About Cholesterol ( HDL and LDL)
Are you confused about good and bad cholesterol? You’re not alone. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that’s found in all cells of the body, and it’s essential for many bodily functions.
You might have heard how having high levels of cholesterol can cause heart disease, but this isn’t always true. In fact, cholesterol is vital to your body and helps it to function correctly.
However, it can become a problem if you don’t have enough good cholesterol and have too much of bad cholesterol. Too much of bad cholesterol can lead to heart disease, stroke, and other health problems, while good cholesterol helps to remove bad cholesterol from the body.
So what’s the difference between good and bad cholesterol? Keep reading to find out.
The differences between good(HDL) and bad(LDL) cholesterol
It’s clear that we need to lower bad cholesterol levels and increase good ones, but it’s not as simple as it sounds. Both good and bad cholesterol have very important roles in the body and cannot be ignored.
The two most commonly discussed lipoproteins are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Both of these lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout the body, and the amounts of each in your body will impact your risk for heart disease.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
LDL is considered bad cholesterol because it can build up in arteries and lead to heart disease. It accumulates in the arteries and increases your risk for atherosclerosis, peripheral artery disease, and other related conditions.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL)
HDL is considered good cholesterol because it helps remove plaque from arteries. A healthy level of HDL can help you protect yourself from stroke and heart attack.
This is because HDL helps carry the bad cholesterol away from the arteries and towards the liver. Once in the liver, LDL gets metabolised and processed into useful components that are absorbed and waste that gets rejected by the body.
However, all LDL cholesterol cannot get eliminated by HDL. Only about 25% to 35% of LDL can be carried by good cholesterol. Therefore, as important as it is to consume good cholesterol foods to balance out your LDL levels, it is just as important to avoid LDL foods to prevent their storage in the body.
Triglycerides
There is also a third component of cholesterol that often gets ignored. Triglycerides are the most common type of fat in our bodies. All excess food gets stored in the form of triglycerides. This includes all unused calories from the food you consume, as well as the components of good and bad cholesterol in your diet.
A high triglyceride concentration in your body, however, is often related to a high level of LDL in the body. This is because triglycerides often deposit as fatty build-ups in the arteries, increasing your risk for stroke, heart attack, and atherosclerosis.
3 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CHOLESTEROL LEVELS IN YOUR BODY
What are the levels of good and bad cholesterol to maintain?
Despite an insight into good and bad cholesterol, it can be confusing to understand how to maintain a balance between the two.
Most of the time, the cholesterol we hear about is total cholesterol, which is a sum of LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. The types of cholesterol that are most important to consider are both good and bad cholesterol. The ratio of LDL to HDL is a far better predictor for heart disease than total cholesterol alone.
The cholesterol ratio is calculated by dividing the individual’s HDL level by their LDL level. If the ratio is 3 or higher, there is a lower risk of heart disease. If the ratio is less than 3, there is a higher risk. A ratio of 3:1 or lower is considered ideal.
Conclusion
There are a lot of myths surrounding cholesterol, which can make it difficult to understand and impede effective treatment.
The most common misconceptions about cholesterol are that it is a simple, one-dimensional measurement that is either good or bad. In reality, cholesterol is a complicated mix of many different types of lipoproteins, each of which has different functions in the body. All of these lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout the body, and the amounts of each in your body will impact your risk for heart disease.
We hope this blog post has helped you learn more about good and bad cholesterol, and what you can do to keep your cholesterol in check.
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FAQs related to good and bad cholesterol
1. Is it better to have high HDL or low HDL?
For HDL, it is considered better to have a higher level. As a standalone, HDL levels should be at least 40 mg/dL for males and 50 mg/dL for females.
2. What should my LDL levels be?
The lower your LDL levels, the lesser your risk for heart disease. An LDL level of less than 100 mg/dL is considered healthy. Couple it with high HDL, and your risk is even lower.
3. How can I lower my LDL levels fast?
You can lower your LDL levels by making adequate lifestyle changes. Eating good cholesterol foods, exercising, increasing fibre intake, eating more protein, etc, are some of the easiest ways to reduce your LDL levels.
