Understanding Cholesterol and Heart Health
If you have a better idea of what cholesterol is and how you can manage it in your life, this information will lead to better heart health, and all round better feeling of well being. Cholesterol is a waxy like substance that is found in the walls of all your body cells, from your nervous system to your liver and in your blood stream as well. Your body uses this cholesterol to make necessary hormones, bile acids, vitamin D and other vital substances that your body needs to survive. There are good and bad types of cholesterol as well
Where does the Cholesterol in your body come from?
Your body manufacturers all the cholesterol your body requires from the foods you eat. This cholesterol will circulate in your bloodstream in packages known as lipoproteins, which consist of fat inside and protein on the outside. Cholesterol which is a fatty substance does not mix with the blood, just as oil does not mix with water. Your blood carries it to the parts of the body where it is required as mentioned above
Your Body has 2 Types of cholesterol in your body, both good and bad!.
Your body carries two types of cholesterol one which is good for your health and the other bad… These are known as low density lipoprotein or LDL which is the bad cholesterol which carries cholesterol that builds up in your body tissues including your heart arteries. Most cholesterol in your blood at any given time is the LDL cholesterol. The higher the levels are of LDL cholesterol in your blood stream; the higher your dangers are of contracting heart disease. So remember LDL is the bad cholesterol and you don’t want high levels of this type in your body.
The good Cholesterol in your body is called HDL cholesterol. This cholesterol carries cholesterol away from your tissues to your liver where it is harmlessly removed from your body by natural secretion. Low levels of HDL increase heart disease. Healthy levels of HDL are good for you. Do not get mixed up between the two.
Why are high levels of LDL Cholesterol bad for your body?
Too much cholesterol in your blood leads to blocked and clogged up body tissues including your heart arteries. This build up is called plaque and as a result your arteries become less flexible. You may have heard the term atherosclerosis; which is hardening of your arteries and as you know the end result can be a heart attack. It is not just your heart blood vessels that can suffer from too much cholesterol, but any of the arteries in your body as well. If your coronary artery becomes blocked by too much plaque you will suffer angina because your blood is unable to get the oxygen it needs or the nutrients to the heart muscle. Hardening of the coronary artery is called coronary heart disease which you may likely by now have heard somewhere or another. This form of heart disease is becoming common in the western world due to high cholesterol in the blood from; Yes; and you guessed it; from unhealthy eating habits!
The risk factors.
Certain risk factors nothing can be done about regarding heart diseases and cholesterol levels. These factors where risks of heart disease are increased, are age groups for men and women over 45, which are ages that will increase the likelihood of coronary heart disease from atherosclerosis. Family history of early heart disease is also a factor that must be taken into consideration. The lack of regular exercise and bad eating habits increase the risk of heart disease from cholesterol as well. Most fast foods are prepared in unhealthy fats which is a high risk factor more than anything else as well…
How to lower your risks of high cholesterol.
Perhaps you have heard some of these tips before but it is prudent to go over them again for your information:
1 Avoid foods with high animal fat content. Trim excess fat off meat
2. Eat Lots of fruit, vegetables, and fiber for your health
3. Eat less salt in your diet and limit salty snacks and foods.
4. Lose some weight if you are carrying too much according to your BMI (Body Mass Index)
5. Regular sensible exercise in moderation and plenty of fresh air.
6. Stay calm and avoid stressful situations.
7. Limit your alcohol intake to a sensible level.
8. Smoke less, or give up altogether if possible.
Other treatments that can be used if your doctor has found you to have unhealthy levels of cholesterol are certain drugs called ‘statins’ that will control the rate which your body produces cholesterol. These drugs increase HDL and lower the bad LDL cholesterols. See above about what we mentioned about the good and bad cholesterols.
Watch your diet and eat healthily
Choose healthy fats like olive oil, avocado pears, peanut butter, unsalted nuts and fish oils. Try and limit intakes of salt, polyunsaturated fats, sunflower oils, soft margarines and salad dressings like mayonnaise. (Some newer soft low cholesterol margarine is available on the market that is completely safe to use nowadays though).
Watch out particularly to avoid eating too much animal fats on meats, eat less eggs, cheese, fatty meats, butter, and ice creams and of course take out foods. Naturally you can eat any of the above as long as you are sensible about it. Everyone tells you to eat more fiber, and by now with this advice it should be a given. If you are not eating enough greens or fresh vegetables then take some sort of antioxidants or supplements. Cut down drinking of alcohol to one or two drinks a day.
