By getting a simple cholesterol test and making positive lifestyle changes, most people can keep their cholesterol levels healthy. Use this page to understand your cholesterol and triglyceride results and see if they are in the healthy range. When you have a cholesterol test , it is really important that your healthcare professional explains the results to you to prevent unnecessary worry and confusion.
If you are only given your total cholesterol, ask for a break-down of the other numbers. You might also have your triglycerides tested, these are another type of blood fat which are linked to heart disease.
This is sometimes written as 'serum cholesterol' or 'TC' and refers to your overall level of cholesterol. Ideally it should be as low as possible. Your HDL cholesterol 'good' cholesterol helps clear the cholesterol out of your arteries, while your LDL cholesterol 'bad' cholesterol can clog them up.
Your HDL cholesterol should ideally be high, around 1. Read about high HDL cholesterol. If not, you can work it out from your HDL and total cholesterol numbers. This should be as low as possible. Above 6 is considered high. This table is a general guide for ideal cholesterol and triglyceride levels for healthy adults in the UK. If you have a condition such as heart disease or diabetes, your target levels may be lower — your doctor will be able to tell you your individual targets.
Triglycerides are another type of blood fat and your triglyceride levels can tell you more about your health. People with high triglyceride levels often have a low HDL level as well, which is an unhealthy combination that's often linked with premature heart disease.
It can be inherited and is often occurs in people who carry their weight around their middle. As a general rule, these are the ideal triglyceride levels for healthy adults. Fasting triglycerides are where you fast for a period of time before your blood test, usually hours:. There are methods people can use to reduce cholesterol levels and prevent them from increasing.
One potential method is using therapeutic lifestyle changes TLC , which includes diet, exercise, and weight management. Another option is drug therapies that either lower cholesterol or reduce the absorption of cholesterol. At any age, diets low in saturated fats and trans fats and high in soluble fibers and protein are good for lowering cholesterol buildup.
The TLC diet is a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol eating plan. People following it should have a daily intake of less than 7 percent of calories from saturated fat and less than milligrams of dietary cholesterol. The TLC diet encourages people to eat the following foods:. Additionally, the TLC diet suggests only taking in enough calories to maintain a desirable weight and avoid weight gain.
Various books on the TLC diet are available to purchase online , and may help those interested in following the diet plan to lower cholesterol. Proper weight management is another essential part of lowering cholesterol and preventing it building up. Overweight people who reduce their weight can help lower LDL in the process.
Regular physical activity of 30 minutes on most days is recommended for everyone. This will also help with weight management, which in turn helps with lowering cholesterol. When these steps are not enough, drug treatment may also be needed. There are several types of cholesterol-lowering drugs available, including:.
The best treatment to lower cholesterol levels involves a range of different methods, including lifestyle and diet. Ultimately, a doctor is the best person to talk to in order to figure out the best way for a person to lower bad cholesterol levels. Ceramides are fatty molecules health experts associate with heart disease. A review argues scientists should focus on designing drugs to lower…. People can lower their cholesterol levels by making lasting changes to their diet and lifestyle.
Learn more. Familial hypercholesterolemia FH is an inherited condition that can cause a person to have high levels of LDL, or 'bad', cholesterol. Despite its association with heart disease and obesity, cholesterol is essential to making certain vitamins and hormones, and it also plays a part in digestion and the metabolization of nutrients.
The problem is that most Americans consume way too much through high-fat, high-carb diets. This only adds to the cholesterol that is already naturally produced by the liver. A low-fat, low-carb diet, by contrast, can help maintain a higher concentration of HDL which the body uses to excrete LDL from the body and a lower concentration of LDL which can clog arteries and form plaque.
Other blood tests are used to measure triglycerides , another form of fat, and total cholesterol , the total amount of LDL, HDL, and triglycerides in a blood sample. From the standpoint of heart health, the total cholesterol level can never be too low. This, in turn, increase your risk of atherosclerosis hardening of the arteries , heart attack, and stroke. HDL functions as an antioxidant, preventing arterial damage caused by other lipids.
If the HDL is low a condition referred to as hypoalphalipoproteinemia , the loss of the antioxidative effect may not only promote but accelerate plaque formation. There are many reasons why your HDL may be low. Chief among these is a high-carbohydrate diet.
Other factors associated with low HDL levels include:. While a low-fat diet is not seen to contribute significantly to chronically low HDL levels, malnutrition can. While it would be fair to assume that a low LDL is a good thing, there are rare circumstances in which chronically low levels may increase your risk of certain diseases.
LDL is a lipoprotein, whose role it is to deliver lipids to every cell in the body. Cholesterol is a critical component of cell membranes, serves as a brain antioxidant, and is used by the body to create the hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Chronically low LDL levels may impair brain and hormonal activity and increase the risk of hypobetalipoproteinemia , a condition linked to depression, cirrhosis, preterm birth, hemorrhagic stroke, and certain types of cancers.
Similarly, abnormally low LDL levels during pregnancy may trigger hormonal imbalances that contribute, at least in part, to premature birth. With that being said, hypobetalipoproteinemia is often caused by cancer, liver disease, severe malnutrition, and other wasting disorders.
It may be in some cases, but not others. It is often difficult to manage low cholesterol with anything other than diet or lifestyle. There are currently no pharmacological agents able to raise HDL with the exception of hormone replacement therapy in people who have gone through menopause. Beyond that, the best way to get your cholesterol within the normal limits is to:. Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider's appointment to help you ask the right questions.
While the current U. It is important to note that dietary cholesterol is derived only from animal sources, including meat, poultry, shellfish, dairy products, and egg yolks. To this end, cholesterol is not a "danger" in and of itself. It is the type of cholesterol-containing foods we eat that influence our risk of CVD and other cardiovascular-related illnesses.
Looking to start a diet to better manage your cholesterol? Changing lifelong eating habits can be scary at first, but our guide will make it easier. Cardiovasc Diabetol. Safety and efficacy of extremely low LDL-cholesterol levels and Its prospects in hyperlipidemia management. J Lipids. Weissglas-volkov D, Pajukanta P. Genetic causes of high and low serum HDL-cholesterol. J Lipid Res. Soliman GA. Dietary cholesterol and the lack of evidence in cardiovascular disease.
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