Cholesterol is a waxy material found in all parts of your body. It helps to make cells, some hormones, and vitamin D. Cholesterol comes from two sources: your body and the foods you eat. Your liver makes all the cholesterol your body needs.
Should I worry about cholesterol?
Too much cholesterol in your body means that you have a greater chance of getting heart disease than a person who has a healthy cholesterol level. Over time, if you have too much cholesterol in your body, it can build up on the walls of the arteries that carry blood to your heart. This means that less blood and oxygen are getting to your heart. This can cause chest pain and heart attacks.
Good and bad cholesterol. What do they mean?
Good cholesterol (HDL) takes the bad cholesterol out of your blood and keeps it from building up in your arteries. Bad cholesterol (LDL) makes cholesterol build up on the walls of your arteries and increases your chances of getting heart disease.
Cholesterol numbers: What do they mean?
The numbers tell you how much cholesterol you have in your blood.
• Ideally your total cholesterol level should be less than 200. This is considered healthy.
• The higher your level of total cholesterol (240 or above), the more chance you have of getting heart disease.
• Your good cholesterol level (HDL) should be 35 or higher. Preferably around 50.
• Ideally your bad cholesterol level (LDL) should be less than 130. Preferably less than 100.
Talk with your doctor to see if you need to make changes in the way you live or the foods you eat to achieve healthy cholesterol levels.
What makes cholesterol levels go up?
Eating foods such as meats, whole milk dairy products, egg yolks, and some fish can make your cholesterol levels go up. Being overweight can make your bad cholesterol go up and your good cholesterol go down. Also, after women go through menopause (the change of life), their bad cholesterol levels tend to go up. Genetics also plays a part in your cholesterol levels.
What can I do to lower my cholesterol levels?
Here are ways to help lower your cholesterol levels. Taking these steps can also help lower your chance of getting heart disease.
• Eat foods with less fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.
• Take off the skin and fat from meat, poultry, and fish.
• Broil, bake, roast, or poach instead of frying foods.
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables everyday.
• Eat lots of cereals, breads, rice, and pasta made from whole grains, such as whole wheat bread or spaghetti.
• Eat less sausage, bacon, salami, bologna, other fatty sandwich meats, whole milk, cheese, butter, and oil.
• Drink skim or low-fat milk.
• Use skim or low-fat milk, cheese, and yogurt in cooking.
• Use liquid or soft margarine or vegetable oils.
• Eat more egg whites and less egg yolks.
• Read food labels to learn how much fat is in the food you eat. Also look for the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in food.
• Ask your doctor or dietitian about which foods will help lower your cholesterol levels.
• Get lots of exercise everyday. Talk to your doctor about what are the safest and best ways for you to exercise. Some examples of good ways to exercise include walking, yard work, housework, dancing, aerobic dance, running, swimming, jumping rope, and bicycling.
• Lose weight if you are overweight.
• Stop smoking.
epic4health note: If you and your Doctor decide that your Cholesterol levels are too high and you have not been able to lower them sufficiently with diet and exercise, you may be placed on a statin drug. If so, you may want to read the information that we have on CoQ10 and Statin Drugs (see link below). All statins do a terrific job lowering cholesterol however, all statins can block the synthesis of Coenzyme Q10 in the body which may lead to sub-optimal CoQ10 levels which can then lead to a number of physical problems the most common being muscle aches and weakness so supplementation with Q-Gel Coenzyme Q10 is a prudent approach when undergoing “statin” therapy.