Thursday, May 13, 2010

What Is HDL Cholesterol?

A recent study conducted by the American Heart Association suggests that there are over 50% of Americans alive today that have cholesterol levels that are putting them at risk of heart disease. Put simply this means that one in two Americans are at risk of heart disease and other related illnesses and this is all due to elevated cholesterol levels.

There are two types of cholesterol you need to be aware of, these are HDL and LDL. HDL cholesterol is needed by the body to help to remove the unwanted or “bad cholesterol known as LDL. Seeing as HDL is the good cholesterol it needs to be in a certain concentration in our body's. This is recognised as being around 40mg/dl, anything less means you may be at risk of heard disease.

HDL (high density lipoproteins) cholesterol has the rather important job of carrying the “bad” cholesterol, or LDL cholesterol away from the heart and the main arteries so it can be filtered out by the liver. HDL cholesterol removes the LDL cholesterol from the plaque deposits in the arteries and also slows its deposition. This is why HDL cholesterol has acquired the name “good” cholesterol. Our body's need to have a good level of HDL cholesterol to help combat the negative effects LDL cholesterol has on our health.

As I have already mentioned, the ideal level for HDL cholesterol to be at within our body's is around 40 mg/dl. This figure can vary slightly between men and women but should never go above 60 mg/dl as this can put you at a greater risk of heart disease once again.

The level of HDL cholesterol in the bloodstream is usually outnumbered by around 3 to 1, which is why it is important to raise the HDL cholesterol levels as much as possible so to keep a check on the levels of bad cholesterol in the bloodstream.

The levels of HDL cholesterol can be raised by eating a low cholesterol diet. This means simply avoiding foods that are high in saturated fats and trans fatty acids as these can raise LDL cholesterol to undesirable levels. It is also important to exercise regularly as this can help the body remove excess LDL cholesterol.

In a low cholesterol diet you will want to include foods such as fish (grilled not fried), lean or skinless poultry, vegetables and fresh fruit. The foods you will want to avoid are processed foods as the often contain high levels of saturated fat, egg yolks, certain high fat dairy produce, fried or deep fried foods and fatty meats. This will improve your health at all levels and will work to ensure you have a low LDL cholesterol level.

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