How to Have Naturally Healthy Cholesterol Levels: the best book on essentials on how to lower bad LDL & boost good HDL via foods/diet, medications, exercise & knowing cholesterol myths for clarity

Chapter 1: Getting to know cholesterol

Heart disease is one of the top killers in the world. In the United States alone, it comes first place, ahead of all types of cancer and diseases. The most common form of heart disease is heart attack, and one famous risk factor is high cholesterol.

Hundreds of studies have already shown the negative impact of high cholesterol, particularly the bad one, on a person’s heart and overall health. The good news is that researchers have also founds ways to reduce your risk, and live a longer and happier life.

How much do you know about cholesterol?

It is true that you acquire cholesterol from the food you eat, but this is not the sole source. In fact, most of the cholesterol found in your body is produced by your liver. This organ uses fat, protein, and carbohydrates from food in order to create about 1 gram of cholesterol a day.

The cholesterol travels through your bloodstream in the form of lipoproteins. The fatty substances in these particles include triglycerides and cholesterol. The proteins combine with fat to create lipoproteins called apolipoproteins.

Lipoproteins undergo five phases as they change into the particles that bring cholesterol around the body:

> Chylomicrons

> Very low density lipoproteins or VLDLs

> Intermediate density lipoproteins or IDLs

> Low density lipoproteins or LDLs

> High density lipoproteins or HDLs

What are low-density and high-density lipoproteins?

Density refers to the weight of the lipoprotein, and protein weighs more than fat. Lipoproteins that contain less protein than fat are called low-density lipoproteins or LDLs, which are bad particles as they carry cholesterol to the arteries. The lipoproteins that contain more protein than fat are called high-density lipoproteins or HDLs, which are the good guys as they get cholesterol out of your system.

Your liver and cholesterol

The liver is high in cholesterol and fat. It gathers fat fragments from your blood, and utilize them to produce new fat and cholesterol that your body can use to form tissue and do other physiological tasks.

Once the chylomicron reaches the liver, it will gather fat particles and transform into the biggest form of lipoprotein, the very low-density lipoprotein or VLDL. Your liver will then send the VLDL into your body. As the VLDL travels around you, it will drop some fat, pick up cholesterol, and transform into the smaller and heavier intermediate low density lipoprotein or IDL, and then change into a slightly smaller and heavier low density lipoprotein or LDL.

The last phase happens when the LDL has released so much cholesterol and fat into the body that it is now mostly protein. This is the high density lipoprotein or HDL. The primary protein in VLDL, IDL, and LDL are part of the apolipoprotein class called the apoB. The HDLs, on the other hand, belong to apoA. Other less prominent apos are referred to as apoC and apoE.

You may have already heard about the apoA blood test. This test can tell you whether you have a high level of apoA, which also indicates how much HDLs or good cholesterol you have in the body.

Is there such a thing as good cholesterol?

HDLs deserve the name good cholesterol because these particles do not carry cholesterol into your heart. They are so dense and compact that they cannot squeeze their way through your arteries, which is why they move away and out of your system, along with the rest of your waste.

You can consider HDL as scavengers that take out cholesterol from your heart. Having plenty of HDLs in your body reduces your risk of heart disease, regardless of your total cholesterol level. Studies have shown that people who increase their HDLs by living an active and healthy lifestyle reduce the number of cholesterol in their arteries, while removing plaque around the heart.

Is bad cholesterol really bad?

Not all LDLs are bad. In fact, there were researchers who dismissed the idea that people who were able to reach old age with high LDL levels and without any heart issues are just plain lucky.

In 2003, a group of scientists at New York City’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, along with researchers from Tufts University, University of Maryland, Boston University, and Roche Molecular Systems, conducted several tests on senior citizens