Heart disease has claimed more than 17 million lives every year worldwide. Every time this kind of statistics shows up, many people would contribute its cause to cholesterol. Whenever people hear that word, what come to mind are fat, thick gobs of lard and the likes. It seems to be that cholesterol has a pretty bad reputation but this is probably just from bad publicity from the media because cholesterol is also very important to survival.
There are two types of cholesterol streaming inside our veins: low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is produced by the liver and carries cholesterol through out the body for biochemical processes like hormone production. High density lipoproteins basically sweep the body from excess cholesterol and bring it to the liver for excretion. With the help of a Cholesterol Levels Chart, you can assess how much of the two you have in your body by undergoing a simple blood test.
A cholesterol reading of 200mg/dl or less is considered normal. But if you go beyond that, maybe its time for you to consider getting on a treadmill or perhaps a check up with your doctor. As for LDL cholesterol levels chart, having an LDL reading of less than 130mg/dl is considered normal. In contrast, if you registered an HDL level of more than 60mg/dl in your standard HDL cholesterol levels chart then you have a lot of those micro machines working to get rid of excess cholesterol in your body. Charts like these serve in gauging one’s health status and are needed by doctors as a guide for treatment and counter measures.
So basically, LDL is known as the bad cholesterol. Although it is important in the body, too much can be dangerous because this can lead to clogged arteries. Basically, you don’t want too much LDL in your body and in order to achieve that you have to practice moderation in your diet. Eat meat sparingly especially pork and beef. Butter should also be taken in small amounts although margarine is not much of a good substitute because it’s riddled with chemicals. Simply put, limiting fat intake is very important in having normal LDL levels.
On the flip side, having high levels of HDL in the body is beneficial to health. So consuming foods rich in Niacin like eggs, omega-3-fatty acids and also monounsaturated fats help increase the levels of HDL circulating in the body.
Combined with exercise, lifestyle changes like avoidance of smoking and a healthy diet, you can achieve a sense of yin and yang of your cholesterol in your body and achieve bodily and arterial zen.
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