There is some great advice and diets that have been designed to help people with high cholesterol reduce these high levels. With a little research you will find the right ways to control your cholesterol.
More Heart Health Information Here
Richard has been researching the internet for quality health, weight loss, and beauty products to keep people informed and able to enjoy a better quality of Life since 2005. You can use this information with confidence to look good and feel great.
Healthy Natural Lifestyles
Lowering Cholesterol Through Eating Right
Although most people believe that the trend towards cutting off cholesterol in diets is brought on by the fact that the young generation is dieting themselves to death; it is not so. Limiting the body’s cholesterol levels is not only for appearance’s purposes but also for health reasons. Cholesterol levels in the body, when at a certain level, can cause a host of body complications and disease that can even eventually cause death.
Problems like hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes come in mind. This is especially true with people who are already old and in their middle ages because of the slowing down of the bodily processes particularly the digestive system and the body’s ability to convert fats to energy. This is perhaps why most older people, especially those that have weight issues, are being asked by their doctors to lessen their cholesterol intake.
What is cholesterol?
People have been talking about cholesterol but do they what it is and how it affects the body. Because of news about rising cases heart problems in the country, cholesterol has become an overnight antagonist. Everybody thinks that cholesterol is bad.
Actually, not all cholesterol is bad for the body. In fact, our bodies need cholesterol to make bile salts. It is also a major ingredients in maintaining hormonal balance as well as in the production of Vitamin D. Things become troubled when the levels become too high that the cholesterol already clog the arteries, making it hard for the blood to flow and the heart to pump.
There are two kinds of cholesterol, the good and the bad. The LDL, which is the bad kind, adhere to the arterial walls, forming plaques that eventually clog the passageway. Saturated fats and the trans fatty kind are sources of this kind of cholesterol. This is frequently found in pre-packed foods like potato snacks and canned goods.
The HDL, on the other hand, can lower the levels of LDL cholesterol. This is because the good HDL helps transport the LDL cholesterol from the arterial walls back to the liver where it is excreted out. These are found in nuts and in seafood particularly fishes.
People who want to lower their LDL levels are also advised to eat a lot of fruits because of the fiber that they bring to the body. Oats, cereals, and legumes are also great sources of fibers that can help combat the rise of LDL cholesterol, eventually decreasing the risk of heart disease.
Factors that affect cholesterol levels
Contrary to popular opinion, it is not just the diet that should be taken into consideration when dealing with high cholesterol levels. There are actually a lot of factors that affect the condition. One of these is the age and the gender. Older people are more affected by increased levels of cholesterol because of their bodies’ slowing processes. Another factor is the level of physical activity. Exercise can actually help in lowering down of LDL cholesterol. Also, it can help in strengthening the body and in toning the muscles.
Lowering cholesterol levels
From what was mentioned above, it seems remarkably simple to lower the body’s cholesterol levels… that is if one has the discipline to see it through. Just eat right and exercise regularly, avoid canned and pre-packed foods and you are on your way to lower cholesterol levels.
Visit Cholesterol Guidelines to learn about normal cholesterol levels and high cholesterol foods.
Eating A Cholesterol Lowering Diet For Heart Disease Prevention
Balancing the ratios of LDL and HDL cholesterol is the aim of any cholesterol lowering diet because lowering the bad (LDL) cholesterol is a large factor in reducing the risk of coronary artery disease. The effect of lowering cholesterol has been medically shown to reduce the mortality risk associated with heart disease.
Cholesterol levels, which are measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), naturally rise as men and women age and are determined through chemical analysis of a blood sample taken via a finger prick or from a blood draw from a vein. For a healthy person cholesterol intake should less than 300 milligrams daily while someone with an elevated cholesterol level should consume less than 200 milligrams per day. One thing to remember is that although dietary cholesterol can raise your blood cholesterol levels, the bigger culprit in elevated cholesterol levels is saturated fat. Foods that originate from animals are the only source of dietary cholesterol.
