Heart disease has claimed more than 17 million lives every year worldwide. Cholesterol is now being equated as strips of fat or oily substances and it has earned a very nasty public image because of how television presents it to the masses. But cholesterol is very important in the body because without it, we may not even be alive.
Typically, cholesterol is classified into two. Good cholesterol is known as high-density lipoprotein while low-density lipoprotein is known as the bad type. Low density lipoprotein is important in the body. It is responsible for transporting precious cholesterol to the cells since cholesterol is needed in certain biological processes like hormone and cell production. High density lipoproteins basically sweep the body from excess cholesterol and bring it to the liver for excretion. With the help of a Cholesterol Levels Chart, you can assess how much of the two you have in your body by undergoing a simple blood test.
A cholesterol reading of 200mg/dl or less is considered normal. The higher you go from normal, the greater the risk for heart disease and stroke. Basing on the LDL cholesterol levels chart, an LDL level of 130mg/dl or less is fine for the body but any higher than that then the risk for cardiac disease will most become likely. On the other hand, if you checked the HDL cholesterol levels chart, an HDL reading of 60mg/dl and higher can do wonders to the body but detrimental if the scale tips o the opposite side. These charts are a valuable tool in determining your health status and can be used as a guide for treatment if necessary and also preventive measures.
As mentioned before, LDL is bad cholesterol if you have high levels of the stuff. So obviously, lowering it would be a great first step. Diet primarily plays a role in this. Meats especially pork and beef should be taken in exceed with what is recommended by the food pyramid. Butter is also quite full of LDL so using it sparingly is highly recommended. In short, LDL can be found in food items that has fat in it. Simply put, limiting fat intake is very important in having normal LDL levels.
In contrast, HDL should be plentiful in your body and eating the right foods will greatly help. Diet also plays a role in increasing the levels of this so called “good cholesterol”. Consuming foods rich in niacin can help increase the amount of HDL in the blood like eggs and dairy products. Also, consume plenty of fat, more specifically healthy ones like omega-3 usually found in peanuts and fish and monounsaturated fats commonly found in olive oil, canola oil and also avocadoes.
Combined with exercise, lifestyle changes like avoidance of smoking and a healthy diet, you can achieve a sense of yin and yang of your cholesterol in your body and achieve bodily and arterial zen.
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substances and it has earned a very nasty public image because of how television presents it to the masses. But cholesterol is very important in the body because without it, we may not even be alive.