High Cholesterol Levels and Its Effects on Your Health
Maintaining Healthy Cholesterol Levels Is Very Important
We all know that having high cholesterol levels is not good for our health but how many of us are really aware of what high cholesterol can do to our body?
Today, more and more people are experiencing cholesterol-related health problems like strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular complications.
It is therefore evident that now is a good time to start educating ourselves about the dangers of cholesterol and to begin taking steps to prevent these problems from happening.
When you go in to have your cholesterol levels measured, the results will be given to you in numeric form. This number, which is often measured in milligrams, is your cholesterol count. There are many uncontrollable factors that can affect your cholesterol count, including your race, your age, your gender and even your lifestyle practices. Smoking and heavy drinking, for instance, can considerably increase one’s cholesterol levels.
Contrary to what many people think, not all kinds of cholesterol is bad – there is also the good cholesterol called HDL or high density lipoprotein. This type of cholesterol is actually needed by the body in order to function properly. What you want is to lower bad cholesterol (low density lipoprotein) while keeping your HDL count in the healthy range.
Ideal Cholesterol Levels
The exact number of ideal cholesterol levels varies with each individual but there is a general acceptable range for everyone. For most people, a cholesterol count of less than 200mg is considered good. Once you exceed this without going over 239mg, you are said to be a borderline case for high cholesterol.
Now, if your cholesterol reading is 240mg or higher, you should seriously start doing something to reduce cholesterol levels because you are already at high risk of developing heart problems and other cholesterol-related illnesses. It is recommended that you consult with your doctor, who can prescribe the right medications and also suggest dietary changes that will help you reduce cholesterol.
You can also help yourself, by starting your own healthy cholesterol diet and if you are into natural supplements, you may prefer to try a natural cholesterol lowering supplement. Even if you don’t have any visible cholesterol problems, it is advisable to start practicing healthy lifestyle habits. You can begin by eating a balanced diet everyday, getting plenty of exercise, drinking at least 8 glasses of water daily, quitting smoking and keeping alcohol consumption to a minimum. Such practices will not only help you avoid high cholesterol levels but improve your overall health incredibly.
How To Keep a Healthy, Good Cholesterol Ratio
Its Important To Maintain Healthy Cholesterol Levels
Contrary to popular belief, being healthy does not only mean reducing your cholesterol levels but also maintaining a good cholesterol ratio. Many people mistakenly believe that cholesterol is intrinsically bad for the body and that it should be eliminated completely.
However, the human body does need some amount of cholesterol. Therefore, in order to be perfectly healthy, we need to minimize the bad cholesterol while keeping a healthy amount of good cholesterol at the same time.
Balancing the Good and Bad Cholesterol
There are basically two kinds of cholesterol found in the human body — the LDL or low-density lipoproteins and the HDL or high-density lipoproteins. HDL is the good cholesterol, which is needed by the body to build cell membranes. It is transported to the different parts of the body through the bloodstream. LDL is also found in the blood but it is not really needed by the body.
It can clog up your arteries, especially if there is too much of it in the blood. Once the arteries are clogged up, there will be a very high probability of heart attacks, strokes or other serious complications in the circulatory system. But all these health risks can be avoided by balancing your cholesterol levels and keeping a good cholesterol ratio at all times.
How Do You Maintain A Good Cholesterol Ratio?
There are several ways you can do this, like by watching what you eat. Many foods today contain high amounts of cholesterol — these are the ones that have saturated fats or trans fats among the ingredients.
You can keep your cholesterol ratio favorable by staying away from these foods and choosing instead those that are marked as low-fat or cholesterol-free. Many also choose to help reduce cholesterol levels with natural cholesterol lowering supplements.
If you eat healthy foods, it is still advisable to monitor your cholesterol levels regularly through a cholesterol screening test done once every two years or so.
Getting your cholesterol levels tested is not complicated at all. You will just have to submit a blood sample and the lab results will be returned to you shortly. Interpreting the results is not difficult either. You just have to see whether your HDL count is higher than your LDL count.
If so, then you have a good cholesterol ratio and have nothing to worry about. Otherwise, you will have to reduce your fat intake, exercise more, and perhaps lose some weight. By doing all this, you can improve your cholesterol ratio considerably.
