A Cholesterol Chart: What Numbers Reveal About Good And Bad Cholesterol

A cholesterol chart can be a big help when trying to get an idea of where your blood cholesterol levels should fall. This can be a valuable tool, helping to fix this information in your mind.

It may be helpful to attach a normal cholesterol level chart to the wall so that you can become better acquainted with relevant numbers, especially if you are attempting to achieve healthful blood levels.

A cholesterol chart can spell out what you need to be aware of in simple terms, showing target ranges for cholesterol levels. Your doctor may give you one or you may be able to locate one online.

What levels would a normal cholesterol level chart show? Where should you be?

Total Cholesterol 200 or lower
Low Density Cholesterol 130 or lower
(High Density Cholesterol 50 or higher)
Triglycerides 150 or lower

What other numbers would a cholesterol chart reveal? What about “borderline high” or “high risk” blood cholesterol levels?

Borderline High
Total Cholesterol 200-240
Low Density Cholesterol 130-160
(High Density Cholesterol 50-35)
Triglycerides 150-500

High Risk
Total Cholesterol 240 or higher
Low Density Cholesterol 240 or higher
(High Density Cholesterol 35 or lower)
Triglycerides 500 or higher

When looking at a normal cholesterol level chart, how do you make sense of the numbers? It helps to have an understanding about the different kinds of cholesterol.

You may be wondering, for example, why HDL levels should be higher. Most people associate high levels with high cholesterol. HDL is the exception. It is actually beneficial, carrying LDL cholesterol away from the blood and helping in processes that lead to its elimination.

LDL, on the other hand, contributes to deposits in the arteries, causing narrowing and hardening, obstructing blood flow, and precipitating coronary problems.

Triglycerides are derived from fats eaten in foods or made in the body. Unused calories are converted to triglycerides and then transported to fat cells to be stored. Excess triglycerides can spell trouble and are linked to coronary artery disease for some people.

It could be said that the numbers in a cholesterol chart are a window on cardiovascular health.

Keeping a normal cholesterol level chart close by can help you to get a handle on cholesterol ranges and can be a reminder of where levels should be.

If you are wondering what can help your blood cholesterol levels, adopting healthful habits can make a difference. “Stop smoking,” “reduce stress,” and “get active” are all good maxims.

Changing the way you eat also is a heart-friendly measure.
Avoid trans-fats
Avoid saturated fats
Cut down on salt

Almonds, walnuts, and blueberries are thought to be particularly beneficial. Oat bran, avocadoes, oranges, apples, pears and grapes, beans and soybeans, flax seeds, garlic, mushrooms, fatty fish, and oils such as olive, canola, flaxseed, and sesame should become regular menu items.

Other plant-derived compounds can protect hearth health and cardiovascular functioning. These have been clinically tested for their effectiveness.

Policosanol (derived from beeswax) is an exciting, widely researched substance that inhibits hepatic cholesterol synthesis. It can lower LDL and raise HDL, assisting you to reach desired numbers such as seen on a standard cholesterol chart. D-limonene, a compound in orange peel oil, also reduces cholesterol.

Other studies have shown a correlation between vitamin E and lower rates of ischemic heart disease. Selenium has been discovered to be preventative, in relation to atherosclerosis and stroke. Beta-sitosterol is used for treating hypercholesterolemia and coronary heart disease.

Taking a natural supplement offers additional insurance against coronary problems and can help to bring cholesterol into desired ranges such as those seen on a normal cholesterol level chart.

Consult with your doctor and a nutritionist, make lifestyle changes, change what you eat, and become familiar with relevant numbers on your cholesterol chart. With these common sense approaches, you can reduce risk factors.

Athlyn Green is an avid health enthusiast with an interest in natural remedies for treatment of health disorders. She has contributed to Normal Cholesterol Level Chart, a section of http://www.healthy-cholesterol-guide.com dedicated to natural treatments for high cholesterol and heart disease prevention.

Foods To Lower Cholesterol - Types Of Food To Eat For High Cholesterol, Revealed

If you have been asking yourself about what type of foods to lower cholesterol levels should you consume on a daily basis, I can only assume that you are taking your health very seriously. So here is the good news. There is no need to travel to the jungles of Borneo to seek out a certain, exotic food to eat for high cholesterol. Every list of foods that help to lower cholesterol can be found at your local mart.

Cholesterol reducing diets does not mean liquid diets. You can be assured that there are actually numerous choices of food to eat for high cholesterol. But it is helpful to remember that a daily consumption of cholesterol is usually recommended at or below 100 milligrams per day.

