What is cholesterol? Why is it sooo bad?
Cholesterol is one of the major fats in your blood. These fats are also known as lipids. Your body makes the cholesterol in your liver and gets it from the food you eat. After this, it builds your cell membranes and hormones.
How do you know if you have high cholesterol? When you have a reading done on your cholesterol levels, the total cholesterol should be under two hundred and forty. If it is over this amount, you have high cholesterol.
What is the risk of high cholesterol levels? High cholesterol can lead to serious risks of heart disease as well as heart attacks and strokes. The cholesterol can block your blood flow and could cause carotid artery disease.
Types of proteins LDL & HDL
There are two types of proteins that carry cholesterol. One is LDL which is low-density lipoproteins also known as the ‘bad’ cholesterol. The other type is HDL which is high-density lipoproteins also known as the ‘good’ cholesterol. The low density lipoproteins can increase your heart disease risk if at a high level. The high density lipoproteins can lower your risk by helping your body rid the cholesterol.
Anyone can get high cholesterol but your risk can vary depending on your genes or disease you may have. High cholesterol is usually the result of ingesting too many high saturated fat foods and cholesterol. Keeping an eye on your diet can drastically help in lowering your cholesterol and keeping it at a healthy level.
How do I know if my cholesterol is high?
There is no way to tell if you have high cholesterol without having your doctor do a test or if you experience a heart attack or stroke. Of course you do not want to wait until you have a stroke before watching your cholesterol, so it is better to take control of it now.
How do you treat high cholesterol? This will depend on what caused your high cholesterol. If your diet is what has caused your high cholesterol you could try a low cholesterol diet. Adding exercise to any diet is always a benefit in helping lower your cholesterol.
There are many things you can do to help reduce your cholesterol level. Watching what you eat, reading the labels on everything, cooking in a different way, etc. This diet does not mean you have to give up everything you enjoy eating. You just have to eat the certain fatty foods in moderation instead of every meal.
What to watch out for in foods: You want to watch out saturated fats. These fats raise your low density lipoproteins. This is the main reason for many high cholesterol sufferers. The cholesterol will build up in your arteries and block the blood from flowing freely into your body. This causes a high cholesterol level if not a stroke or heart attack.
How can you lower your cholesterol? Eating more vegetables and foods high in fiber are a great way to keep your cholesterol low. Oatmeal is a recommended food that is great for lowering cholesterol. Eat this every morning if you can.
Talk with your doctor if you are concerned about your cholesterol level. If dieting and exercise are not enough by themselves, your doctor may prescribe medication for you. There are many medications used to decrease cholesterol levels and help you maintain a healthy level.
