Cholesterol- Your Numbers and How to Control It
72Cholesterol though essential for the formation of cell membranes and the manufacture of several hormones, too much of this substance can cause blood cholesterol to rise and deposit in arterial walls. These initial deposits are the first stage in the narrowing of arteries, which physicians refer to as atherosclerosis. This scenario may be working within your body, without any outwardly physical symptoms, until it is too late. That is why, it is important to know your numbers. I’ll explain what your cholesterol numbers mean, and if your numbers are high, the best way of controlling your cholesterol.
Cholesterol, its Factors, By the Numbers
You may say, "I know I have high cholesterol, but I seem okay." My answer to you is, "Cholesterol causes no symptoms". However, if high cholesterol is left untreated, especially if HDL (good) cholesterol is low, it can eventually lead to a heart attack due to coronary heart disease, or a stroke due to narrowed arteries that supply blood to the brain. Let us go through each of the cholesterol components, looking at what each does to support your body, and finally, learn what the numbers that a doctor gives you mean.
Cholesterol
- Less than 200 mg/dL=Normal
- 200-239 mg/dL =Borderline High
- 240 mg/dL and above = High
LDL Cholesterol Level
LDL is responsible for carrying cholesterol from the liver to the rest of the body. When there is to much LDL cholesterol in the blood, the particles can begin to form deposits on the walls of your arteries throughout your body. These particles are called plaque. If plaque builds up to much in your arteries it can limit blood flow and narrow your arteries. If a small piece of plaque breaks away from the lining of your artery walls, it can cause you to have a heart attack or stroke. Because of all the problems LDL cholesterol causes, it is often referred to as bad cholesterol. Thus, it is important to know these numbers and work to keep or get them in the optimal range.
- Less than 100 mg/dL - Optimal
- 100-129 mg/dL - Near optimal/above optimal
- 130-159 mg/dL - Borderline high
- 160-189 mg/dL - High
- 190 mg/dL and above - Very high
LDL Particle Size
There is growing evidence that the particle size of LDL is important. If the LDL particles are small and dense your risk is greater for cardiovascular problems, versus if the LDL particles that are fluffy particles. This growing body of evidence has both good news and bad news.
The bad news is that the particle size of your LDL is genetic in nature. The good news is that you can increase the size of the LDL particles through lifestyle modifications, which includes exercise, diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and if you are overweight, losing weight. If lifestyle modifications do not get the results you need, then medication is your next alternative.
HDL Cholesterol Levels
HDL's job is to scavenge for bad cholesterol that is produced by the LDL cholesterol. It will search for LDL in your arteries. If it finds any LDL it will hook on to it and transport it back to the liver for disposal. As you can assume, HDL (High-density lipoproteins) helps to protect you against heart disease, so the higher your HDL numbers the better.
- Less than 40 mg/dL in men and 50mg/dL for women is low - increases your risk for heart disease
- 60 mg/dL and higher- lowers your risk of heart disease.
Triglycerides
Triglycerides are the fats that you consume on a daily basis. Thus, once food enters your body, the triglycerides will pick up the fat, and move the fat through the bloodstream to cells throughout your body.
However, as is the case for so many things, an excess of triglycerides can be unhealthy. Therefore, any excess calories, sugar or alcohol you consume, will be converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells throughout the body.
- Less Than 150- Normal
- 150-199 mg/dL is borderline high
- 200-400 mg/dL or more is high
- 500 mg/dL Very High
How Do I Control My Cholesterol
There are some things that you can do to control your cholesterol and its different factors:
1. Diet - It is important to reduce the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet. Saturated fat and cholesterol in food that you eat will make your cholesterol level go up. A low cholesterol diet plan should include:
- Fat-free or 1 percent daily products
- Lean Meats
- Fish
- Poultry- surprisingly, turkey is lower in saturated fat than chicken
- Whole grain foods
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Choose soft margarine that is low in saturated fats and have no trans fats. SmartChoice is one such example.
- Soluble fiber- Soluble fiber includes such food choices as oats, certain fruits (oranges and pears) and vegetables
2. Lose Weight – I am sure I can hear the collective sigh of many that read this item list. Nevertheless, being overweight increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes and cholesterol. Thus, if you want to take control of your health, losing weight can offer great benefits for you.
3.Exercise – Exercising regularly helps to keep your cholesterol in check. Many physicians suggest exercising 30 minutes a day on most days. My advice, choose an exercise that you can easily maintain. If your joints are bad, no need to punish yourself by jogging, go with walking.
4.Smoking – If you smoke, it is time to quit if you have high cholesterol.
5. Medications – If exercise and losing weight does not help, your physician may put you on one of the many Statin drugs that are available on the market. Just a note of caution, when taking any medication always be on the lookout for possible side-effects. If you notice body weakness that does not go away, painful body aches, shortness of breath or other unusual side-effects, it’s time to contact your doctor.
It is recommended that people begin to check their lipids when they are over the age of 20. If you find your LDL is under 130 follow-up should be every five years, if your LDL is 130 or greater it is recommended that you follow-up in 1 to 3 years. These tests are especially important if you have a family history of coronary disease.
Cholesterol causes no outward symptoms, therefore, it is up to you to ask your doctor to do blood work to check your cholesterol levels. Take the time; it can save your life.
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Thanks rasta1 for the great comment. I'm glad I could help.
This is a good writeup on cholesterol. But lately, it seems that other factors may be more important..such as inflammation.
Several studies indicate that even people with normal or low cholesterol; benefit from statin drugs.
http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/news/2
How could this be? Statins are also powerful anti-inflammatories. The drug companies are clearly throwing out feelers. They can keep selling their drugs to people with high cholesterol, or admit they were wrong, and then sell their statin drugs to everybody.
