Lifestyle Tips To Cut Cholesterol
Changing some of your lifestyle habits may also help to reduce your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Suggestions include:
- Cease alcohol consumption or reduce your alcohol intake to no more than one or two drinks a day. Avoid binge drinking. This may help lower your triglyceride levels.
- Dont smoke. Smoking increases the ability of LDL cholesterol to get into artery cells and cause damage.
- Exercise regularly . Exercise increases HDL levels while reducing LDL and triglyceride levels in the body.
- Lose any excess body fat. Being overweight may contribute to raised blood triglyceride and LDL levels.
- Control your blood sugar levels if you have diabetes. High blood sugars are linked to an increased risk of atherosclerosis , heart attacks and strokes.
How Can You Prevent High Cholesterol Levels And Coronary Heart Disease
Prevention methods are very much the same as treatment methods. First, dont smoke. If you do smoke, make plans to quit now. Find ways to add physical activity to each of your days. Take steps to keep your weight in a healthy range. Eat well. Consider following the Mediterranean diet. It is the only diet proven to reduce the risk of heart disease. Take care of any other medical conditions you might have by following your healthcare providers advice and instructions. Learn to really relax and calm down.
What Are Normal Levels Of Cholesterol
Normal levels of cholesterol are different depending on your age and sex. These guidelines show desirable total, non-HDL,LDL and HDL levels by age and sex.
Table 1: Target cholesterol levels by age and sex
| Age and sex |
|---|
cholesterol
cholesterol
People aged 19 years and younger Men aged 20 years and olderWomen aged 20 years and older
The table above spells out the numbers for normal cholesterol levels. The table below shows you cholesterol levels that are higher than normal. High cholesterol numbers vary by age group and sex, and may be different for those who have heart disease. These guidelines represent high cholesterol numbers for those who do not have heart disease.
Table 2: High total, non-HDL and LDL cholesterol levels by age and sex
| Age and sex |
|---|
| People aged 19 years and younger |
Borderline: 170-199 mg/dL
High: Greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL
Borderline: 120-144 mg/dL
High: Greater than or equal to 145 mg/dL
Borderline: 110-129 mg/dL
High: Greater than or equal to 130 mg/dL
High: Greater than or equal to 239 mg/dL
Near optimal or above optimal: 100-129 mg/dL
Borderline high: 130-159 mg/dL
Very high: Greater than 189 mg/dL
High: Greater than or equal to 239 mg/dL
Near optimal or above optimal: 100-129 mg/dL
Borderline high: 130-159 mg/dL
Very high: Greater than 189 mg/dL
LDL cholesterol levels
If you do not have heart disease or blood vessel disease, and you are not at high risk for developing heart disease, the optimal number is less than 100 mg/dL.
Triglycerides
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What Are Hdl Ldl And Vldl
HDL, LDL, and VLDL are lipoproteins. They are a combination of fat and protein. The lipids need to be attached to the proteins so they can move through the blood. Different types of lipoproteins have different purposes:
- HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein. It is sometimes called “good” cholesterol because it carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver. Your liver then removes the cholesterol from your body.
- LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein. It is sometimes called “bad” cholesterol because a high LDL level leads to the buildup of plaque in your arteries.
- VLDL stands for very low-density lipoprotein. Some people also call VLDL a “bad” cholesterol because it too contributes to the buildup of plaque in your arteries. But VLDL and LDL are different; VLDL mainly carries triglycerides and LDL mainly carries cholesterol.
What Happens To The Newly
First, you could try to burn this fat for energy. However, with all the available glucose around after the meal, there is simply no reason for the body to burn the new fat. Imagine that you have gone to Costco and simply bought waaayyy too much food to store in your refrigerator. One option is to eat it, but theres simply too much. If you cannot get rid of it, much of the food will be left on the counter where it will rot. So this option is not viable.
The only option left is to transfer this new created triglyceride somewhere else. This is known as the endogenous pathway of lipid transport. Triglycerides are packaged together with special proteins called very low-density lipoproteins . These packages can now be exported out to help decompress the congested liver.
The amount of VLDL produced mostly depends upon the availability of hepatic triglycerides. Lots of newly created fat triggers production of more of these triglyceride filled VLDL packages. Insulin plays a key facilitating role in the production of VLDL, by increasing the genes needed for DNL. Experimental infusion of large amounts of carbohydrates increases the release of VLDL from the liver by a massive 3.4 fold. This massive increase in triglyceride rich VLDL particles is the major reason for an increased plasma triglyceride level, detectable in all standard blood test for cholesterol.
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How Is High Cholesterol Treated
If your child has an LDL cholesterol level of 130 mg/dL or higher, your doctor will talk to you about lifestyle changes or refer you to a dietitian. The goals are to:
- reduce fat and cholesterol in the diet
- increase exercise
- lose weight, if needed
Your doctor will probably do a cholesterol check again after 36 months of lifestyle changes.
Medicine might be considered for kids 10 and older whose LDL cholesterol is 190 mg/dL or higher if changes in diet and exercise haven’t worked. Kids with risk factors, such as diabetes or high blood pressure or a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease, may need treatment at lower LDL levels.
