What Is The Difference Between Good And Bad Cholesterol
Bad cholesterol, also known as low-density lipoprotein , will build up in the inner walls of your arteries, making them narrow. This slows down blood flow. If this buildup of plaque breaks off, a clot forms that can completely block the flow of blood, causing a heart attack.
Good cholesterol, also known as high-density lipoprotein , helps protect us from heart attacks and strokes. This type carries the bad cholesterol away from the arteries.
Enhance Your Daily Diet With Soy
- Soy products are rich in isoflavone compounds that are known for their incredible health benefits for the heart. The isoflavone compounds are especially useful for decreasing the level of bad cholesterol in the blood.
- In comparison with animal proteins, soy protein can decrease the level of triglycerides in the blood by about 12.4% more than regular animal proteins. The consumption of soy products like soy milk, edamame, tofu, soybeans can effectively decrease the triglycerides level by about 7.3%.
What Foods Can Help Lower Triglycerides
Now that you know which foods to avoid, what foods can you add into your diet that can help support healthy triglyceride levels? “Foods to emphasize are high fiber vegetables with lower sugar content, such as cruciferous vegetables,” Archibald says. “Including legumes, canned or cooked from their dried versions, will add both fiber and satiety to the plate.”
Adding healthy omega-3 fats can be helpful as well. “Among fats, seek out foods rich in omega-3 fats, which not only act as natural anti-inflammatories in the body but can also prevent the production of triglycerides and cholesterol in the liver,” says Archibald.
Here are 20 foods that can lower triglycerides.
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Add Flax To Your Diet
Flaxseed, a soluble fiber, is a source of high-quality protein and potassium. It also contains lignans, which help fight diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Eat your flax instead of taking it in pill or oil form, Dr. Cho advises. Non-food versions lack fiber, lignans and protein. Instead, aim for two to three tablespoons of ground flaxseed a day, putting it in cereal, yogurt or salad.
What Causes High Cholesterol
Yes, we make cholesterol in our bodies, but the problems occur when we also get too much of it in our diet, too.
That is where saturated versus unsaturated fat comes in: high cholesterol foods are usually high in saturated fat.
Saturated fat is found in animal fats, such as butter, ghee, dripping, lard, or suet.
Even worse for us is the saturated fat found in meat, especially fatty cuts or processed meat.
Alcohol can also increase cholesterol levels, so regular heavy drinking can really take its toll on your arteries.
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Fish Oilincreases Fat Oxidation In Your Muscles
Didyou know that your muscles, including your heart, love to use fat for energy?
The usage of fat for energy in your muscles is determined by LPL activity, and research has shown that muscle LPL activity is enhanced by fish oil.
In other words,
Butthats not all
Another study has shown that fish oil increases the expression of genes which regulate fat oxidation in your muscles.
Buying Guide For Best Cholesterol
Maybe your doctor has warned you that your cholesterol is too high. Maybe youre simply concerned about keeping your heart and circulatory system as healthy as possible. In either case, you may have wondered if there are alternatives to cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs. In fact, there are several natural alternatives that have proven effective in some studies.
Youll find a lot of cholesterol-lowering supplements on sale today, and with these products comes a lot of marketing hype. Its hard to know what to believe.
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Best Mct Oil For Weight Loss: Natures Way Mct Oil
Nature’s Way MCT Oil is our pick for helping with weight loss. Made from pure coconut oil, Nature’s Way doesn’t depend on palm oil or any other fillers to bring you a premium Hexane-free product.
Available in a 16-ounce or 30-ounce bottle, you can get 32 and 59 servings respectively. You will get approximately 14 grams of C8 and C10 acids per serving to get your energy production going.
Flavorless and odorless, this high-quality MCT oil supplement can be a great addition to anything you want to consume it with. Coffee, salad dressing, guacamole , nut butter are all some great options to get this into your diet.
Nature’s Way has been a trusted supplement company since 1969, sourcing quality non-GMO ingredients as often as possible.
All their products go through a rigorous testing, including chemical, microbiological, and identity, so you know you are getting exactly what you are paying for.
Pros
- Only contains C8 and C10 acids
- Certified USDA Organic, Certified Vegan, Certified Paleo, Keto Certified, Non-GMO Verified
Cons
Adopt A Diet That Is Low Carbs
- Carbs are just as harmful as sugar when it comes to the level of triglycerides in the blood. The extra carbs get transformed into triglycerides, which sediments in the fat cells of the body.
- A study conducted in 2003 revealed that a diet that is low in carbohydrates is incredibly beneficial to lower triglycerides in the blood. The study compared the effects of a low-carb diet and low-fat diet on the level of triglycerides in the blood. After about six months, the research revealed that the triglyceride level had dipped by approximately 38mg/dL in the low-carb diet group and only about 7mg/dL in the low-fat diet group.
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Qunol Ultra Coq10 100mg
These soft gels contain the perfect amount of CoQ10, which can lower your LDL cholesterol levels. They are 100% water and fat-soluble, allowing your body to use the contents of these pills faster.
These may be particularly useful for statin drug users, as some studies have shown particularly good results when this supplement is paired with that particular drug.