What a decision.
I'll keep eating my eggs. There's never been a shred of evidence they are unhealthy.
Interesting article. Call me a doubting Thomas here,but I would like to see more studies conducted. I would be questioning the benefits or possible risk of taking cholesterol medicine for a long time when you started out with normal cholesterol levels.
And, one important question needs to be asked, "Who asked for the study to be conducted?" The company that markets Crestor?
Bottom line, you need to be your own advocate for health care, to get the proper care you need and want.
I've been working on lowering my cholesterol, so this was helpful. Thanks!
Excellent hub. With all of the overweight people in America, it is important to know and understand your Cholesterol levels.
lisa42, I've been working at lowering my cholesterol as well.
rjsadowski, you are right, as they always say, knowledge is power.
Excellent stuff, very simply put across. Very informative. Voted up and useful
Thanks rajan jolly. And thanks for visiting.
@vwriter- I agree with you 100%. The point I was trying to make is that the drug companies seem to have an interesting delima on their hands.
They could sell their product to a larger segment of the population, but to do so they would have to admit they were wrong. They could make more money, but it may hurt their perceived credibility.
They're even throwing out feelers I think to see if they should get involved in marketing to children. Who knows what the effects of these drugs would be over a lifetime of use; starting around age 10.
The benefits seem to come from the anti-inflammatory effects of statins. Statins are the only cholesterol lowering drugs that are allowed by the FDA to claim that they lower the risk of heart disease, because the research indicates that they do.
But there are many natural anti-inflammatories, one is fish oil.
LDL cholesterol made by the liver is different than dietary LDL cholesterol. There are cholesterol lowering drugs that block the absorption of dietary cholesterol.
Zetia is a cholesterol drug that blocks the absorption of dietary cholesterol. I copied this from Zetia's own website.
##Unlike some statins, ZETIA has not been shown to prevent heart disease or heart attacks.##
I'm not sure how they can sell heart drugs that have no benefit to the heart. But they do. And there are a few others just like it.
To get FDA approval, a drug has to treat a disease. Maybe high cholesterol in itself is considered a disease. I've never been able to find a good explanation for this.
Also, lots of seafood is high in cholesterol, not just lobster and shrimp. And studies indicate that seafood is the best thing for the heart.
Throughout history, Inuit cultures have eaten a tremendous amount of whale blubber and other fats. They eat almost no fruit or vegetables. Their cholesterol is up in the ozone. But they have very low rates of heart disease.
The reason is omega 3's, a very powerful anti-inflammatory. This is abundant in salmon, cod liver, and many other fish as well.
When people from the Inuit culture switch to a traditional Western diet, their heart disease risk skyrockets.
This is an excellent hub, I voted up. :) But on topics as important as this, it's important to look at the big picture.
It's very hard to put together credible health information in this corrupt, overly commercial soup we all swim in.
Corporations have a fiduciary duty to share holders, not patients.
That last statement "Corporations have a fiduciary duty to share holders, not patients", is so true. That is why you need to question your doctor and to be aware of what your body is telling you, and be your own advocate.
Yes, I agree omega 3s is a very powerful anti-inflammatory, and I personally take fish oil for it's anti-inflammatory qualities.
Sadly, the Western diet includes a lot of processed foods, and the serving sizes are large, which does nothing for the waistline or your health.
Healthy Fat Guy, thanks for the great discussion.
If you want to control your cholesterol it is really easy. You will not like the answer but its whole foods and vegetables. You can prove it to yourself by getting all your blood work done. Then commit yourself to a Vegan diet and check your numbers again in 4 to 8 weeks. Not eating milk, eggs and meat is the cure to almost all your health problems. Cases have seen the reversal of coronary heart disease and other instances of cancer actually being cured. Modern medicine can not even produce such results over time. I was never a believer and never thought such an answer was this simple. Most over weight people usually lose a lot of weight as well. Good nutrition is the cure to a lot of our problems. The question is how bad do you want to be healthy and live? I do not say that this is the answer and you should do it. I say try it yourself and find out for yourself based on your health. I feel half my age and one cup of coffee almost kills me when I use to drink two pots a day. I thought it would be hard but it is actually really simple. I have months where I only spend around 50 dollars on food as well. Two days of steaks is half that cost alone.
SanXuary you have my attention. I'm slowly trying to move myself to a vegetarian diet because even the doctor said it would help. However, I have a husband, God Bless His Soul, thinks that meat is essential, and when I have no meat at all on my plate, he begins to ask, are you okay.
Trying to change old habits, with other members not on board is a little challenging, but I will get there. Thanks for posting.
Its incredibly challenging I recommend watching a documentary called Forks over Knives. The evidence they present would convince anyone of the truth. Of course some people do not care at all. I once talked to someone with serious health problems only to discover that the persons disability status was much more important then the possibility of going blind or kidney failure. I guess I always thought that being healthy if you could be was far more important. One of the people in the documentary drops weight, 9 medications to one and has better then average blood work in 3 months. Most compelling were heart patients waiting to die and not only being alive many years later but with xrays showing clogged arteries completely healed with no surgery being performed. I believe that it is the overdose of animal based products and that reducing the consumption of them that is most important. Surprisingly your taste really changes and you actually do not miss it that much.
Interesting. I'll have to see if I can get a hold of the documentary Forks over Knives. I recall, a UofI professor moving away from meat and processed food because of her MS. Currently her change has kept the MS at bay.
Well, SanXuary I'm going to try in earnest to remove or greatly reduce animal based products from my diet.
rasta1 Level 6 Commenter 5 months ago
This is cholesterol explained very simply. You have helped me to understand this subject better.