The basis of a cholesterol lowering diet revolves around eating a mostly plant based diet rich in cholesterol-lowering foods. In fact this approach has been shown to as effective as using statin drugs to lower cholesterol. This was proved out during a recent study showing that people who ate a rich diet of cholesterol lowering foods, such as soy protein, almonds, plant sterol-enriched margarines and natural fiber from oats, psyllium, okra, and eggplant for one year resulted in a 20% decrease in cholesterol, which is comparable to taking statins.
After starting a cholesterol lowering diet your levels will generally begin to recede after two to three weeks. When starting this type of diet the first thing you need to do is increase your fiber intake. This can be done by increasing the amounts of fruits, lots of vegetables, and whole grain products. The other thing that needs to be closely watched is the intake of saturated fat.
The reason for this is simple; nothing increases cholesterol levels quite like saturated fat. There are four main types of fat. The first two increase LDL cholesterol and need to be avoided.
1. Saturated fat found in most animal products, fast foods, and some vegetables should be avoided or at the least limited. Saturated vegetable fats include hydrogenated shortening, palm oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter.
2. Hydrogenated or Trans-Fat is found in margarine and vegetable shortening.
The two fats that can be eaten in moderation and can help decrease total cholesterol and keep levels of the good cholesterol (HDL) high include:
3. Monounsaturated Fat is found in olive and canola oil.
4. Polyunsaturated Fat is found in safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn and sesame oils.
The best foods for a cholesterol lowering diet are high in starch and fiber and are a good substitute for foods that contain high amounts of saturated fat. You do have to be careful because although foods from plants do not contain cholesterol some do contain saturated fat, such as avocados. Recently the American Heart Association began to recommend that people who have high LDL cholesterol eat foods fortified with plant sterols. These foods that have been fortified with sterols or stanols help block the body\’s absorption of cholesterol.
The thing to remember when undertaking a cholesterol lowering diet is that foods that contain high amounts of complex carbohydrates, if eaten plain, are low in saturated fat and cholesterol and contain the vitamins, minerals, and fiber you body needs. A healthy diet is the first step to successfully lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart disease that is associated with high levels.
To learn more about a Cholesterol Lowering Diet please visit the websiteLowering Cholesterol by clicking here.
Healthy Lifestyle to Lower Cholesterol
Achieving lower cholesterol is one of the best ways to protect yourself from heart attack and stroke. The more natural and cost effective way to lower cholesterol is to eat foods low in cholesterol. Using herbs to lower cholesterol is safe and effective.
One of the best things that you can to do lower cholesterol is to quit smoking and decrease the amount of fatty foods in your diet. For most people, the best way to lower cholesterol is to reduce their intake of saturated fats and to increase physical activity.
The Hypercet Blood Pressure Formula is a proprietary blend of five essential elements for healthy blood pressure. The Hypercet Cholesterol Formula is designed to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels and to assist normal body functions for optimum health. “Often the only treatment needed to lower cholesterol is thyroid medication.
Diet and exercise are imperative
To lower cholesterol naturally, diet and exercise are imperative. Diets rich in beans, peas, rice bran, barley, oat bran, whole grains, citrus fruits and apple pulp can help lower cholesterol levels, especially when additionally cutting back on animal products and fats. Diet can be a very effective tool for lowering blood pressure.
To keep your cholesterol low, your total fat intake shouldn’t be more than 25% to 33% of your diet –and most of those fats should be the good kind, like vegetable fats(mono unsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats), and omega-3 fatty acids, foundmostly in fish. He began including steel-cut oatmeal, eggplant, roasted soybeans, whole-wheat pasta and Brussels sprouts in his diet. Even better, the story includes a link to two favorite recipes from his cholesterol-lowering diet.
Exercise decreases the bad LDL-cholesterol
Surely, you’ve already asked you these questions: Those higher cholesterol is treating with herbs, good food, exercises or drugs. Exercise decreases
the bad LDL-cholesterol and increases the”good” HDL-cholesterol.
Exercise, not smoking and a high-fiber diet low in cholesterol and fat will improve your cholesterol count. Exercise itself doesn’t directly lower cholesterol, but will strengthen the heart and entire circulatory system. Exercise can apparently help keep a fat person healthy and maintain lower cholesterol levels, keep bad cholesterol levels down, without massive dietary changes,
nor having to lose weight.
Simply out of habit, not caring what foods to eat that lower your cholesterol and not giving your body regular easy-going exercises, the accumulation reaches a point where undesirable consequences as symptoms begin to show up.