Eating Fatty Fish Weekly
Fatty fishes are a good source of Omega-3 fatty acid which is an essential polyunsaturated fatty acid. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are better than saturated fatty acids because the liver converts them into ketones while saturated fatty acids are converted into LDL and VLDL.
Also, they can be taken around the body without leaving their traces in blood vessels.
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Nutritional Supplementsto Lose Cholesterol
If youre concerned about your cholesterol levels and have begun working out and eating nutritious meals, you might be wondering if a dietary supplement can help. Here are some cholesterol-lowering supplements to consider if your doctor has given you the go-ahead.
Fish Oil: Omega 3 acids have really been promoted for their ability to help reduce triglyceride levels. According to the American Heart Association, you should eat non-fried oily fish at least twice a week. The omega-3s found in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines, anchovies, and mackerel are not produced by your body. Omega-3 supplements arent regulated, and studies on their efficacy are inconclusive. Adults with triglycerides of 500 mg/dl or higher may be prescribed omega-3. The FDA regulates the quality and safety of these prescriptions.
Coenzyme Q10: This potent antioxidant can reduce the ability of bad LDL cholesterol to adhere to the arteries.
Garlic: In a few research studies, garlic supplements reduced total cholesterol levels gently.
Niacin: This B vitamin can increase HDL good cholesterol while decreasing LDL bad cholesterol and triglycerides if used as directed by your doctor. Only prescription-level doses have an effect on cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Berberine: Berberine lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
Plant stanols: Plant stanols and sterols may lower LDL cholesterol, especially in people with a genetic condition that causes high cholesterol.
Study Design And Population
We conducted a double-blind placebo controlled randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Omega-3 FA in reducing TG levels in healthy youth ages 1019 years with moderate to severe hypertriglyceridemia. Patients were recruited from subspecialty and primary care clinics at Boston Childrens Hospital and from referrals from community pediatricians. They were eligible to participate if they had a fasting TG level that was 150 to 1000 mg/dL and met all other study inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria included the ability to swallow pills and speak English. Patients were excluded if they reported allergy to fish, corn or other components of the pills, pregnancy or breast feeding, alcohol use, bleeding disorder or coagulopathy, thyroid disorder, diabetes or fasting glucose at or above 126 mg/dL, liver disease or alanine aminotransferase greater than 2 times the upper limit of normal, treatment with medications affecting TG levels including oral hypoglycemic agents, insulin, non-statin lipid lowering medications, or omega-3 FA pills.
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My Cholesterol Is Normal But My Triglycerides Are High: Why Is That
So both your HDL and LDL levels are where they should be, but your triglycerides are still high why is that?
Triglycerides become elevated due to excess calories that do not get burned off, and in turned get stored in fat cells. Statins are medications that primarily lower LDL cholesterol, but depending on the medication dose, can lower Triglycerides from 20 to 40 percent, Sai Hanumanthu MD, with the TriHealth Heart Institute explains.
There are steps you can take to lower your triglyceride levels while promoting good cardiovascular health, including:
- Losing 5 to 10 pounds if overweight
- Avoiding alcohol
- Avoiding foods high in saturated fats
- Limiting simple carbs that have high processed sugars .
- Participating in 30 minutes of exercise per day
All these suggestions and routine follow up with a medical professional will lower you triglyceride level, even despite a low total cholesterol, Dr. Hanumanthu says.
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Why Is It Important To Lower Cholesterol Levels
As it was said, high bad cholesterol levels may lead to heart attacks and strokes. And thats the most important reason to lower cholesterol levels of all. When its level becomes too high, it starts to stock up in your body, forming lesions, particularly in blood vascular system, and it gets harder for the blood to get to your heart and back. Which mean, you become oxygen deficient and your tissues and organs dont get enough blood. And when these lesions split, they can form clots, which causes thromboembolic disease, heart attacks, and strokes and can lead to a fatal outcome.
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Good Cholesterol Vs Bad Cholesterol
When your doctor checks your cholesterol with a blood test called a lipid panel, the results arent simply one number. A full picture of your cholesterol level and whether or not it needs lowering comes from four separate but related values: LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and total blood cholesterol.
LDL, often referred to as bad cholesterol, stands for low-density lipoprotein. LDL transports cholesterol through your bloodstream to your cells. The bad part of LDL is that in high levels, it tends to build up fatty plaques inside your arteries a condition called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis reduces blood flow through the affected arteries, leading to an increased risk of heart and kidney disease, peripheral artery disease, stroke, heart attack, and blood clots. For adults, a healthy LDL level is less than 100 mg/dl.
HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, is often referred to as good cholesterol. It helps remove LDL from your bloodstream by carrying it back to the liver, where its broken down for excretion. Thus, HDL helps protect your heart from disease and lowers your risk of stroke. A healthy HDL level for adults is more than 60 mg/dl.
Triglycerides
Triglycerides are a type of fat that stores excess energy from the calories you consume. A high level of triglycerides indicates an increased risk of stroke and heart disease. A triglyceride blood test result above 150 mg/dl is considered too high.
