The link between LDL cholesterol and heart disease is one of the most significant and well documented of all risk indicators. High cholesterol levels can lead to plaque buildup in your arteries, which could eventually result in a heart attack or stroke.
FACT: Most people are unaware that only 20% of your cholesterol actually comes from your diet…the other 80% is manufactured by your liver.
Cholesterol and Heart Disease…the Facts
What is cholesterol and is it all bad?
Cholesterol is a necessary component for your body’s health. It is essentially a non soluble waxy substance which your body uses to make hormones, cell walls and nerve sheaths. There is the good kind and the bad kind, as outlined below.
What’s the difference between LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol?
LDL(low density lipoprotein) is the bad or oxidized form. LDL attaches itself to artery walls, creating plaque that can build up and eventually block your arteries, which could result in an eventual heart attack or even a stroke. You want your LDL levels to be as low as possible.
HDL cholesterol (high density lipoprotein) is the good form. HDL travels around in your bloodstream, picks up excess LDL cholesterol and brings it back to your liver to be reprocessed. Therefore, HDL is essentially cleaning out your body. You want your HDL levels to be as high as possible.
What is the ideal HDL LDL ratio in the bloodstream?
Your total cholesterol is an important figure, but even more important is the ratio of LDL (bad) cholesterol to HDL (good) cholesterol. Following are the normal and optimal levels:
Total Cholesterol – Normal Levels: up to 199 mg/dL
Optimal Levels: Between 180-220 mg/dL
LDL Cholesterol – Normal Levels: up to 129 mg/dL
Optimal Levels: Under 100 mg/dL
HDL Cholesterol – Normal Levels: no lower than 35mg/dL
Optimal Levels: Over 50 mg/dL
Summary: For optimal health, you should keep your LDL down and keep your HDL up!
Featured Cholesterol Lowering Supplement
Some members of our staff have been taking a special natural cholesterol lowering formula with vitamins, minerals and herbal extracts to help lower LDL cholesterol levels as well as decrease triglycerides (fats) and promote overall heart health.
The ingredients of this special formula have been shown to be much safer than the statin medications prescribed by many doctors. Some of the ingredients have actually outperformed statin medications in clinical trials.
Take a look at this natural cholesterol lowering formula and find out how it can help significantly lower your LDL levels as well as promote overall heart health.
How to lower LDL and raise HDL
It is important to maintain your levels, whether or not you currently have high cholesterol. Many doctors prescribe medications called statins, but these could cause some very serious side effects. Also, although they can lower LDL, they do nothing to increase HDL, and actually deplete the body’s levels of a very important heart nutrient called CoEnzyme Q10. Therefore, natural alternatives may be a better option for you.
As far as diets to lower cholesterol, you should follow the healthy heart diet tips outlined here. Keep in mind only 20% comes from your diet, so low cholesterol food is only part of the equation. You have to manage the other 80% that’s manufactured by your liver. Following are proven natural ingredients that can help.
In numerous double blind placebo trials involving the cholesterol and heart disease link the first two nutrients have been shown to significantly outperform statin drugs in improving blood serum levels:
Policosanol – a natural extract from sugar cane which has been shown to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels as well as raise HDL (good) cholesterol. More importantly policosanol has been proven to be free of side effects, unlike the statins.
Guggulipid Extract – an ancient herb from India recently shown to lower cholesterol levels and can also reduce triglyceride levels, another risk factor for heart disease.
Tumeric Extract – much evidence points to the fact that tumeric may decrease cholesterol and triglyceride levels, in addition to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Green Tea Extract – green tea is widely used for many medicinal purposes, and has been shown to reduce triglycerides as well as LDL, and increase HDL. Green tea also has antioxidants that can prevent heart disease, cancer and other illnesses.
There is too much evidence linking cholesterol and heart disease to ignore. Do whatever you can to keep your levels in check.