Had Your Cholesterol Levels Checked Lately?

I'm depending on an article I wrote for my column last year to hold you loyal readers over until something insightful, curious, or annoying hits. It's been a while since I've written anything worth reading, therefore, I'm falling back on this--to remind you that, yes, I can write about something other than my daily happenings.


Cholesterol. We’ve been conditioned to cringe at the sound of the word, yet cholesterol is naturally produced in the body and is used for cell construction and hormone production. A high level of cholesterol is cause for concern though, simply because too much of the waxy, fatty substance can clog arteries, blocking blood’s free pass to the heart. This is why high cholesterol is a leading risk factor for heart disease.

Do you know your cholesterol level?
According to the National Cholesterol Education Program, those older than 20 should get their cholesterol levels tested every five years. Medical economists and some researchers say that men with no other risk factors for heart disease* can wait until they are 35; similar women should be tested by 45.

What do the numbers mean?
Once you have your cholesterol levels checked, your doctor will report three values: your total cholesterol, the LDL and the HDL. The LDL, or bad cholesterol, is what sticks to the artery walls, hanging out to see what kind of trouble it can get into. HDL, or good cholesterol, cleanses the arteries, is the bloodstream’s bouncer, picking up the trouble-making LDL cholesterol and escorting it out of the flow.

Borderline total cholesterol is between 200 and 239. If your level is above 239, you are at high risk for heart disease.

(The table didn't copy. I hope you can figure this rough organization out.)


Risk Total Cholesterol LDL HDL
High Above 239 Above 159 Less than 35

Borderline 200 – 239 130 – 159 na

Desirable Below 200 Below 130 Above 60

• 
  How can you lower your cholesterol level?
  Exercise. Just 30 minutes of aerobic exercise on most days of the week will help raise the HDL (good) cholesterol level in your bloodstream.
  
  Eat right. Make sure the majority of the fats you consume are the unsaturated kind. Polyunsaturated fat lowers total cholesterol, meaning both HDL and LDL levels, while monounsaturates lower only the bad LDL cholesterol levels. For more information on healthy fats, please read The Skinny on Fat.
  
  Don’t eat wrong. Reduce saturated fat intake and cholesterol by watching your intake of butter, whole milk, cheese, ice cream, red meat, palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, and hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils. If you have borderline or high cholesterol, make sure to limit yourself to no more than one egg yolk per day.
  
  We can be proactive in lowering our cholesterol levels and maintaining them below 200:
  1. Exercise
  2. Limit intake of less-than-good-for-you food:
  *Full fat dairy products
  *Hamburger, bacon, sausage
  *Commercially prepared cookies, crackers, pies and cakes.
  
  3. Select healthy snacks rather than candy and chips:
  *Baby carrots
  *Tangerines
  *Pretzels
  *Celery
  *Grapes
  *Radishes
  *Air-popped popcorn.
  
  4. Cook with healthy vegetable oils:
  *Corn
  *Canola
  *Soybean
  *Sunflower
  *Olive.
  
  Incorporating the above four suggestions into your lifestyle may take determination and time, but when you consider the alternative to having a desirable cholesterol level, the effort is totally worth it.
  
  
  *Risk factors for heart disease include
  high blood pressure
  smoking
  a family history of heart disease
  being male
  diabetes
  obesity
  
  
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  Resources
  National Heart Lung & Blood Institute
  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/chd/
  
  Health Services at Columbia University
  http://tm.wc.ask.com/r?t=c&s=a&id=30787&sv=za5cb0de8&uid=2d8442ae1d8442ae1&sid=19AD5B237BC16D614&p=%2ftop&o=0&u=http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0880.html