Tip Of The Week - 'Cholesterol'- Not All Bad

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Also Included In: Cholesterol
Article Date: 08 Jul 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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More and more people are aware of 'cholesterol' and how it increases the risk of heart disease. Some even know their cholesterol levels and may be controlling them through diet and lifestyle changes or with medication. Cholesterol is made in the liver and too much can cause arteries to fur up, but not all cholesterol is bad.

LDL cholesterol is the 'bad' stuff in the blood that deposits in our arteries, whereas HDL cholesterol carries excess cholesterol away from the arteries and so it's called 'good' cholesterol. According to UK and Dutch research, some people have genes that give them higher levels of good HDL cholesterol and reduce their risk of a heart attack.

Whether we have the right genes or not, we can all make changes to boost our HDL cholesterol levels.

Choose foods containing HDL-'friendly' monounsaturated and omega 3 fats, like olive, rapeseed and flaxseed oil, oily fish, avocados, nuts and dark green vegetables. Reduce sources of poly-unsaturates like sunflower, safflower or corn oil and avoid saturated and trans fats.

Make exercise a natural part of your daily routine: it's good for HDL levels, your health in general and shedding any excess weight that can in itself lower HDL levels.

A little alcohol (one or two units a day) may help to keep HDL levels healthy.

One of the many side-effects of smoking is lowering HDL, yet another reason to quit today. Women have lower HDL after the menopause, an important time to get their lifestyle right.

High cholesterol is one of the risk factors for heart disease, but we need to look beyond 'total cholesterol' as not all cholesterol is equal. We can all make diet and lifestyle changes that reduce levels of 'bad' LDL cholesterol while increasing 'good' HDL levels for the benefit of our hearts and arteries.

Heart Research UK