Healthy Lifestyle
Healthy lifestyle and diet is key to prevention of high cholesterol levels. Lower cholesterol is important to living a long and healthy life, one that is free from heart disease or stroke. You should also maintain a healthy lifestyle through diet, exercise, and weight maintenance.
As you know, there are populations that have lived healthy lives on all meat diets and populations that have lived healthy lives on all vegetable diets. Some people’s bodies are simply genetically predisposed to make a lot of cholesterol; it doesn’t matter whether they eat a perfect diet or are a healthy weight.
Just as you wouldn’t bet all your money on a single stock, Jenkins says you shouldn’t bet your health on a single kind of healthy food.
Natural way to lower cholesterol
Natural way to lower cholesterol is to have low cholesterol diet and exercise regularly. Or you can choose a natural means where the only side effect is better health. And since your cholesterol naturally rises as you get older, it seems to sneak up on you without warning.
The good news is, you can lower you cholesterol naturally by taking responsibility over your body and your health and award yourself with a complete lifestyle makeover. There are natural herbs, vitamins and minerals that can help lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol in the body.
Supplements lower cholesterol naturally
Research also shows that improvement results can be dramatic if you were to strongly consider the combined use of regular exercises and the regular use of nutritional supplements, which are clinically proven to lower cholesterol naturally with no side effects.
Remember that the approach with drugs and / or dietary supplements is to supplement and not to replace a healthy diet and exercise. The most effective way to lower cholesterol when all of this does not work sufficiently, is with drugs and / or herbal dietary supplements. However, there are quite a number of supplements that have been clinically proven to lower cholesterol.
Conclusion
To lower cholesterol is one of your greatest health challenges, cholesterol induced strokes are not a pretty sight. A significant way to lower
cholesterol is to include adequate amounts of healthy fiber in your diet.
Another important element to a persons lifestyle that can be enhanced when wondering how to lower cholesterol is by establishing an exercise program or increasing an exercise program. As such one way to lower cholesterol is to avoid foods that contain high cholesterol or at least minimize their consumption, that is animal and dairy products. The most popular and well known food that can actually lower cholesterol is eating adequate amounts of oatmeal every day.
To Find Out More…
Paul Rodgers specializes in marketing online fitness, diets, health and beauty products and services. You are invited to visit the following Website –
Lower Your Cholesterol and Live Longer
Cholesterol is formed from two different sources, as it is both created in the liver and derived from the different foods that we consume. There are also two different forms of cholesterol, LDL and HDL. LDL cholesterol is considered to be the bad form of cholesterol because it has a tendency to build up inside the walls of arteries, which can lead to inflammation and the formation of clots, and eventually even heart disease.
HDL cholesterol, however, helps to transport LDL bad cholesterol out from the blood vessels, and back into your liver where it can be processed properly and then eliminated. Both LDL and HDL cholesterol come together to form what is your total cholesterol count, along with your triglycerides. Generally, you should be aiming for a high HDL, and a low LDL in order to make your heart the healthiest.
For many people, genetics can easily be blamed for unhealthy cholesterol numbers
However, this is not always the case because many people also have unhealthy cholesterol numbers thanks to a diet which is high in saturated fat which is converted into cholesterol in the body. But for most people, it is actually a combination of both of these things which creates the unhealthy cholesterol level in their bodies.
When it comes to high in saturated fat foods, which cause your bad cholesterol level to rise, the typical suspects are foods which are high in animal fats, such as whole-milk dairy products, pork, lamb, veal and beef among others.
There are also foods which are naturally high in cholesterol, such as the yolk of an egg, but it is still debatable whether this cholesterol is actually bad for you or not. Cutting back on these foods, or eliminating them from your diet all together is generally the recommended course of action if you are dealing with high cholesterol.
The process of lowering your blood cholesterol begins with diet modification
By lowering how much saturated fat you consume, and increasing the amount of soluble fiber foods you consume, you can reduce your cholesterol. Foods which are high in soluble fiber, like oatmeal, strawberries, citrus fruits, peas and Brussels sprouts can bind to the cholesterol which is present in your intestines, which helps the body excrete them. Additionally, these soluble fiber foods are also typically low in both fat and cholesterol, in addition to being packed with heaps of healthy nutrients and vitamins.
