The Lower Cholesterol Secret - Find Out Your Risk Factors

This is #2 in a series of articles on how you can successfully manage and reduce your cholesterol. Watch out for the next secret.

So, just what is the risk of you suffering either a heart attack or stroke?

Your risk of heart attack is greater if you suffer from what is known as coronary heart disease, which is when hardening of the arteries causes reduced blood flow to the heart. This condition is called atherosclerosis and will be manifest when excess amounts of LDL cholesterol form along the insides of the walls of the arteries and over time turn into a hard substance called plaque. This narrows the arteries and begins to severely restrict blood flow along these channels.

Your risk of stroke is increased when hardening of the arteries reduces the blood supply to the brain, and leads to the condition known as cerebral vascular disease. This is again caused by excess LDL cholesterol forming plaque on the arterial walls that is responsible for the restricted blood flow.

Different individuals have different risk factors than others, some of them totally outside your control, but nevertheless there are a number of such factors that you can most certainly control.

Your risk of developing high cholesterol levels is higher if you are overweight and/or if your diet includes too much LDL cholesterol.

A factor you are able to control is the ingestion of additional cholesterol from various foods. This you can control to quite a large degree by planning carefully what types of food you eat. By eating less animal foods but consuming far more fruit, vegetable and grain, you will indeed lower your risk of heart disease.

Your risk factors can also be reduced by daily exercise, as this both indirectly reduces your LDL through weight loss and increases your good cholesterol level - HDL.

Factors over which you have no control are those that are hereditary. If there is a family history of high cholesterol problems or coronary disorders then there is a greater chance that you will suffer also.

Yet another factor beyond your control is age, as cholesterol levels in both men and women naturally rises as one becomes older.

However, the true meaning of "High Cholesterol" is not quite as simple as it sounds. What we're talking about in fact is a total cholesterol level which includes the two types of cholesterol - HDL and LDL - these can be considered to be GOOD and BAD types and the ratio between them is important in determining your state of health and how at risk of heart disease you my be.

Clearly, if your overall cholesterol is low, your likelihood of developing some sort of heart disease is going to be much reduced.

However, if you have a total score of more than 240, your levels are considered high and your risk of heart disease is increased proportionally

So, looking at the ratio of your LDL to HDL, you need to have greater levels of HDL in the blood stream as this will in turn help reduce the BAD cholesterol.

The ratio you are looking for is - for a man: 4.5 to 1 or less. If you are a woman: 4 to 1 or less. Fortunately it is but a simple matter to calculate what your ratio is. You just divide your total cholesterol level by the HDL count, this gives the result.

Statistics show that more than 50% of the adults in the United States have overall cholesterol levels which are higher than 200. Therefore, greater than half of them are at risk of contracting some form of heart disease during their lifetime. A further half of these are not even aware that their cholesterol levels are high.

This is the second in a series of articles on lowering cholesterol naturally by Alan Christopher. To find out more go to the next article: The Lower Cholesterol Secret #3 - ezinearticles.com/?The-Lower-Cholesterol-Secret---Know-Your-Prescription-Drugs&id=6101094 Know Your Prescription Drugs

Alan Christopher has years of experience in nutrition and how to lower cholesterol with food. Visit the website page on lowercholesterolfood.com/foods-for-lower-cholesterol foods to eat for lower cholesterol - at LowerCholesterolFood.com where you will find more useful information on evaluating your risk of heart disease together with a FREE 10 part mini-course.