the age of 50 and 55. However, once a woman starts into menopause, the natural occurrence is that the cholesterol level starts to increase.

Causes of High Cholesterol

The tendency to build up high cholesterol may run in families, but excessively high levels are usually the result of a poor diet high in saturated fats and calories, combined with little or no exercise. In some cases, an elevated cholesterol level may be associated with an undiagnosed medical condition, such as hypothyroidism (low thyroid function) or diabetes.

Excess weight tends to increase you LDL (bad) cholesterol level. If you are overweight and have high cholesterol levels, losing weight may help you lower it. Weight loss also helps to lower triglyceride levels as well as raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels.

High cholesterol rarely causes symptoms. It is usually detected during a routine blood test that measures cholesterol levels (see the Exams and Tests section). You may first discover it when you are diagnosed with a condition that is caused in part by high cholesterol, such as coronary artery disease, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease.

Alcohol is “good” because it increases HDL cholesterol (the good one). However, it does not decrease the bad or HDL cholesterol. Plus, drinking too much alcohol damages the liver and heart muscle, leads to high blood pressure and raises triglyceride levels.

Drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol (ie more than three to four units per day for men and two to three units per day for women).

Women get a natural boost in their HDL cholesterol (the good kind of cholesterol) from their hormones until they reach menopause. After menopause, taking estrogen can help maintain higher HDL cholesterol levels.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL): LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol transports cholesterol throughout your body. LDL cholesterol builds up in the walls of your arteries, making them hard and narrow.

Your chances of a heart attack rise dramatically when your cholesterol gets even moderately out of line. Generally speaking, a man with a total blood cholesterol level of 240 is twice as likely to suffer a heart attack as a man with a level of 200, all other factors being equal. A level of 300 carries five times the risk.

Age and gender–Cholesterol levels begin to increase in both men and women beginning around 20 years of age. Premenopausal women usually have lower levels of cholesterol when compared with men of the same age. After menopause, a woman’s LDL cholesterol level typically goes up, as does her risk for heart disease.

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Low Cholesterol Diet – Decrease Risk of Heart Diseases

May 7, 2010 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a fatty wax lipid that can be found in the cell membranes of humans and animals.

Cholesterol is a tricky little devil, because if it gets out of hand you could have a serious health risk, including heart attack and other potentially fatal conditions. That is why it is so important to have a low cholesterol diet, because it reduces your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. High cholesterol is something you need to avoid. It can cause many conditions including heart disease.

By having a low cholesterol diet, you are less likely to contact heart disease than someone who eats a high cholesterol diet.Well, whether or not you have high cholesterol, eating too many high cholesterol foods will give you high cholesterol. So, manage your diet and eat right, and remember that a low cholesterol diet is important for your health.

Causes, Symptoms of High Cholesterol

Nobody wants High cholesterol. When you hear the dreaded words from your doctor saying you have high cholesterol, you are probably thinking something along the lines of – “Now. I will never be able to eat my favorite food again!” But do not worry, there are many low cholesterol diets that can be good for you and taste well all at the same time. First let’s look at the causes of high cholesterol. In most cases, weight plays a large role in high cholesterol because of the food you eat and the amount of food you eat.

Sometimes it can be as simple as losing a few pounds to lower your cholesterol levels, but other times you simply can do nothing. You lose weight but your cholesterol levels are still the same. This can be an example of hereditary cholesterol, which means your high cholesterol levels could be the result of one of your family members having high cholesterol. A low cholesterol diet will help to keep your cholesterol levels down but it will be harder because it is something in your genes that makes your cholesterol high. Also stress can raise your cholesterol so practicing stress relief is a good idea, and exercise may be the perfect option for you, exercise can both decrease your stress and your cholesterol levels all at the same time.