Quite obviously, it is a cumbersome task to keep track of the amount of cholesterol consumed per day, so, here is a handy tip - cholesterol is found in products of animal origin. Knowing this, you can roughly gauge the type of foods that lower your cholesterol (Nutritionists recommend writing down and keeping track of your daily intake of calories, cholesterol, etc.).

Foods to lower cholesterol – Meat, Rice, Vegetables and Potatoes

As alluded to earlier, going on a cholesterol reducing diet does not mean starving yourself of the good stuff. Take meat for example. Though cholesterol is found in products of animal origin, this does not mean you have to become a vegetarian. You can reduce cholesterol levels simply by removing the fats from meat, throwing in a couple of vegetables and stir-fry them.

“But, isn’t oil bad for my cholesterol,” you ask? Not vegetable oils like, canola, safflower and olive oils. But, a better alternative would be cooking sprays. You can save on fats and calories with such sprays. It would be a good idea to use cooking sprays instead of oils and they do come in a variety of flavors as well.

Rice and potatoes go great with that meat and vegetable dish but why don’t you substitute white rice for brown rice? Brown rice contains more nutrients. And try yams or sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes for better nutritional value as well. While you are at it, keep an eye out on your portion size. If you really want your food to help lower cholesterol, then monitor your intake of food per serving. You can be guilty of eating too much of the right foods.

Keep consumption of red meat like beef, to about once a week. Make it a habit to eat more fish, or even shellfish. You would have probably heard that shellfish is high in cholesterol but in fact, shellfish are far less rich in cholesterol and contains less fat than red meat. Chicken makes for a good addition to foods that reduce cholesterol too (just remove the skin and fats).

When you are removing saturated fat from your diet, you are not just lowering your bad cholesterol, but you are also reducing your risk of getting diabetes, digestive disorders and even certain kinds of cancer.

Foods to lower cholesterol – Soup

So many folks underestimate the power of soup when it comes to health. Soup should really be added to the list of foods that help to lower cholesterol. It is a great example of moderating your food portions as soup is usually taken with a spoon (unless you are from certain parts of Asia where drinking soup from a bowl is a sign of respect). Minestrone soup is a good way to go. Be creative with what you add to it. You can make soup a main meal by taking it with wholegrain bread.

And when it comes to vegetables, there is no shortage of variety. Nutritionists usually recommend eating vegetables of a different variety as often as possible to extract the best possible nutritional value from them. So, look up on all the different kinds of vegetables available and add them to your list of foods. If you are ever stuck on what kind of food to eat to lower cholesterol, you will never go wrong with vegetables.

Foods to lower cholesterol – Sandwiches and Salads

Who can resist a tuna or chicken sandwich? Almost everybody loves a good sandwich and it is another fantastic addition to - food to eat for high cholesterol. What will make a good sandwich even better for health is to lay that tuna or chicken in whole grain bread. Replace regular mayonnaise with low-fat mayonnaise. Sandwiches are ideal for a low-fat meal and it is so quick and easy to make. Do not overlook its simplicity. You can create a great-tasting cholesterol reducing sandwich in as little as five minutes for all the nutritional value you can get for a day.

Salads are another fantastic addition to your diet, but you should keep in mind that regular dressing and croutons are high in fat and calories. Go for the low-fat options to reap the benefits of a salad dish. Again, add a variety of vegetables with chicken or fish. Like soups, salads can be made into a main dish.

Food to eat for high cholesterol – Fibrous Food

Here is something else to think about – recent studies have shown that we need to consume at least 35 grams of fiber a day to reduce the risk of suffering from heart disease. This proves you need to consume fiber found in certain types of foods - to reduce bad cholesterol. There are so many benefits you reap from a fiber-rich diet that it is impossible to list all of them here. But, know that grabbing an apple instead of a bag of chips is a very wise choice for someone trying to eat to lower cholesterol!

How you can get more fiber into your day

 

• Start your day off with whole-grain cereal topped with bananas, raisins and berries.
• Fit more vegetables into your main meals as mentioned earlier. But to gain more fiber out of vegetables, try eating them raw, microwave or steaming vegetables instead of frying them.
• Instead of juicing fruits, eat them as they are with the skin on where possible. You are extracting every bit of fiber from fruits this way. Snack on fruits instead of the usual chemically laden products. This is a great way to curb your appetite and lose weight at the same time because fiber-rich foods, such as fruits are more filling than other types of food.
• Throw in beans where you can - like into soups, salads and stews.

 

A powerful natural source to reduce cholesterol - Garlic

Such a common spice but yet one of the most powerful natural medicines for lowering cholesterol could already be lying about in your kitchen. Studies have been proven to show that garlic has the properties to ease the damaging effects of cholesterol on your artery walls, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, stop the growth of cancer cells, fight infections and prevent heart attacks. Add to that, garlic has been proven to stop the heart from aging.