Another great way for you to begin the process of lowering your bad cholesterol levels is to lose a small amount of weight. 10 pounds is typically enough to start showing an improvement in your cholesterol level, because excess weight can significantly raise your LDL cholesterol level, and could possibly be lowering your HDL cholesterol as well.
Finally, if you are a smoker you should be aware of the fact that smoking can significantly reduce your HDL cholesterol level, so your heart health may be significantly boosted by quitting. Within a few weeks or months, you will notice that your HDL cholesterol level is rising, which will improve your cholesterol level and the health of your heart.
There are a variety of different ways to treat problems with high LDL cholesterol levels, and there are five different groups of drugs which are used to lower cholesterol levels. Typically, someone with high cholesterol will take one of these drugs from two of these different categories in order to achieve effective treatment.
Statins: These drugs help to prevent the liver from creating new cholesterol. Some of the drugs in this category include Atorvastatin, which is better known as Lipitor, Fluvastatin, which is better known as Lescol, Rosuvastatin which is better known as Crestor, and Simvastatin which is better known as Zocor.
Cholesterol Absorption Inhibitors: These drugs help to prevent the absorption of cholesterol in your small intestines. Some of the drugs in this category include Ezetimibe, which is better known as Zetia, and Vytorin which combines Zetia with a statin Simvastatin fibrate like gemfibrozil or fenofibrate.
Bile Acid Binding Resins: These drugs work in the intestines in order to bind to cholesterol, aiding your body in the process of excreting it. Some of the drugs that are in this category include Cholestyramine, which is known as Questran and Prevalite, Colestipol which is better known as Colestid, and Colesevelam which is better known as WelChol.
Niacin: Niacin is a form of vitamin B, and it may work by decreasing the production of cholesterol in your liver, but it is not totally clear yet how therapeutic doses of Niacin actually reduce cholesterol. There are several brand names for this form of Niacin, including Niaspan and Advicor, which actually combines the Vitamin B Niacin with a statin called Lovastatin.
Because your cholesterol levels contribute so heavily to the health of your heart, it is imperative that you maintain health levels in order to live a long, healthy life. If you continue to maintain a high LDL bad cholesterol level, the heart of your health will deteriorate, and you will find years shaved off your life. Maintaining a healthy level of cholesterol is an easy task as long as you understand the impact that cholesterol has on your body and how you can control it.
If you cannot control your blood cholesterol by yourself through exercise and proper nutrition, you should consult a doctor to find the right medication cocktail which will do the trick.
Author: Sabel Todd
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets
Can Oatmeal Reduce Cholesterol Levels?
So does oatmeal reduce cholesterol in the body? We know that it is very important to have a low cholesterol intake in our diet and there many different foods that help you achieve that. Studies have shown that oatmeal does help significantly reduce the level of cholesterol you have in your blood.
There are many reasons to why the amount of cholesterol should concern you. A high level of cholesterol in your blood causes many health problems. These include thickening the arteries, which puts a pressure on the normal blood circulation. As a result, this affects the heart adversely leading to high blood pressure and other heart problems.
Oatmeal is roughly ground oats that are included in many foods, mostly in cereals and breakfast foods such as muesli. It is a complex carbohydrate that breaks down slowly in your body. The sugar is released into the blood slowly and steadily providing you with energy over a longer time. This release of sugar slowly is very helpful for people suffering from diabetes.
Oatmeal is high in fiber and it is this quality that reduces cholesterol in the blood. Oatmeal is a soluble fiber and that means it is able to dissolve in water. This happens in the intestines after the oats are ingested.
This substance gets in the way of the LDL cholesterol from being passed onto the bloodstream as it is absorbed by the soluble fiber. Eventually, like fiber this goes out as waste from the body.
A lot of research has been conducted to see the effects of soluble fiber in our diet. Scientists are not yet exactly sure how the process works but research has shown that a fiber-based diet reduces cholesterol.
Going by that, it is still very beneficial to increase your oatmeal intake which is not too difficult. Most cereals will include oats. You may use it in preparing other foods especially in baked items.
You should also remember that not every product that has the word ‘oat’ in it’s name actually contain oatmeal and is therefore good for you. The best example for this is oatmeal cookies that are basically made up of sugar and fat. So, always check the label for the level of soluble fiber in the product before buying.
