Cholesterol, if you didn’t already know, comes from fat, mainly present in animals. Although cholesterol is needed to build certain cells, high cholesterol counts can mean bad things for you body, including heart disease.
There’s been a lot of noise about “good” vs. “bad” cholesterol. You might be wondering why one is better than the other and where to get the good stuff in your diet. Bad cholesterol is carried by low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which can slowly build up on artery walls, narrowing them. The good stuff, or high-density lipoprotein (HDL), actually lowers your chances of build up on artery walls. According to the American Heart Association: “Medical experts think that HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it’s passed from the body. Some experts believe that that HDL removes excess cholesterol from arterial plaque, thus slowing its buildup.”
HDL and LDL aren’t actually present in food. Rather, HDL and LDL are the end result of a chemical reaction present in your blood, determined by lots of different factors, including what you eat, how much you exercise and if you smoke.
LDL can come from saturated and trans fats in your diet. A higher instance of LDL also seems to be present if you don’t exercise. The more processed foods you eat, the more likely your LDL levels will be too high.
You can raise your blood HDL levels by exercising, quitting smoking and adjusting your diet. Eat more fish, use olive oil instead of butter, and avoid refined sugars and a diet high in carbohydrates. Eating a diet high in fiber, particularly with fruits and green vegetables, also seems to have a positive effect on HDL levels. Having one drink of alcohol a day seems to boost HDL levels, but anything more than that can have a detrimental effect.
First Coast News has been doing their bit to raise local awareness lately with What’s Your L?, a series about what your rates of good and bad cholesterol mean. Go to firstcoastnews.com and type “What’s Your L?” into their search box for a quiz on cholesterol and information on blood cholesterol levels.
The bottom line: testing for LDL and HDL levels can give you a general idea of how healthy you are. Even if your overall cholesterol level is under 200, you will want to take a look at the breakdown of the types of cholesterol. With a fasting blood test, you’ll want a score of about 100 LDL or lower and about 60-40 HDL or higher. Everyone is different. Some people need to watch their diets more closely, get more exercise or go on medication to raise HDL and lower LDL. Getting a cholesterol level test helps you gauge what you should be doing for a healthy heart and body.
Article Published in the 2-21-08 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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