Garlic is such a powerful source of medication for lowering cholesterol and maintaining a healthy heart that it would be silly not to include this common yet wonderful spice to your daily diet. Work garlic into soups, pastas, stews whole-wheat French bread, vegetables, etc. Sometimes the most common types of food are the best types of cure.

This is just a snippet of what you will discover in The 60 Day Prescription Free Cholesterol Cure. To uncover more everyday foods to lower high cholesterol effectively, visit http://mineyourmind.blogspot.com/ now to get the details and your health back on track!

Now’s your chance to dramatically lower your cholesterol, lead a healthier life and look and feel better without emptying your wallet on prescription drugs. Cut your risk of dying from a heart attack by half with simple, alternative but effective measures you can start implementing today! Get all the information you need about lowering your high cholesterol naturally with the The 60 Day Prescription Free Cholesterol Cure at, http://mineyourmind.blogspot.com/

Cholesterol - Lower Bad Cholesterol With The Right Diet

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past 10 years, you've probably heard of bad cholesterol. As featured in many books, magazines, diet commercials and TV shows, bad cholesterol has been implicated as the leading cause of many heart-related illnesses. The best way to make sure bad cholesterol does not enter your system is to start with your diet.

1. Limit your intake of saturated fat

Use low-fat or non-fat milk and milk products including cheese and yogurt. They are great substitutes for other dairy products that contain bad cholesterol. Skim milk, for example, is a better choice than whole milk while low-fat yogurt is better than regular whipped cream.

2. Base your meals on fiber found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Whole-grain breads, pastries, oatmeal and oat bran provide the right bulk to help you get rid of unnecessary fats and lower your bad cholesterol levels. They also help you lose weight. You can also keep bad cholesterol levels down by eating regular servings of fruits and vegetables. As little as 1 to 2g servings of fiber-rich foods daily can help lower your bad cholesterol by at least 1%.

3. Keep animal fat intake low

Good sources of animal protein include fish, chicken, turkey and lean cuts of red meat. These foods can be included in your diet and help lower your bad cholesterol, provided that you keep to the recommended serving amount. However, you can substitute the animal protein found in your diet using soy protein found in soy and soy products. As little as 25g of soy protein has been shown to lower bad cholesterol when used as part of your diet.

4. When cookies go bad

Another type of bad cholesterol you need to monitor in your diet is hydrogenated fat, often found in common foods as trans-fat. Trans-fat are known to disrupt metabolism and are toxic to the body. These include foods such as cookies, pastries, crackers and almost all processed foods. Also unsafe are foods that include white flour, MSG (monosodiumglutamate), aspartame and sodium nitrate, often found in food as additives.

To learn more diet tips to lower your cholesterol, visit http://www.diettolowercholesterol101.com

What Causes High Blood Cholesterol? - Tips on Lowering Cholesterol

What cause high blood cholesterol? There are many factors causes high blood cholesterol levels, some of these factors are within your control, some are not and people lifestyle affect cholesterol levels too.

What causes high blood cholesterol? The following factors are the most important cause’s high blood cholesterol.

• Heredity plays a role in high cholesterol. Your genes can influence your LDL by affecting how fast it is made and removed from your blood. There is one particular form of inherited high cholesterol that will often lead to early heart disease. It is called familial “hypercholesterolemia” which means that very high cholesterol levels run in the family and can play a role in 1 of 500 people.

• Weight is a factor in determining your LDL. If you are overweight and have a high LDL level, try to losing those pounds may help you to lower it. And also losing weight helps to lower triglycerides and raise your HDL.

• What you eat. Eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol is the main reason for high levels of cholesterol because your body makes more cholesterol, and raising your blood cholesterol levels. You can reduce your cholesterol level by cutting down on the amount of saturated fat (animal fat and dairy products) and cholesterol you eat.

• Age and sex should be considered as well. Women, before menopause, usually have total cholesterol levels that are lower than men, because they get a natural boost in their HDL cholesterol from their hormones. But after Menopause can cause an increase in LDL and a decrease in HDL. After the age of 50 women often have higher total cholesterol levels than men of the same age.

• Stress may contribute to raise blood cholesterol level. When people are under stress, they may do something that can affect their behavior such as smoking, alcohol, or eat fatty foods to console themselves.

• Exercise regularly can increase HDL ‘good’ cholesterol and decrease LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol.