Symptoms of high cholesterol can be, fatigue, depression and other emotional conditions. A good suggestion when starting a low cholesterol diet would be to avoid fatty, unhealthy foods, like french fries, and other fast foods that are high in cholesterol. Junk food is never good, so when you are trying to stay on a low cholesterol diet, try to avoid these types of foods at all costs. Yes I know you love those kind of foods, but it is not the end of great tasting foods for you yet. Today there are many substitutes for junk foods that can be made right at home with ingredients that will not raise your cholesterol levels.

It is good to go to your local book store and find a low cholesterol diet cookbook, because a lot of the time you can find delicious recipes that are much lower in cholesterol than other foods. For example if you get hungry for french fries while on a low cholesterol diet, consider this – most low cholesterol cookbooks will have a recipe for oven fries. These are a delicious substitute for regular french fries and they taste great! Of course if you cannot find this recipe feel free to go online and find low cholesterol recipes for you and your family to enjoy.

Author: Dr. John Anne
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Causes of High Cholesterol – The Causes and Tips to Reduce High Cholesterol

March 14, 2010 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

The causes of high cholesterol are numerous and common. If you don’t have high cholesterol and your looking for a preventative measure, I applaud you and your efforts. Prevention is the best solution.

There is a tipping point at a certain level where you enter a danger zone. Although it takes years of bad habits and age to amplify the problem, cholesterol only becomes a problem at a certain point. At this high point, you have to start changing your diet and exercise in order to prevent heart disease. The problem is you are no longer allowed to have a balanced diet. People with high cholesterol are told to avoid high cholesterol foods and for some, this is the only source of protein and important nutrients.

Your job is to understand what causes high cholesterol in order to keep your levels at bay. The first aspect of cholesterol that everyone needs to know about is that their are 2 different types.

Good Cholesterol (Also known as, HDL cholesterol) – This is the type of cholesterol in the body that removes extra cholesterol from the body. You see, the body needs cholesterol to form cell membranes, produce vitamin D, produce bile to digest fat, and many other things. You don’t need too much cholesterol in order to follow through on these different processes. Your body uses HDL cholesterol in order to remove all the extra.

Bad Cholesterol (Also known as, LDL cholesterol) – This is the type of cholesterol that brings cholesterol to the rest of the body. Out of all the causes of high cholesterol, this has to be one of the most prominent. This type sends cholesterol to the cells. It is more likely to be turned into plaque by free radicals. When your cholesterol turns into plaque, it builds up on the artery walls. one day when your not aware, the bubble of plaque bursts and unleashes blobs of fat that get stuck and have the tendency to cause a heart attack.

The causes of high cholesterol really have to do a lot with the different types of cholesterol.

1. Overeating Saturated Fat Foods

If you eat foods with high saturated fat content, you are at a high risk for high cholesterol. Ingesting saturated fat always increases the level of cholesterol the body produces. The liver understands that their is more fat to process so it creates more cholesterol to take care of it. Remember, cholesterol is used in the production of bile. Since bile is necessary in order to process fat, cholesterol is required in order to produce bile.

In addition, fat is also turned into triglycerides or the basic form that is stored in the body. Cholesterol is required to transport this to the cells. Again, the more fat eaten, the more that has to be stored in the body. This is an additional burden that has to be carried through the blood and increases the constant level of cholesterol.

2. Lack of exercise

This is another one of the larger causes of high cholesterol in the body. Exercise is shown to increase levels of good cholesterol in the body. If you don’t exercise, your good cholesterol will ultimately me lower. If your good cholesterol level is low, there is not enough of it to transport all the excess out of your body.

3. Genetics

Studies have shown that genetics has a lot to do with different cholesterol levels. Even if you stay on a healthy diet and exercise, you can still have high cholesterol. This is one of the causes of high cholesterol that is very difficult to explain and treat.

Now that you know what it takes to reach high levels of cholesterol, try to prevent that from ever happening by keeping fit, eating healthy foods, and above all, by taking the right supplement. If you are at risk for high cholesterol, it is recommended that your daily supplement be specific for high cholesterol. Studies have shown the preventative powers of cholesterol lowering supplements. Their ingredients are a special blend of different cholesterol managing substances, vitamins, and minerals.

Author: George Christodoulou
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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