Understanding cholesterol numbers is an important first step in reducing a person's risk of heart attack or stroke. Cholesterol is not the bad actor it is so often made out to be. In fact cholesterol, and their fatty cousins triglycerides, are essential for cell and muscle health, brain and nervous system function, and play a vital role in the absorption of fat and fat soluble vitamins. The body uses cholesterol to produce vitamin D and various hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone. So it becomes clear that part of understanding cholesterol numbers is recognizing that having some cholesterol is very important to overall health. It is only when cholesterol and triglyceride levels are consistently too high do health concerns start to appear.
Part of the problem with keeping cholesterol in healthy balance is that our liver produces ample amounts of this waxy substance, thus overzealous amounts of cholesterol consumed from high saturated fat foods will cause our numbers to rise.
*LDL or low density lipoproteins are known as bad cholesterol. They tend to increase as we age and are generally higher in men than women. The biggest factors in unhealthy LDL levels are heredity, being overweight, an inactive or a sedimentary lifestyle, consuming a diet high in saturated fat, and alcoholism. Less than 100 mg/dl is considered optimal, 100 - 129 is generally considered healthy, 130 -159 is borderline high, 160 -189 is high, and anything is over 190 is considered high risk.
*HDL or high density lipoproteins are known as good cholesterol and help keep cholesterol from building up in the arteries. In other words high levels of HDL actually protect us from heart and artery disease. 60 or over is considered heart healthy, 50 to 59 is considered good, 40 to 49 borderline low, and anything below 39 is considered high risk.
*Total cholesterol is a combination of LDL, HDL, and triglycerides (another fat in the blood). Less than 200 is considered good, 200 to 239 is borderline high, and anything over 240 is considered high risk.
*There is one more twist in our article about understanding cholesterol numbers. Quite a few cardiology professionals believe it is the ratio between LDL and HDL that is the key reading for coronary risk. Having a blood lipid profile consisting of twice as many LDL molecules as HDL molecules is considered optimal. Any ratio over 4 to 1 is considered to be high risk.
What Next? Lowering cholesterol, in most cases, is about changing old habits, adopting new healthier habits, and enlisting the help of convention medications such as statins or lowered-cholesterol.com natural cholesterol reducing remedies if needed. Put simply, this basically means finding ways to increase HDL (good cholesterol) and decrease LDL (bad cholesterol levels). Certainly the aforementioned statin drugs will be one of your options but they do carry a number of serious label warnings. The side effect risks have made natural cholesterol reduction supplements combined with diet modification safe and effective combination worth considering.
Rob D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic advocate for the use of safe and effective high quality alternitive health products and natural living, with over 10 years experience in the field. Learn more about natural remedies and natural health at purchaseremedies.com Purchase Remedies.com
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