Compass Fitness.com ALL ABOUT CHOLESTEROL: WHAT IS GOOD CHOLESTEROL AND BAD CHOLESTEROL?
Cholesterol is a waxy substance occurring naturally in the body which in normal levels functions in the body to contribute to new cell formation, nerve insulation and hormone production. There are two types of cholesterol-Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) which is also referred to as Bad Cholesterol and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) which is also referred to as Good Cholesterol. There are two sources of cholesterol in the blood stream-natural production by the liver and dietary cholesterol sources. The amount of cholesterol occurring naturally has a genetic link. Dietary sources of cholesterol are dietary cholesterol itself and foods high in saturated fat. The body produces about 75% of the total supply of cholesterol in the body and the other 25% of the total cholesterol in the body comes from dietary sources.
People with high LDL cholesterol – LDL levels over 130 mg/dL (a condition call hypercholesterolemia)and people with low HDL Cholesterol –HDL levels below 40 mg/dL for men and below 50 mg/dL for women are at higher risk of developing Hypertension, Coronary Heart Disease, Congestive Heart Failure, Heart Attack and Stroke. High levels of LDL can lead to the development of plaque-a thick, hard deposit which can stick to the inner walls of the arteries and cause them to narrow or block. This process of artery narrowing from plaque deposits on the inner walls of the arteries is called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis puts additional stress on the heart as it attempts to pump blood through narrowed arteries which can cause abnormally high blood pressure. If atherosclerosis occurs in the arteries that supply blood to the heart this is called Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) or Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, CAD is the #1 killer of both men and women in the United States. When atherosclerosis causes a complete blockage of an artery supplying blood flow to the heart the result is a heart attack or if the blockage is in an artery that supplies blood to the brain the result is a stroke.
HDL plays a role in reducing the amount of LDL in circulation in the blood. Therefore low levels of HDL also increase one’s risk of heart disease. One can both increase HDL levels and reduce LDL levels by living a healthy lifestyle-quitting smoking if you smoke, losing weight if you are overweight, getting physically active and eating a healthy diet-a diet which includes lots of fruits and vegetables and is low in saturated fat.:
