Heart Health: Know your cholesterol numbers

Heart Health: Know your cholesterol numbers 

Due to our hectic lifestyles, faulty eating habits and lack of physical activity, we are more prone to getting lifestyle related disorders like obesity,diabetes and high blood cholesterol levels. So, we are going to review this fatal disease, which affects people of all ages.

What are the symptoms of high cholesterol?
"High cholesterol itself does not cause any symptoms; so many people are unaware that their cholesterol levels are high. Therefore, it is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because keeping your cholesterol levels healthy is a great way to keep your heart healthy and lower your chances of getting heart disease or having a stroke," points Web Med.

If you haven't done it recently, get a complete cholesterol check-up, which is also called a "lipid profile."

Cholesterol can be tricky to understand, though, because not all cholesterol is bad for you. Some of it, is actually good for you.

There are two types of cholesterol: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad" cholesterol)and high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good" cholesterol.). These are the forms in which cholesterol travels in the blood.

LDL is responsible for the clogging of the arteries. HDL helps to clear cholesterol from the blood, hence it is called good cholesterol.

Triglycerides are another form of fat in our bloodstream. High levels of triglycerides have shown to cause heart disease. Many people have high triglyceride levels due to being overweight/obese, physical inactive, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol consumption and/or a diet very high in carbohydrates or fructose rich diet.

What numbers should you look for?
It is recommended that everyone over the age of 20 should get their cholesterol levels measured. Lipid profile is done after a 10- to 12-hour fast without food or medication. It gives information about the following:

- Total serum cholesterol level
- LDL (the "bad" cholesterol)
- HDL (the "good" cholesterol)
- Triglycerides

Here's how to interpret your cholesterol numbers (ref: American Heart Association)
Total Cholesterol: Less than 200
Category : Desirable level that puts you at lower risk for coronary heart disease. A cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL or higher raises your risk.
Total Cholesterol: 200 - 239
Category : Borderline High
Total Cholesterol: 240 and above
Category : High blood cholesterol. A person with this level has more than twice the risk of coronary heart disease as someone whose cholesterol is below 200 mg/dL.
Heart Health: Know Your Cholesterol Numbers

LDL Cholesterol:Less than 100

LDL- Cholesterol Category : Optimal

LDL Cholesterol:100 - 129

LDL- Cholesterol Category : Near optimal/above optimal

LDL Cholesterol:130 - 159

LDL- Cholesterol Category : Borderline high

LDL Cholesterol:160 - 189

LDL- Cholesterol Category : High

LDL Cholesterol:190 and above

LDL- Cholesterol Category : Very high

Heart Health: Know Your Cholesterol Numbers

HDL* 60 or more

HDL-Cholesterol Category High HDL cholesterol. An HDL of 60 mg/dL and above is considered protective against heart disease.

HDL* Less than 40 mg/dL

(for men)

Less than 50 mg/dL (for women)

HDL-Cholesterol Category : Major risk factor -- increases the

risk for developing heart disease

*HDL (good) cholesterol protects against heart disease, so for HDL, higher numbers are better.

Triglycerides HDL Cholesterol Category

Less than 150 Normal (desirable) heart disease

150-199 Borderline high

200-499 High

>500 Very high



High cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) can be inherited, but is often preventable and treatable. A healthy diet, regular exercise and medication (if prescribed by the doctor) can go a long way toward reducing high cholesterol.

Overweight and obesity are recognized today as major, underlying risk factors for heart disease. It's time to get serious about reducing your weight - especially if your waistline is more than 35 inches for a man or 32 inches for a woman.

Watch your diet. Saturated fats raise "bad" cholesterol levels in your blood and are a major risk for heart disease, so it is best to avoid foods with too much saturated fat. These fats are found in animal products such as butter, cheese, whole milk, and , cream, egg yolks, lard, and skin of poultry, red meat and processed meat like sausages, ham and bacon.

Get your proteins from lean sources instead, including skim milk, de-skinned chicken breast, fish, tofu and egg whites.

Include heart friendly oils like filtered canola oil, groundnut oil, rice bran oil and olive oil

Trans fats also raise "bad" cholesterol levels in your blood and increase the risk of heart disease. It is advisable to eat foods with as little trans fat as possible.

Sources of Trans fats are bakery products, margarine, vanaspati/dalda, ready to eat (processed) foods, Deep fried foods like samosas, bhajias, ,french fries, chips etc and sweets like jalebis, gulab jamuns etc.

Look for words such as "shortening," "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil," or "hydrogenated vegetable oil" in the ingredients. These words are clues that the food contains trans fat.

It is advisable to restrict the dietary cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg/day

Sources of cholesterol are milk & milk products, butter, ghee, egg yolks, liver, brain and other organ meats, red meat and poultry

Increase the intake of fiber in the diet. Fiber reduces the risk of heart disease by mopping up cholesterol and sweeping it out of your body as it passes through your system. Good sources of fiber include whole wheat, brown rice, jowar, bajra, bran, barley, bulgar wheat (Daliya), rolled or whole oatmeal, whole grains, corn, vegetables, sprouts, peas, soyabean, guar, fenugreek, beans, carrots, apples, guava, citrus fruits, strawberries, figs, prunes, pear.

Our sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity are also a major, underlying risk factor for heart disease. Exercise is very important for a healthy heart. Regular physical activity has shown to reduce VLDL and LDL and raises HDL cholesterol levels. It also can lower your blood pressure, reduce insulin resistance, and favorably influence your cardiovascular function.

Take home message- To keep your heart strong and healthy, get a complete cholesterol check-up done. If your cholesterol levels are high, talk to your doctor about starting lipid lowering medications to bring it down.

Get serious about weight loss, exercise, and eating a heart healthy diet that's lower in saturated fat and higher in fiber
.