HDL cholesterol (also known as good cholesterol) is a type of fat beneficial to our health, which helps prevent cardiovascular disease.
HDL cholesterol, also known as good cholesterol, is an extremely healthy type of cholesterol (hence its name). Therefore, knowing how to increase its values is essential for our health, an issue that helps a lot to follow a balanced diet, but above all natural and healthy.
Although high cholesterol is a real health problem, the truth is that having high levels of a certain cholesterol is not a problem, it is even more a benefit and a guarantee of health.
Obviously, we are referring to what is known as HDL cholesterol (also known as good cholesterol). And it is that it is a healthy fat that is opposed to the negative effects of the so-called bad cholesterol (or LDL cholesterol).
Unlike what many people think, cholesterol is essential and essential for the proper functioning of our body, since it is vital for cell formation or neuronal activity.
However, LDL cholesterol stays in the arteries, narrowing them and increasing cardiovascular risk, while HDL cholesterol acts on LDL preventing it from getting “stuck” in the arteries.
What is good cholesterol or HDL?
The good cholesterol (also known as HDL or high – density lipoprotein) is a type of cholesterol that helps very positively when remove cholesterol from the blood, which in avoids both the accumulation of fat and plaque formation.
Benefits of good cholesterol or HDL
- Helps remove cholesterol from the blood.
- Avoid the accumulation of fat.
- Prevents plaque formation.
Normal values of good cholesterol or HDL
Specialists estimate that HDL cholesterol greater than 60 mg / dl helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, therefore these normal HDL values are considered positive.
Therefore, those with an HDL cholesterol greater than 40 mg / dl are at greater risk. For this reason, it is best to keep HDL cholesterol between 40 and 70 mg / dl.
How to increase your good cholesterol or HDL values:
- Practice physical exercise at least three times a week for 20 minutes each time.
- Follow a balanced and healthy diet.
- Do not eat foods rich in saturated fat.
- Lose weight if there is excess weight.
- No Smoking.
- Avoid stress.
- Increase the consumption of foods that raise good cholesterol: such as oily fish (salmon, herring, sardines, tuna, trout …), shellfish, nuts, olive oil, avocado, broccoli or garlic.