Feb 13 2009
Understanding the effect of cholesterol
Cholesterol is a type of fat. It is attained from food that you eat. Besides, your liver is responsible for making cholesterol.
If cholesterol level exceeds the normal limit in your body, it gets deposited in your arteries. This is called hardening of arteries (or atherosclerosis).
Just imagine a pipe in the kitchen sink. With an increase in grease in the pipe, it eventually gets blocked. It’s the same case with cholesterol. It narrows your arteries and decreases blood flow through them. There is decreased blood supply to vital organs like brain, kidney and ofcourse, your heart.
There is an on-going controversy regarding the effect of cholesterol on the heart. Some people are in favor of it and some people are against it. It is important to know that cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease, but not the only one!
A blood test will reveal your cholesterol levels.
Normal value is <200 mg/dL.
200-239 mg/dL is considered borderline-high.
Any value equal to or more than 240 mg/dL is considered high.
Cholesterol travels through the blood attached to a protein. This compound is called a lipoprotein.
Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are the “bad” cholesterol. Why is it bad? Because it has more fat, less protein.
High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are the “good” cholesterol. Why is it good? Because it has more protein, less fat.
Higher levels of HDL protect you from a heart disease.
Triglycerides are another type of fat in the blood which increases your risk of a heart attack.
So, the next time you get a blood test done, make sure you look at these values and see if they are in the normal range or higher (All lab reports mention the reference range for that particular area).
Here’s a video which shows the food items that lower “bad” cholesterol.
If you can’t view it, please follow this link:
Hi Doctor,
We always worry so much about CHOLESTEROL!!!…thanks for the details…and for helping us to identify the ‘bad’ and ‘good’ cholesterol.
gazal
http://healthnbeauty.today.com/
Keeping choleserol in thenormal range is important for so many reasons. One of them being, helping to decrease your chances of getting dementia
I really never understood all that doctor lingo on cholesterol. Thank you for making in clearer and more understandable.
www.passiton.today
www. mrschadt.com
Very important information. It’s amazing how many people still don’t understand how cholesterol works in their bodies.
Thanks for the backtrack insert to my blog. Could you e-mail me and tell me how you set that up? I’d love to do the same on my site.
Karen
http://gardendiva.today.com/
This is very helpful information. Thanks so much for sharing it.
http://theinformer.today.com
Thanks for the info. We always hear about cholestorol and how bad it is, but not a lot of detail. You helped clear it up a lot.
Great information. Fortunately, my cholesterol is within normal limits.
I love your articles. They keep me in check.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Roxie
You are invited to sign the Recovery Wall
http://recoveryrocks.today.com/recovery-wall
Even though I am a vegetarian and don’t eat any animal fats, I still have to keep an eye on my cholesterol levels due to hypothyroidism. This post had a lot of good info.
Thanks for breaking down the good and bad for me!!
I have always knew about good and bad cholestrol,, but haven’t actually knew what they mean,, no cholestrol run in my family,,
Great educational Info
@alzheimersideas: That’s interesting.
@Kyellis: Sure
Thanks for sharing the youtube clip.
It’s crazy how at my workplace the tiniest people are the one with the highest cholesterol level! I work in hospitality and I’m guessing it must be all that seafood.
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