Monday, January 25, 2010

Some Facts You Should Know About Cholesterol

By Haman Oakley

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.

Cholesterol is important to our body's function which produces certain hormones, building cell walls and bile acids, as well as producing vitamin D. It is a natural fat molecule. Our liver produces our cholesterol and also by means of a healthy diet.

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.

Another type namely; HDL has the job to take the cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver where it is then processed and cast-off. Our bodies should have a high level of HDL (high-density lipoprotien), which in turn gives us healthy arteries and a healthy heart. The heart and cholesterol foundations of the world, now concur that an acceptable level of cholesterol in ones bloodstream would be 5. 5mmol/L or a bit lower. In layman's terms this means we must maintain our bad LDL low and our good HDL high.

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.

By introducing physical activities into ones lifestyle, like an exercise routine, could drastically help with lowering ones cholesterol. Adhere to your doctor's advise by eating well and having a good exercise regime daily. What is also deemed as undesirable for someone who has high cholesterol, is excessive alcohol and smoking. These two factors also play a huge role in managing ones cholesterol.

Unfortunately some things would count against you which you will not be able to do anything about, like; gender (men have higher cholesterol levels than women - menopause would level the risk, one's age is a big factor because cholesterol tends to become a problem with increased age, some ethnic groups have a higher risk than others and lastly your family history. It is most likely that you would have inherited your cholesterol problems from a mother or father.

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