The Liver And Cholesterol: What You Should Know
Introduction and overview
Balanced cholesterol levels are important to maintaining good health. The liver is an underrecognized part of that effort.
The liver is the largest gland in the body, located in the upper right part of the belly. It is the bodys master detoxer of drugs and other foreign substances. It stores glycogen, which the body uses for energy. Its also important in metabolizing fat, carbohydrates, and proteins. A healthy liver does all this unnoticed.
An important function of the liver is to produce and clear cholesterol in the body. Most of the attention focused on cholesterol describes its potential for harmful health effects. But cholesterol is necessary for the creation of hormones, vitamin D, and enzymes needed for digestion.
Bundles called lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout the body. Two important types are high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins . High and low refer to the relative proportion of protein to fat in the bundle. The body needs both types in regulated proportions.
Its important to know the levels of HDL , LDL , and total cholesterol in your body. A rough estimate of total cholesterol is HDL, plus LDL, plus one-fifth of a third type of fat called triglyceride.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends the following levels:
| LDL cholesterol levels |
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High Cholesterol: The Big Picture
When the body’s metabolism the process by which the body turns food into energy is affected by a health problem, cholesterol levels in the blood are often affected, too.;Figuring out the best way to treat high cholesterol starts with understanding why it’s happening; identifying other health problems is a primary consideration.
“When we see people who come in for assessment of an elevated form of LDL cholesterol or triglycerides, we always want to look for associated metabolic abnormalities,” says cardiologist Stephen J. Nicholls, PhD, professor of cardiology at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
High cholesterol treatment is about “managing not just one risk factor in our patients, but the whole picture,” says Dr. Nicholls. “It’s often important to keep that in mind when you’re looking at a patient and their cholesterol levels.”
Metabolism Recycling And Excretion
Cholesterol is susceptible to oxidation and easily forms oxygenated derivatives called oxysterols. Three different mechanisms can form these: autoxidation, secondary oxidation to lipid peroxidation, and cholesterol-metabolizing enzyme oxidation. A great interest in oxysterols arose when they were shown to exert inhibitory actions on cholesterol biosynthesis. This finding became known as the “oxysterol hypothesis”. Additional roles for oxysterols in human physiology include their participation in bile acid biosynthesis, function as transport forms of cholesterol, and regulation of gene transcription.
In biochemical experiments radiolabelled forms of cholesterol, such as tritiated-cholesterol are used. These derivatives undergo degradation upon storage and it is essential to purify cholesterol prior to use. Cholesterol can be purified using small Sephadex LH-20 columns.
Although cholesterol is a steroid generally associated with mammals, the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis is able to completely degrade this molecule and contains a large number of genes that are regulated by its presence. Many of these cholesterol-regulated genes are homologues of fatty acid-oxidation genes, but have evolved in such a way as to bind large steroid substrates like cholesterol.
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Gender Difference With Cholesterol
Women tend to have higher levels of HDL than men, since female sex hormones release HDL and male sex hormones lower HDL. At menopause, estrogen production drops, and so does HDL. Just another mid-life biochemical quirk that should stimulate menopausal-age women to start an HDL-raising exercise program.
Myth: I Would Be Able To Feel It If I Had High Cholesterol
Fact:;High cholesterol usually has no signs or symptoms. You may not know you have unhealthy cholesterol levels until it is too latewhen you have a heart attack or stroke. Thats why its so important to get your cholesterol levels checked at least every 5 years.1,2 Learn more about getting your cholesterol checked.
Occasionally, some people develop yellowish growths on their skin called;xanthomas, which are cholesterol-rich deposits. People with xanthomas may have high cholesterol levels.
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Necessary Product Of The Body
These foods give the body a hand in supplying cholesterol so it does not have to work as hard to produce its own. What a lot of people dont realize is that most cholesterol in the body does not come from food! The body produces cholesterol as it is needed. Scientific studies have conclusively demonstrated that cholesterol from food has no effect whatsoever on the level of our blood cholesterol. Why? Because cholesterol is such an essential part of our human physiology that the body has very efficient mechanisms to keep blood cholesterol at a certain level.
When we eat more cholesterol, the body produces less; when we eat less cholesterol, the body produces more. As a raw material for making cholesterol the body can use carbohydrates, proteins and fats, which means that your pasta and bread can be used for making cholesterol in the body. It has been estimated that, in an average person, about 85 percent of blood cholesterol is produced by the body, while only 15 percent comes from food. So, even if you religiously follow a completely cholesterol-free diet, you will still have a lot of cholesterol in your body. However, cholesterol-lowering drugs are a completely different matter! They interfere with the bodys ability to produce cholesterol, and hence they do reduce the amount of cholesterol available for the body to use.
Safe Blood Cholesterol Levels
Health authorities recommend that cholesterol levels should be no higher than 5.5 mmol per litre if there are no other risk factors present. If there are other cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure or pre-existing cardiovascular disease, then the aim for the LDL levels would be less than 2 mmol/l. Approximately half of all adult Australians have a blood cholesterol level above 5 mmol/l. This makes high blood cholesterol a major health concern in Australia.