Total blood cholesterol
What Is The Best Triglyceride Lowering Diet Low
Lets start by comparing two ends of the dietary spectrum Low-carb versus low-fat.
A recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials evaluated the effects that low-carb and low-fat diets had on triglyceride levels with conclusive results. Researchers found greater reductions in triglyceride levels on the low-carb diet.
In another study by Bonow and Eckel, the two scientists concluded that low-carb diets produced a more robust triglyceride-lowering effect than low-fat diets, even if there was a similar magnitude of weight loss after one year.
These studies confirm what we found above. Eat more carbohydrates and less fat, and youll increase your triglyceride levels. Eat fewer carbs and more fat, and the opposite will occur. In fact, researchers found that for every 5% decrease in total fat, triglyceride level was predicted to increase by 6% and HDL cholesterol to decrease by 2.2%.
However, there could be other variables at play in this case. When you reduce fat consumption, youll be more likely to eat processed carbohydrates, which limit fat burning and increase fat production. So, high triglycerides levels only have to do with increased processed sugar consumption, right? Not quite.
However, there is another diet that heralded more than the low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet for its health benefits. Could this diet be the perfect balance of carbs and fats? Or is the low-carbohydrate diet always better?
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Reduction Of Sugar And Carb Intake
Excess sugar and carbohydrates amount to calories in our diets. The excess calories are stored by the body as triglycerides for future use.
After digestion, carbohydrate and sugar are changed into glycogen, their storage forms. The conversion of carbs into triglycerides are made possible with insulin.
Insulin is produced by the body when the level of glucose in the blood becomes high. Simple sugars are easily converted to triglycerides, unlike complex carbohydrates.
Foods That Could Help Lower Triglycerides
Chances are, youve heard that having healthy triglyceride levels in your blood is important. But what exactly are triglycerides, and how do they work in your body? And when you have high levels, is it possible to manage them with lifestyle, and can food make a difference? The good news is, according to food and health pros, what you eat can help. Weve rounded up some of the foods that can lower triglycerides, and there are plenty of whole foods on the list.
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Natural Ways To Lower Your Cholesterol Levels
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Cholesterol is made in your liver and has many important functions. For example, it helps keep the walls of your cells flexible and is needed to make several hormones.
However, like anything in the body, too much cholesterol creates concerns.
Like fat, cholesterol does not dissolve in water. Instead, to move around the body, it depends on molecules called lipoproteins. These carry cholesterol, fat, and fat-soluble vitamins in your blood.
Different kinds of lipoproteins have different effects on health. For example, high levels of low-density lipoprotein results in cholesterol deposits in blood vessel walls, which can lead to (
- heart attack
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Cut Down On The Intake Of Sugar
- It is quite difficult to resist the use of sugar White sugar is not only toxic but gets liberally used in every food we eat and every beverage that we happily drink.
- The American Heart Association strongly recommends not to exceed the consumption of sugar beyond 6-9 teaspoons of it on a daily basis to remain healthy and prevent diseases like cardiac stroke and diabetes.
- The excess sugar in the food gets converted into triglycerides, which leads to an increase in the level of triglycerides in the blood, thus making the heart prone to cardiac diseases and high blood pressure.
- Extensive study and research reveal that the consumption of added sugar can increase the level of triglycerides even in children.
- So ditch the white sugar and replace it with brown sugar, and the triglyceride level will slowly slide down.
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How To Lower Triglycerides
Your doctor will determine if you need treatment to lowering triglycerides by talking with you about your current diet and lifestyle, and evaluating your triglyceride level, your LDL cholesterol level, and your potential risk factors for coronary heart disease.
Here are some of the reasons your doctor might discuss medications to lower triglycerides with you:
- You have metabolic syndrome. This condition includes a combination of abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure. If you have metabolic syndrome and tried diet and lifestyle changes for three months without success, triglyceride-lowering medications may be needed.
- Previous medication lowered your total cholesterol but not your triglycerides. If your cholesterol is well controlled, but your triglyceride level is still too high, at or above 200 mg/dL, triglyceride-lowering medications may help.
- You have very high triglycerides. If your triglyceride level is at or higher than 500 mg/dL, you may need to start medications to lower triglycerides even before reaching lower cholesterol levels.
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Why Would Cholesterol Need To Be Lowered
Your body can produce cholesterol all by itself, but it may also be in the foods you eat.¹ It is important to have your cholesterol in the right range for your best health.
Cholesterol is needed to make hormones and vitamin D. But high levels of LDL cholesterol may cause the development of fatty deposits known as plaque, leading to clogged arteries.¹ Untreated high cholesterol can thus lead to complications like stroke or heart attack.³
Health care providers may test your blood and measure the levels of different kinds of cholesterol. Cholesterol levels are measured in milligrams per deciliter . Normally, several cholesterol levels are checked using a test called a lipid profile:
These ranges are general guidelines for cholesterol. Your health care provider may recommend different goals depending on your family history, lifestyle, and overall health.
If its determined that your cholesterol is too high, your provider will give you ways to reduce your levels.
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