We often shrug away when we hear about cholesterol because it can become technical and it sounds unmanageable. Medicine today have many ways to help and today we can control it.
Our bodies naturally produce cholesterol by making particular hormones, bile acids and cell walls and not forgetting the all important vitamin D. Cholesterol is also known as a natural fat molecule and is the function of the liver to produce cholesterol. This function is strongly influenced by what we eat.
Cholesterol consists of two types namely; LDL and HDL. Lets look at LDL first. Once the liver produces cholesterol, it is taken by the low-density lipoprotein to our body tissues. If there is an imbalance, the arteries become saturated and a build up of unwanted fatty tissues is the result, which in turn narrows the arteries and inhibits blood flow.
The other type being carried in the pocket is called HDL (high-density lipprotein, whose function it is to take the cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver, which is then discarded. Having a high level of this type is thought to be healthy. A recommended level for adults would be 5. 5mmol/L or lower. So what this essentially means is that one should strive to keep your bad LDL low and your good HDL high. By doing this it would take the unnecessary strain off ones heart.
The western diet is rife with saturated fats in foods such as dairy products, fatty meats, fast foods and snack foods. Eating too much of those types of food is one of the most common causes of high cholesterol in society these days. It would be wise to substitute ones diet with foods that are low in saturated fats such a margarine spreads, oily fish, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
How can one start to reduce your high cholesterol level? Physical exercise is a know method. Start off with mild exercise by maybe walking up steps or a brisk walk each day. Increase your exercise gradually until you feel comfortable with your results. Consuming an excessive amount of alcohol is undesirable as well as smoking if you want to better your cholesterol level.
There are some factors that are unavoidable should you have cholesterol problems. Things like your gender would be one. It is known that males have a high cholesterol level than females. This does however level out when women start with menopause. Age also plays a big role as one tends to develop cholesterol problems with increased age. There is also the question of ethnic groups. Here it is also proven that certain ethnic groups are prone to have a higher risk than others. If your family members also suffer from high cholesterol, then the chances are that you would also as it is hereditary.
Would you like to learn more about foods that lower cholesterol? Read other article at low cholesterol diet
