Cholesterol The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Cholesterol but what is it? Well it's a soft, sort of waxy substance found within the fats in your body. Your body requires it because it's utilises it to produce cell membranes and even in producing some hormones, and other functions. But worringly a overly high level of cholesterol in the blood is a very significant risk indicator for coronary heart disease.

Some fats and cholesterol are unable to dissolve in your blood. Which means that they have to be transported around the body by special chemicals called lipoproteins. There are a number of these lipoproteins in the body but the key ones in this instance are low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins also known as HDL.

LDL is the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. If too much LDL cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the walls of the arteries feeding the heart and brain. Together with other substances it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog those arteries.

This is known as atherosclerosis. A blood clot occurs by the plaque deposits and blocks the flow of blood to the heart leading to a heart attack. Or if the clot blocks the supply of blood to the brain it can lead to a stroke.

Approximatley one third of cholesterol is carried by high density lipoprotein (HDL). Doctors and scientists believe HDL actually carries cholesterol deposits away from the arteries to the liver where they are expelled from the body.

Scientific studies have demonstrated that HDL removes excess build up of cholesterol from these plaques. We are told that because of this HDL cholesterol is 'good' cholesterol as it appears to reduce the risk of heart attacks.

Cholesterol is produced in 2 ways .The body predominantly the liver creates around 1,000 milligrams daily.

Cholesterol can also be found in food. Foods produced from animals such as meats, poultry, some seafoods, fish and dairy products (including eggs) are all providers of cholesterol. Primarily foods stuffs from plants such as fruits, grains, nuts and seeds are cholesterol free.

Typically the body makes all the cholesterol it needs, so people don't need to consume it at all. Saturated fatty acids are the main culprit in raising blood cholesterol, which in turn increases your risk of heart disease.Trans fats also raise blood cholesterol.

On average normal dietary cholesterol for an American male is around 337 milligrams and a significantly lower level for women of around 217 mg daily.

A proportion of the additional cholesterol in the diet is broken down by the liver. But the experts at the American Heart Association suggest that a safer level is around 300 millgrams or less daily and if suffering from heart disease this should be even lower at 200 mg or less.

Still, everyone should remember that by keeping their dietary intake of saturated fats low, they can significantly lower their dietary cholesterol intake. Foods high in saturated fat generally contain substantial amounts of dietary cholesterol.

People with severe high blood cholesterol levels may need an even greater reduction. Since cholesterol is in all foods from animal sources, care must be taken to eat no more than six ounces of lean meat, fish and poultry per day and to use fat-free and low-fat dairy products. It's also a good idea to substitute animal sources of protein with high-quality proteins from vegetable sources such as beans.

WARNING: If you are unsure of your cholesterol level have it checked by your medical practitioner or you can buy a home test kit.