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Article by Saadi

There is a lot of talk about high cholesterol, bad cholesterol, and good cholesterol, but what exactly is considered normal levels of cholesterol?

Cholesterol

The world of cholesterol and cholesterol scoring can be rather confusing. Most people think that having high cholesterol is bad, but that is only true of one type of cholesterol. Many people don’t realize that there are actually two kinds of cholesterol and any time you get your levels tested both of these levels are measured.

HDL

The good kind of cholesterol is called HDL or high density lipoprotein. This kind of cholesterol is beneficial to your body and will help to keep the bad levels in check. The normal levels of cholesterol when looking at the HDL numbers are at a score of 60 or above. A score of at least 60 is what you want, but the higher the number the better. If you have an HDL score of fewer than 40 you are at an increased risk for heart disease; which can lead to heart attack.

HDL is fast moving and works as is part of the building blocks that make up your cells, bile, and body. These forms of lipoprotein will also help to move the slower and “bad” cholesterol out of your arteries. For having at least normal levels of cholesterol in HDL is vitally important.

LDL

The other kind of cholesterol is the bad brother to HDL. The bad cholesterol is called LDL or low density lipoprotein. Having a score of less than 100 is optimal for the LDL variety. Of course, your age and family history will help to determine what the normal levels of cholesterol are when it comes to LDL. This type of cholesterol is slow and prone to clogging your arteries; which can lead to stroke or heart attack.

The LDL levels of cholesterol are broken down into several levels because they tend to fluctuate more than the HDL variety.

Basically, if your score is 100 to 120 this is considered normal or close to borderline. At this level your doctor would more likely want to watch your levels, and depending on your HDL rating, you might need to change your diet or look at adding in supplements to try and improve your score.

An LDL score of 130 to 159 is considered borderline. An LDL score of 160 to 189 is also high, but not as serious as a score above that. Any number in this range should be considered serious and immediate changes to lifestyle and diet should be considered.

With LDL cholesterol a score of 190 or higher is considered dangerous and a serious immediate health risk. Your doctor will probably want to put you on prescription drugs immediately. It is also likely that you will be given a required restricted diet and frequent blood level checks until your levels get back under normal levels of cholesterol.

Knowing the normal levels of cholesterol is important because high levels of the bad kind and low levels of the good kind can lead to all sorts of serious medical problems including death.

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Study Suggests Statins Could Help Some With Normal Cholesterol
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) — Cholesterol-lowering statins could go a long way toward protecting against heart disease among patients who are deemed to have an “intermediate risk” for cardiovascular trouble, a new study suggests.

Read more on HealthDay via Yahoo! News

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Cholesterol is a medical problem that most of us encounter and have to battle with at one point in our lives. So what actually is cholesterol and what role does it play in our body?

Cholesterol is a substance that exists in our cell which our body needs. It flows through our blood stream and has a waxy texture. It is common knowledge nowadays that cholesterol is not always a bad thing. There is actually good cholesterol or the high-density lipoprotein known as HDL which helps in carrying cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver. It is then processed into harmless particles.

The good cholesterol HDL helps to build cell membrane and various hormones while the bad cholesterol LDL when present in high levels in our body will clog the arteries and may cause a heart attack in due course.

Healthy Cholesterol Levels And How To Achieve It

A healthy HDL cholesterol level should be a minimum of 40 mg/dL and a healthy LDL cholesterol level should be a maximum of 200mg/dL.

The first thing you need to achieve a healthy cholesterol level and to maintain it is to first get it tested regularly. The only way to know your cholesterol level is through a blood test. Once you get the results of your cholesterol tests, you can start making changes in your lifestyle to achieve or maintain a healthy cholesterol level.

The first thing you must do is to watch your weight. Although cholesterol levels are not measured by weight, obesity is often a sign of high levels of bad cholesterol. At the same time, it does not mean that a person with an ideal weight or even under weight will have normal cholesterol levels.

How To Achieve A Healthy Cholesterol Level With Your Diet

A lot of information about cholesterol and the foods that will make your cholesterol level higher are easily available. However, it’s easier to simply list the foods that will not increase your cholesterol level such as fresh fruits and vegetables especially. You should also know that there are some types of foods that can actually lower your cholesterol. If you have high cholesterol levels you can try to achieve normal cholesterol levels by consuming these foods.

Oatmeal and oat bran are some types of foods that can help to lower cholesterol level. This is because bad cholesterol levels can be lowered by soluble fiber. Experts think the reason is because fiber can help stop the absorption of cholesterol. A good amount of soluble fiber should be five to ten grams a day.

Oatmeal need not only be taken at breakfast. It can be eaten at other meals for your lunch and dinner by adding it to baked foods. Other types of soluble fiber can also help you maintain normal cholesterol level if you do not like the taste of oatmeal.

Another type of food you should include in your diet is food that contains Omega-3 fatty acids. This is because it has been found to lower the levels of triglycerides. Some types of foods that are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids include nuts, and they are tasty additions to a healthy diet. Nuts are high in protein and fiber, which make them filling. Walnuts and almonds are also types of nuts that are good for lowering cholesterol, besides peanuts, hazelnuts, pecans and pistachios.

However, it is not recommended to consume nuts with higher amounts of fat are when trying to achieve a normal cholesterol level through your diet. These high fat nuts include Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamia nuts and some pine nuts.

As most of us know, Omega-3 fatty acids can also be found in fatty fish. Some examples of fatty fish are sardines, mackerel, salmon, tuna, herring and trout. Most of these fatty fish are cold-water fish.

Besides knowing the foods you should eat to achieve a healthy and normal cholesterol level, you should also know the foods you should avoid. These foods are mostly foods that contain high cholesterol, including saturated fats and trans fats.

Bad cholesterol can found in trans fat and saturated fats and make your LDL cholesterol levels very high. That is why you should read all food labels and make sure you do not purchase and consume food that contains them. There are many types of food which contain cholesterol such as poultry, meat, eggs, milk and butter. As you cannot remove all the food with cholesterol from your diet, you should try minimizing the amount or portion of these foods.

If you are still not sure of what to eat to achieve and maintain a healthy and normal cholesterol level, you can consult your doctor or a dietician to help you make a diet plan. They can help you make a diet plan which consists of foods that have just the right amount of cholesterol for you.