You will find what is HDL and LDL cholesterol within this article. Then you will discover different ways to lower your cholesterol levels naturally. But first, what are HDL and LDL?
What is HDL Cholesterol?
High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol removes cholesterol from the walls of blood vessels – and brings it back to the liver to be safely excreted. That’s why it’s called ‘good cholesterol’ since it helps to clean arteries.
Important – HDL is the cholesterol that you want to increase. Higher HDL cholesterol levels mean a healthier you & lower risk of heart disease.
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 increasing your HDL cholesterol and lowering 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 (millimoles per litter):
Blood Lipid Numbers – James – John
Total Cholesterol (TC)- 6.00 – 5.00
HDL Cholesterol – – – – 1.39 – 0.50
TC/HDL Ratio – – – – – 4.32 – 10
You can see that James has a 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 a low cholesterol level will have a heart attack.
What is HDL 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. That’s why it’s called ‘good cholesterol’ since it helps to clean arteries.
Important – HDL is the cholesterol that you want to increase. Higher HDL cholesterol levels mean a healthier you & lower risk of heart disease.
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 increasing your HDL cholesterol and lowering 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
HDL Cholesterol – – – – 1.39 – 0.50
TC/HDL Ratio – – – – – 4.32 – 10
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 a low cholesterol level will have a heart attack.
What is LDL 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.
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.
That’s why it is your first priority to keep in control or lower LDL cholesterol.
Lowering LDL & Increasing HDL
By now you understand that you need to lower your LDL but at the same time raise your HDL cholesterol.
To Lower LDL you can start by eating certain foods that lower LDL cholesterol, like oats or olive oil.
Or you can exercise to increase your HDL cholesterol you should eat specific foods that raise HDL cholesterol, like berries.
Another great way to increase good cholesterol it to use Niacin (vitamin B3), found in poultry, fish, nuts etc, or take it as a supplement.
Finally you can use the supplement that I used which helped to lower my LDL and increase my HDL naturally. This supplement is Lipi-Rite and it contains many natural ingredients that help both HDL and LDL levels, like red yeast rice, policosanol, niacin, guggul etc.
All the Best
Artin Vaqari
Founder
www.all-about-lowering-cholesterol.com
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