What do you mean by Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fatty substance that naturally occurs in human blood.
It is formed in the liver or comes from the foods you eat.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cholesterol performs important functions in your body:
- It aids in tissue and hormone formation
- It protects your nerves
- It helps with digestion
- It form the structure of every cell in your body
There are two types of cholesterol:
"good" and "bad." Too much of one type — or not enough of another — can put you at risk for coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke. It's important to know the levels of cholesterol in your blood so that one can determine the best strategy to lower your risk.
When too much LDL (bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, cholesterol can form a thick, hard deposit called plaque that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, a heart attack or stroke can result.
Easy steps in improving your cholesterol:
Making healthy eating choices and increasing exercise are important first steps in improving your cholesterol.
Learn how to make diet and lifestyle changes easy and lasting. Also make sure you understand instructions for taking medication because it won't work if you don't take it as directed.
Lifestyle Changes
Your diet, weight, physical activity and exposure to tobacco smoke all affect your cholesterol level.
Know Your Fats
Knowing which fats raise LDL cholesterol and which ones don't is the first step in lowering your risk of heart disease.
Cooking for Lower Cholesterol
A heart-healthy eating plan can help you manage your blood cholesterol level.
Normal cholesterol levels. What should your cholesterol ratio be?
Cholesterol ratio is another measurement that can tell you more about whether you may need to take steps towards a healthier diet and lifestyle.
The American Heart Association recommends all adults age 20 or older have their cholesterol, and other traditional risk factors, checked every four to six years.
The NHS recommends that cholesterol ratio should be below four-to-one.
Simple way to calculate your cholesterol ratio:
To calculate your cholesterol ratio, divide your high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol number into your total cholesterol number. An optimal ratio is less than 3.5-to-1.
A higher ratio means a higher risk of heart disease.
Non-HDL cholesterol, as its name implies, simply subtracts your HDL cholesterol number from your total cholesterol number. So it contains all the "bad" types of cholesterol.
An optimal level of non-HDL cholesterol is less than 130 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 3.37 millimoles per liter (mmol/L).
Higher numbers mean a higher risk of heart disease.
Cholesterol levels aren’t fixed – they vary daily – and can depend on a number of factors, like diet and lifestyle choices. It’s a good idea to get your cholesterol regularly tested.
Check out here for more helpful health and wellness blogs
Learn the true essence and the magical healing power of Traditional Chinese Medicine through an Upcoming Workshop in Canada to be Held on September 9, 2017.
If you are interested to know more about the workshop, feel free to visit this link:
No comments:
Post a Comment