There are some factors that can cause high blood cholesterol levels. Now you understand how high cholesterol can be serious problem to your health that can lead to heart attack and stroke, so Lower your cholesterol is important for key to prevent this problem. Read more : Lowering Cholesterol Naturally

(c) 2007 - Lower Cholesterol Center

Sadly, thousands of men & women ignore the warning sign "HIGH CHOLESTEROL" until it's to late...Remember High cholesterol caused HEART ATTACK & STROKE, It can suddenly take your life! Can you imaging if this happen to you or your loved ones! Click Here: GET you FREE Report LOWER YOUR CHOLESTEROL NOW

 

Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally - Cholesterol Through The Mouth

If you have high cholesterol, you should educate yourself about the natural options that are available to you, to help lower your cholesterol, before diving head first into taking prescription medications…which are generally loaded with side effects, some of which can be dangerous and even fatal.

There are various options available to you, to help lower your cholesterol naturally and reduce or eliminate your risk of heart disease. You just need to arm yourself with the right information.

You probably know by now that cholesterol is made in the liver and your liver makes ALL the cholesterol that your body needs! Yes, you heard right...your liver makes ALL the cholesterol that your body needs!

With that being said, the major way that you get high cholesterol, is through the mouth! Because your liver makes ALL the cholesterol that your body needs, excess cholesterol must come through your mouth, from the foods you eat.

Lowering your cholesterol is as simple as making some changes to certain habits that you’ve formed. The first place to start is by looking at the kinds of foods you eat. Let’s face it, if we were a bit more careful with what we ate, we most likely wouldn’t have high cholesterol levels.

In saying that, the following statement would be true…”you’re as healthy as what you eat”.

And isn’t it amazing that something so simple could cure a major world health problem?

You see, food and what you eat should be the foundation of any healthy lifestyle. Food was meant to be enjoyed, and there are hundreds of delicious foods that are low in fat and cholesterol. The availability of low-fat and non-fat foods in supermarkets makes your “health journey” more enjoyable.

By changing your diet, you can reduce several of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Most important among these is lowering your LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol levels. By making some changes and improving what you eat, you can reduce your risk of heart attack by around 20% to 30%. That’s right…20% to 30%!

There are many benefits, apart from just lowering your cholesterol, that can be enjoyed by improving your diet…these include:

• Lowering high blood pressure
• Reducing body fat
• Improving your blood sugar count
• Reducing the risk of a blood clot
• etc

Following is a brief outline of some steps that you can take to improve your diet and help to lower your cholesterol:

Reduce The Total Calories Generally, the more you weigh over and above your ideal weight, the greater your risk of heart disease.

Please note that you should never attempt to lose weight irrationally by following a fad diet. Instead do it slowly and progressively…this will help to form new habits and makes it easier to follow

Simply cut down on foods that are rich in fat and cut down on your alcohol intake

Reduce Saturated Fats Saturated fats have the most influential effect on raising LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. By just cutting out butter and using low-fat diary products you can shave 20% off your saturated fat intake.

Junk foods and fast foods generally have a high percentage of saturated fats, so stay away from them. Diary foods and eggs also generally have high saturated fat content. Please note: be really careful when using coconut or palm kernel oils as these have more saturated fat than lard!

Reduce Sugar Intake Generally about 20% of calories, in a typical diet, come from sugar. “Empty” calories from sugar; take up space in your diet, restricting the intake of more nutritious foods, which can provide protein, vitamins and minerals

Increase Fiber Soluble fiber has been known to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol; without reducing HDL (good) cholesterol. Eat more fruits and vegetables, oat and corn bran and dried peas and beans. Around 40 grams per day can help to reduce cholesterol by 10%

Increase Fish Fish oil has been shown to markedly lower triglyceride levels. Studies have also shown a direct link between eating fish and fewer heart attacks. Try to eat fish at least 2 to 3 times a week

There you have it, some simple guidelines to lowering your cholesterol and greatly improving your health. Sounds simple, yes…but to really make a change you have to focus on changing some habits and the best way to do that is to do it in small progressive steps.

Start now by taking some time out to reflect upon:

• The wrong kinds of foods that you have been buying

• What you will add and what will you eliminate from your shopping list from today and onwards

• The wrong kinds of snacks that you’ve been eating

• What you can substitute that will help you in your efforts

Also be very mindful when eating out (and I’m not just talking about fancy restaurants), because this is where most people fail when it comes to healthy eating!

Wishing you the very best in your endeavors

Ramzi Abboud
Lower-Cholesterol-Naturally-Fast

Ramzi Abboud is a recognized authority on the subject of lowering cholesterol. His website, http://www.lower-cholesterol-naturally-fast.com provides a wealth of information on every thing you’ll ever need to know about lowering cholesterol, including information on over 40 natural supplements that can help to melt away your high cholesterol levels