Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is manufactured in the liver and is also supplied by animal foods in the diet. Cholesterol has several important roles in the body. It helps digest fat, synthesizes vitamin D and manufactures sex hormones. But when there's too much cholesterol in your body and it starts to build up in your arteries, it becomes a dangerous risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.
Significance
High cholesterol is just one of many risk factors for coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke, but it is significant because it is a factor that can be measured. The higher your blood cholesterol levels, the greater your risk of developing atherosclerosis, or clogged arteries, which can lead to a heart attack. When other risk factors are present along with high cholesterol, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, advancing age, smoking, excess body fat or a family history of heart disease, your risk runs even higher.
Total Cholesterol
Your total cholesterol count is a combination of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) and other types of cholesterol in the blood. It is used to determine if cholesterol is actually a risk factor for you, but in fact, almost half of all heart attacks occur in people who have normal blood cholesterol levels. That's how experts know that total cholesterol is just one factor in determining your risk of developing heart disease.
LDL Cholesterol
LDL cholesterol is considered the dangerous type of cholesterol because as it travels through the blood, it combines with other materials that can stick to and build up on the inner walls of the arteries leading to the heart and brain. Cholesterol particles come in different sizes, and in the case of LDLs, bigger is thought to be better. It is the smaller LDL particles that are able to adhere to artery walls and build up as plaque.
HDL Cholesterol
HDL cholesterol is called the "good" cholesterol because, rather than settling into the lining of the arteries, HDLs carry cholesterol out of the arteries away from the heart and back to the liver, where it is packaged for excretion from the body. As with LDLs, the larger the HDL particle, the better because the larger particles are better are pulling cholesterol from the body.
Danger Signs
Guidelines established by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) can help you interpret the results when you have your blood cholesterol tested. A desirable level of total cholesterol is anything less than 200 mg/dL. Results between 200 and 239 mg/dL are considered borderline, and high total cholesterol is defined as 240 mg/dL or above.
Normal, or desirable, LDL cholesterol levels measure less than 100 mg/dL. Anything over 160 mg/dL is considered high; 190 mg/dL and above is considered very high.
The goal for HDL cholesterol levels is anything greater than 40 mg/dL. With this type of cholesterol, the higher the number, the better.
Strategy
The American Heart Association recommends healthy people consume no more than 300 mg of cholesterol daily, and people who are at high risk of or known to have heart disease limit dietary cholesterol to 200 mg daily.
To cut back on cholesterol in your diet, reduce the amount of meat and dairy products you consume. Check the nutrition labels on any foods you use that are made with animal products. Some people have a genetic tendency to produce too much cholesterol, and if that's the case, cutting back on dietary cholesterol may not be enough to bring high cholesterol levels down to normal. Your doctor may then prescribe cholesterol-lowering medications or suggestive alternatives.