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Your Liver And Cholesterol Transportation Throughout Your Body
The cholesterol from your liver and from your diet perform the same tasks. It moves through your body using the bloodstream as a water way and land in different cells and tissues. New cell membranes, Vitamin D, hormones, and bile acids used for digestion are all made from this cholesterol.
Transportation of cholesterol is a little complicated. If you have ever placed oil and water in the same container you likely noticed that the two substances do not mix.
Cholesterol, which is a fat and your blood, which is mostly water, do not mix. Therefore, cholesterol needs a protein carrier to move within your body, which is called a lipoprotein. Two of these lipoproteins are important to your heart health: LDL and HDL .
Your medical doctor refers to LDL as the bad cholesterol because it is the type that sticks to your artery walls forming plaque and cardiovascular disease. Your doctor calls HDL the good cholesterol because it carries cholesterol away from your arteries to your liver where it can be used for good functions such as the creation of bile acids.
Your Liver And Cholesterol Help Your Body Control Cholesterol Levels
Your liver and cholesterol production are linked, and this is a normal function of your body that you have little control over. However, you do have some control over the amount of cholesterol in your blood.
Leave this page, liver and cholesterol, and learn more about other cholesterol information when you click here
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Statins And How Statins Work
Doctors also prescribe, usually if lifestyle changes are falling short, drugs like statins. Brand names include Lipitor, Crestor, Mevacor, Pravacol, and Zocor. Statins have been clearly shown to reduce blood cholesterol and prevent atherosclerosis, or heart disease. They work by reducing the livers production of cholesterol. They block an enzyme called HMG CoA Reductase that the liver uses to make cholesterol.
But other things are happening in the liver that statins do not affect. In addition to producing cholesterol, the liver helps clear excess cholesterol from the blood. It has tiny receptors that capture LDL bad cholesterol particles that are floating around. Like vacuum cleaners, these receptors suck this excess cholesterol up and out of the blood, which means theres much less cholesterol seeping into our artery walls, building plaque.
The problem is, a diet full of saturated fats, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol reduces the number and effectiveness of these LDL receptors. And theres nothing statins can do to counteract this process.
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Why Do We Need Cholesterol
Cholesterol plays a vital role in how your body works. There is cholesterol in every cell in your body, and it’s especially important in your brain, nerves and skin.
Cholesterol has three main jobs:
- Its part of the outer layer, or membrane, of all your bodys cells
- Its used to make vitamin D and steroid hormones which keep your bones, teeth and muscles healthy
- Its used to make bile, which helps to digest the fats you eat
Regulation Of Hepatic Cholesterol
The intracellular level of hepatic cholesterol is regulated by modulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutarylâcoenzyme A reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis, and by three separate integrated lipoprotein regulatory cycles . An increase in the hepatic level of cholesterol results in a decrease in cholesterol synthesis and a coordinate response in the three separate lipoprotein cycles. In the first cycle, the level of cholesterol can be reduced by increased secretion of cholesterol-enriched VLDL, which is converted to IDL and finally cholesterol-enriched LDL, and by a decrease in the level of LDLR expression reducing LDL uptake by the liver . An increase in hepatic cholesterol results in an up-regulation of the LXR/RXR transcription factors, resulting in an increase in the level of the ABCA1 transporter; this would enhance hepatocyte cholesterol efflux to lipid-poor apoA-I with the formation of pre-β-HDL and conversion to α-HDL following cholesterol esterification by LCAT . The up-regulation of the LXR pathway would also increase gene expression of ABCG5 and ABCG8,61,62 which facilitates the secretion of cholesterol from the hepatocyte into the bile and would also increase the efflux of intracellular cholesterol in the enterocyte back into the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract, thereby decreasing the delivery of cholesterol back to the liver via the enterohepatic circulation61,62 .
Makoto Makishima, Sachiko Yamada, in, 2018
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How Can I Lower My Cholesterol Level
The first step in reducing your cholesterol is to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. It’s important to keep your diet low in fatty food.
You can swap food containing saturated fat for fruit, vegetables and wholegrain cereals. This will also help;prevent high cholesterol returning.
Other lifestyle changes, such as;taking regular exercise and;giving up smoking, can also make a big difference in helping to lower your cholesterol.
If these measures don’t reduce your cholesterol and you continue to have a high risk of developing heart disease, your GP may prescribe a cholesterol-lowering medication, such as statins.
Your GP will take into account the risk of any side effects from statins. The benefit of lowering your cholesterol must outweigh any risks.
Read more about how high cholesterol is treated
How Do You Prepare For A Cholesterol Test
In most cases, youll need to fast for nine to 12 hours before the test. Make sure you tell the person drawing your blood how long it has been since you ate or drank anything that wasnt water.
There are some cases when a cholesterol test is done without fasting. This is true for tests done at health screenings and may be true for people younger than 20 or for people who are unable to fast.
Some medical societies believe that fasting is not necessary to get a true picture of lipid levels in the blood, while other associations stand by the belief that fasting gives a better idea of a persons heart disease risk. You should be clear on whether or not you need to fast, and for how long, before you go for the blood test.
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