Cholesterol

Animal foods contain cholesterol as a naturally occurring substance; you will find some cholesterol in everything from beef, pork, lamb, veal, chicken, and fish to dairy products and eggs. A prudent diet contains no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day.

Cholesterol is a lipit, or insoluble fatty substance, that your body manufactures to build the outer membrane of each of your cells as well as certain hormones. Because it doesn’t mix water, cholesterol cannot travel alone. To gain passage through the bloodstream, cholesterol combines into little packages with high-density lipoproteins, (HDL, or so-called good cholesterol), low-density lipoproteins (LDL, or bad cholesterol), or very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL).

The amount and the kind of cholesterol in your blood are a reflection of the fats you eat. But, as always, there are exceptions to the rule. Some people can feast on high-fat food and still have acceptable cholesterol levels, while others trim their fat intake to the bare minimum without achieving any significant decrease in blood cholesterol. Many premenopausal women with elevations in their cholesterol levels still remain relatively safe because their HDL (good cholesterol) levels are at work protecting their arteries.

New ways of checking levels on in the works now. Don’t let that stop you from checking you levels now. Where you stand can be realized by having blood work done

Research has provided much evidence about the association between diet, cholesterol, and heart disease. A very high level of blood cholesterol increases the risk of coronary artery disease in the group most studied—men between the ages of 25 and 60. The higher the cholesterol, the greater the risk. A very low level of cholesterol doesn’t carry any risk by itself.