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Cholesterol hdl ldl – what’s the difference?Ever got confused as to what cholesterol hdl ldl mean? Which one to lower? Which one to increase? How to Lower Cholesterol? All these and more explained right in this webpage. · LDL (Bad) Cholesterol.LDL or otherwise called Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol, is the one that you'll mostly hear as being the bad cholesterol. Learn this: whenever referring to lowering cholesterol, this is the one they mean to lower. Click here to find out how to lower LDL (the bad) cholesterol by 20 percent without any side effects.It is bad because it causes cholesterol to build up inside blood vessels. As the cholesterol passes through the arteries, some of it gets left behind in the form of plaque. The build up gets thicker and thicker, and your arteries get more and more clogged. Think calcium in your shower pipes. That’s atherosclerosis (cholesterol build up in your arteries). As the flow of blood to your heart decreases, the heart gets less oxygen than it needs. Angina, heart attack or coronary heart disease can follow. Or if the plaque is formed in the arteries near to the brain, the flow of blood to your brain decreases – it can result in stroke.
· HDL (Good) Cholesterol.High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol actually removes cholesterol from the walls of blood vessels – and brings it back to the liver to be safely excreted. HDL helps protect, or to say it better, clean your arteries from cholesterol build up. It helps reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. This is the one that should be increases as opposed to LDL cholesterol, which should be decreased.While increasing your HDL cholesterol and lowering LDL must be your priority, the ratio between your HDL and total cholesterol is an even more important indicator of heart disease. The lower the ratio the better. This can be achieved by having a high HDL cholesterol and low LDL and triglycerides. The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL for men should be below 4.6 and for women 4.0. This is the MOST important factor and you MUST always strive to keep this ratio as low as possible. Let’s take an example. Let’s say you just had a blood analysis profile and these are the results you get in mmol/L (millimols per litter): Blood Lipid Numbers - - - - James - - - - -John Total Cholesterol (TC)- - - 6.00 - - - - - 5.00
You can see that James has higher total cholesterol level than John (6.00 to 5.00). However, John is much more likely to have a heart attack rather than James. John’s Ratio is 10 (very high) as compared to James which is only 4.32. Studies have already shown that the high ratio of total cholesterol to HDL in people with low cholesterol levels is the explanation why a person with low cholesterol level will have a heart attack. Click here to learn how to reduce the cholesterol HDL LDL ratio by 23 percent, safely and naturally. · How to decrease LDL and increase HDL cholesterol?There are various ways to lower LDL cholesterol such as keeping a watch on the food you eat (consume vegetables and fruits and limit the intake of meat, dairy products, breads, grains). Or you may start an exercise program. Or you can cut down on smoking and alcohol.As for increasing HDL cholesterol consume olive oil. Instead of the mayonnaise, use olive oil for your salad. And remember to use "Extra Virgin Olive Oil", since it is the purest of all. Other ways to increase HDL cholesterol include increasing soluble fiber consumption, fish oil such as salmon, mackerel, sardines or tuna. However, quite a number of things above require some kind of discipline (you got to cut down on your steak, or frequenting your favorite fast food restaurant). But using cholesterol lowering medication or drugs does not require discipline. Just pop in your mouth one pill and there you are. Within one month you lower your cholesterol. Together, with your cholesterol lowering pill in your stomach, be a guest to side effects, such as liver problems or weakening of muscles. As a result, probably the best way to lower cholesterol, is through certain nutritional supplements (especially a new “breed” called nutraceuticals), which have undergone trials and patients have shown decreases in their cholesterol levels after their consumption. What’s more there’s an increase in HDL or good cholesterol levels, the one that cleans the arteries from cholesterol build up. Best of all, unlike cholesterol lowering drugs, they do not have any side effects.
The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. The information and claims made in this site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. |