Visit the Cholesterol Scoop for more information on Cholesterol Chart. Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/can-oatmeal-reduce-cholesterol-levels-1685685.html
Nutritional Approaches for Reducing Cholesterol Levels – Part 1
Why You Should be Concerned about Cholesterol
Your body makes all the cholesterol you need. Your body uses cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that digest fat. When cholesterol is reabsorbed into the bloodstream, it is carried to the arteries by a lipoprotein (fat/protein complex) call low-density lipoprotein (LDL). If a large proportion of your cholesterol is combined with LDL it is more likely to be deposited in the walls of the arteries. High cholesterol is directly related to conditions such as arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, circulatory problems, heart attack, and hypertension. Another lipoprotein called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) can take cholesterol out of the arteries and back to the liver, where it is broken down for removal from the body. HDL has been called the good cholesterol because the higher a persons HDL cholesterol compared to their LDL cholesterol, the lower the risk for heart disease.
It is important to distinguish between serum cholesterol and dietary cholesterol. Serum cholesterol is the cholesterol in the bloodstream. Dietary cholesterol is cholesterol that is present in food. Cholesterol levels are greatly influenced by diet as well as your genetic makeup. The consumption of foods high in cholesterol and/or saturated fat increases cholesterol levels, while a vegetarian diet, regular exercise, and the nutrient vitamin C may lower cholesterol.
Diets high in soluble fiber, hence a diet high in fruits, grains and vegetables, have been shown to normalize serum cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber binds with bile acids and cholesterol, interfering with the absorption of dietary fat and cholesterol, as well as with the recirculation of cholesterol and bile acids, resulting in reduced blood cholesterol levels Vitamin C may also be a factor is lowering cholesterol. In his book The Optimum Nutrition Bible, Paul Holford presents an interesting aspect of vitamin C. Vitamin C is involved in making the collagen that keeps skin and arteries supple and during our evolution we lost the ability to manufacture vitamin C in our bodies because fruit was so abundant. However, when we did not eat enough fruit and became deficient in vitamin C, our bodies produced arterial plaque (the little fat deposits) to coat our arteries to patch up the various tears from wear and tear. The arterial plaque started out as a kind of soupy oatmeal like substance like mortar filling in bricks on a brick wall, it was doing the job of the vitamin Crepairing normal cellular damage. However, it doesnt quite work out, and the soupy oatmeal dries to a hard coating, hardening the arterial walls, rather than keeping them supple. Hence, the importance of keeping vitamin C levels constant over time for arterial health.
What is the Recommended Level of Total Serum Cholesterol?
The National Cholesterol Education Program (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) has a set of guidelines for cholesterol levels. It recommends that everyone age 20 and older should have their cholesterol measured at least once every 5 years. A blood test called a lipoprotein profile is considered the best way to find out your cholesterol numbers. This blood test is done after a 9- to 12-hour fast and gives information about your:
Total cholesterol
LDL cholesterol
-
HDL cholesterol
-
Triglycerides, which are another form of fat in your blood
If it is not possible to get a lipoprotein profile done, knowing your total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol can give you a general idea about your cholesterol levels. If your total cholesterol is 200 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) or more or if your HDL is less than 40 mg/dL, you will need to have a lipoprotein profile done.
A total cholesterol level less than 200 mg/dL is desirable. A level of 200 to 239 is borderline high and levels over 240 mg/dL are high. A LDL cholesterol level less than 100 mg/dL is optimal. A level of 100 to 129 mg/dL is near optimal to above optimal. A level of 130 to 159 mg/dL is borderline high, 160 to 189 mg/dL is high and levels at or above 190 mg/dL is very high.
HDL cholesterol protects against heart disease, so for HDL, higher numbers are better. A level less than 40 mg/dL is low and is considered a major risk factor because it increases your risk for developing heart disease. HDL levels of 60 mg/dL or more help to lower your risk for heart disease.
Triglycerides can also raise heart disease risk. Levels that are borderline high (150-199 mg/dL) or high (200 mg/dL or more) may need treatment in some people.
In Part 2, find out about the variety of things that can affect cholesterol levels, and which of those things you can do something about and those you cannot do anything about; and things to consider in a cholesterol reduction plan.
Copyright 2006. Mary El-Baz. All rights reserved.
Author: Mary El-Baz, PhD
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable pressure cooker
