What is your Cholesterol Level?

‘Cholesterol’ when we hear such a word,we panic thinking its bad without even knowing what it does to us. We just blindly avoid foods which have cholesterol in them and think we will get fit and lose weight. Well, I was doing the same when I initially started my diet. But later realized many facts about cholesterol , how it works and which is good and bad.

So what is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a soft, fat-like, waxy substance found in the bloodstream and in all your body’s cells. It’s normal to have cholesterol. Cholesterol is an important part of a healthy body because it’s used for producing cell membranes and some hormones, and serves other needed bodily functions. But too much cholesterol in the blood , it can stick to the walls of the arteries which is a major risk for coronary heart disease (which leads to heart attack) and for stroke.

Total cholesterol is the sum of LDL (low density) cholesterol, HDL (high density) cholesterol, VLDL (very low density) cholesterol, and IDL (intermediate density) cholesterol.

LDL cholesterol is called “bad” cholesterol because it slowly deposits cholesterol on the artery walls, causing the formation of a hard, thick substance(plaque) which in overtime causes thickening of the artery walls and narrowing of the arteries or even clogging them. Such a clot can block the blood flow to a part of heart muscle which will cause a heart attack . If a clot blocks the blood flow to part of the brain, a stroke results.

HDL cholesterol is known as “good” cholesterol because a high HDL level seems to protect body against heart attack. HDL does the opposite of LDL by extracting cholesterol from the artery walls and disposing of them through the liver where it’s passed from the body. So higher the HDL and low levels of LDL is desirable for heart healthy lifestyle.

Everyone over the age of 20 should get their cholesterol levels measured at least once every five years.

Doctors recommend your cholesterol stay below 200. Here is the breakdown:

Desirable – Less than 200 mg/dL

Bordeline high – 200 to 239 mg/dL

High – 240 mg/dL and above

Factors that affect Cholesterol Levels

A variety of factors can affect your cholesterol levels and some of them are below:

Diet and Nutrition

To keep your cholesterol low, your total dietary fat intake shouldn’t be more than 25% to 35% of your diet — and most of those fats should be the good kind, like vegetable fats (monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats), and omega-3 fatty acids, found mostly in fish.Although some foods contain cholesterol, such as eggs, kidneys, eggs and some seafoods, dietary cholesterol does not have much of an impact in human blood cholesterol levels. However, saturated fats do! Foods high in saturated fats include red meat, some pies, sausages, hard cheese, lard, pastry, cakes, most biscuits, and cream (there are many more).

Bodyweight

People who are overweight/obese are much more likely to have higher LDL levels and lower HDL levels, compared to people who are of normal weight.

Exercise-

Regular exercise can lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most days.

Smoking

This can have quite a considerable effect on LDL levels.

Alcohol

People who consume too much alcohol regularly, generally have much higher levels of LDL and much lower levels of HDL, compared to people who abstain or those who drink in moderation.

Age and Gender

As we get older, cholesterol levels rise. Before menopause, women tend to have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After menopause, however, women’s LDL levels tend to rise.