What you need to know about LDL and HDL cholesterol.
A lot of people have the wrong idea about cholesterol. They look on it as a substance to be avoided at all costs thanks to the many health warnings. What they often don't realize is that cholesterol is actually a vital substance to life. It is produced naturally by the liver and performs several important functions including helping make vitamin D, certain hormones, building cell walls and creating salts that aid in fat digestion.
Since cholesterol cannot be carried through the bloodstream by itself, it must form a lipoprotein by attaching itself to certain proteins. There are two main forms of lipoproteins to consider when measuring cholesterol levels: HDL (high-density lipoproteins) and LDL (low-density lipoproteins). HDL cholesterol is known as good cholesterol because it goes back to the liver where it is processed and expelled from the body. LDL cholesterol is more prevalent and known as bad cholesterol because its the kind that can cause problems.
When LDL cholesterol narrows blood vessels.
When there is too much LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream, there is a tendency for it to attach itself to the arterial walls, forming plaque. As plaque forms it will cause the blood vessels to become narrowed which reduces the flow of blood. Eventually this can cause hardening of the arteries, also called atherosclerosis. Depending on what blood vessels are affected, this can lead to increased risks for strokes or heart attacks.
There are several factors that can increase your risks of having high LDL cholesterol levels. If there is a family history of cholesterol problems or heart disease, this puts you at a higher risk. Being overweight has been shown to be a risk factor for high cholesterol levels as does leading a sedentary lifestyle. Your diet definitely is a big influence on your risks of developing high cholesterol levels. Since your body already produces enough of its own cholesterol, getting too much cholesterol from your food choices can greatly increase your chances of cholesterol problems. One more factor is age since your risks automatically get higher as you get older.
How to lower LDL cholesterol level ?
Obviously you cannot do much about hereditary factors or aging but there is a lot you can do to reduce your risk of cholesterol related illnesses. Keep a close eye on your diet and reduce what you take in for cholesterol, saturated fats and trans fats. According to research, recommendations are to keep your fat intake to less than 30% of your daily caloric intake and your saturated fats to below 10%.
If you are overweight, losing the excess will help lower your risk of high cholesterol. One of the best things you can do to lose weight is aerobic exercise such as walking and biking. Not only does it help burn the calories needed to lose weight, exercise actually helps to increase good cholesterol levels so it's a double bonus.
The first thing you should do if you have any of the risk factors is to have your doctor do a cholesterol check. This involves having your blood tested for what the levels of cholesterol are and is broken down with total cholesterol, HDL and LDL. Most doctors recommend that the total cholesterol stay in the 200mg/ml level but may adjust the total recommended for you based on the ration of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol as well.
If it is determined that you should be reducing your LDL cholesterol then you will need to eat a low cholesterol diet, exercise and lose weight if needed. While it won't go down overnight, within a few months a blood test will tell if your cholesterol LDL level is going down. After six months of this regimen, if the cholesterol is not lowering, the doctor may prescribe a cholesterol lowering medication such as Proactol®. As a clinically tested fat binder, this medication slows down the body's absorption of glucose which helps to lower cholesterol. Proactol® has been shown to help lower your fat absorption by up to 28% which can help lower cholesterol when diet and exercise alone aren't doing the job.
