The Real Deal on Cholesterol

Is your Cholesterol high? What is cholesterol anyway? What can you do about it? These are all relevant questions that deserve an answer. Cholesterol is the building block for several components of your body such as your body cell membranes, bile, and steroid hormones. This means not all cholesterol is bad and in fact it is necessary for your body to carry out some of its daily functions. The problem occurs when levels become too high which can clog your arteries causing heart attacks or stroke.

There are two main aspects when we think of cholesterol: high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL)., but what does this really mean? HDL the "good" cholesterol" is a transport system for the cholesterol in your body. The HDL transports that cholesterol floating around your body to your liver to be broken down and used again some where else. HDL is in a sense clearing the cholesterol from your bloodstream. LDL the "bad" cholesterol is a transport system for the fats like cholesterol and triglycerides to move about your blood stream. LDL is used as a medical marker to determine if you have high cholesterol levels in your blood and possibly cardiovascular disease.

There are several reasons why you might have high cholesterol either high LDL or Low HDL both which can cause your doctor to find an elevated level. High levels of LDL can be caused by your genes, what you eat specifically saturated fat, excess body weight, stress, and lack of exercise. As your LDL levels increase plaques are formed which can begin to block off arteries in your body such as the coronary arteries and cause chest pain. This condition if not corrected will ultimately cause a heart attack or stroke when the plaques completely block off the artery.

What can you do if you high levels of LDL? There is usually a three fold approach of pharmaceuticals, modification in diet, and exercise. Your change is diet is to a low fat, particularly saturated fat and to increase fiber. If you need to lose weight you will likely be reducing overall calories too. The increase in exercise will help increase the number of HDL you have which will help lower your overall cholesterol level.

You can also try supplements such as Vasocor, a natural supplement, to assist in your overall efforts to reduce your total cholesterol level. For more information about HDL and LDL cholesterol, please visit vasacor.com vasacor.com.

~Tracy~