Understanding your cholesterol levels can be confusing. What is cholesterol? Can it ever be good for you? How high or low should your cholesterol be? And is there anything you can do about it?

Here is a guide for cholesterol, both good and bad.

What Is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is naturally present in all parts of the body. It’s manufactured in the liver, with a small amount coming from food. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly in many regards, but if you have too much in your blood (especially of the “bad” LDL type), it can stick to the walls of your arteries and cause plaque. Plaque can narrow your arteries or even block them.

Therefore, high levels of cholesterol in the blood can increase your risk of heart disease. Your cholesterol levels tend to rise as you get older and you are likely to have high cholesterol if members of your family have it, if you are overweight, or if you eat a lot of fatty foods.

Good And Bad Cholesterol

“Good cholesterol”, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), takes cholesterol away from your arteries to the liver to be eliminated. This means that a high level of good (HDL) cholesterol is thought to be heart healthy.

“Bad cholesterol”, Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) takes cholesterol from your liver to the body tissues. If there’s a high level of bad (LDL) cholesterol in the blood, it can build up in the walls of your blood vessels, causing them to narrow and increasing your risk of coronary heart disease.

To help keep your heart healthy it’s important that your bad (LDL) cholesterol remains low and your good (HDL) cholesterol stays high.

How Is Cholesterol Measured?

Cholesterol is measured in units called millimoles per litre of blood, usually shortened to mmol/litre or mmol/l.

What level should your cholesterol be?

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, when deciding your target cholesterol ranges, your doctor will take into account your cardiovascular risk factors such as age, sex, blood pressure, and whether you have diabetes or smoke. Generally, good target levels are:

•    A total cholesterol less than 5.2 mmol/L (200 mg/dL)
•    An LDL-cholesterol less than 3.5 mmol/L (about 130 mg/dL)
•    An HDL-cholesterol higher than 1.0 mmol/L for men and 1.2 mmol/L for women (about 40 mg/dL)
•    A total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ration less than 5.0

What Causes Raised Cholesterol Levels?

There are a number of factors that can contribute to a raised cholesterol level, however a common cause is eating too much fat and, in particular, too much saturated fat and trans fat. High intake of saturated fat and trans fat may raise bad (LDL) cholesterol levels.

Other factors, such as a family history of raised cholesterol, getting older, not getting enough exercise, being overweight, an under active thyroid gland, diabetes or kidney problems can all have negative effects on your blood cholesterol levels.

What should you do if you’re worried about your cholesterol?

If you have any concerns about your cholesterol or any aspect of your heart health you should consult your doctor, nurse, dietitian or pharmacist and have your cholesterol levels checked.

If any of your cholesterol levels are outside the “right” target level for you, your doctor will discuss lifestyle changes and may prescribe medication/supplementation to keep your levels in balance.

Red Rice Yeast Extract -

Inhibits the formation of harmful LDL cholesterol,

Modern medicine treats high cholesterol with “statin medications,” which are the best-selling class of drugs in the world. Statins work by inhibiting the activity of a key enzyme in the biological pathway that creates cholesterol. However, this same biological pathway is also responsible for creating CoQ10 and vitamin D, which are essential nutrients for our health.

Red yeast rice is traditional Chinese medicine made from a yeast that naturally grows on starch.  For supplemental purposes it is cultivated on rice and then ground into a powder.  The active ingredients in red yeast rice are compounds that inhibit HMG Co-A reductase (the enzyme mentioned earlier), and statin drugs are classified as “ HMG Co-A reductase inhibitors.”

So by blocking HMG Co-A reductase, red yeast rice inhibits the formation of harmful LDL cholesterol, and in turn, reduces total cholesterol.  Other components in red yeast rice, essential fatty acids, amino acids, isoflavones and trace minerals support red yeast rice’s cardiovascular effects.

In clinical trails, red yeast rice seems just as effective as synthetic pharmaceutical statins, but at a much lower dose. Due to the lower dose needed and its natural form, side-effects common to synthetic statins are seldom seen with red yeast rice.

Our Trusted Advisors Recommend -

Red Yeast Rice with CoQ10, Vitamin D3 - from Innovite Health

Red yeast rice (RYR) has long been used for cholesterol reduction by practitioners of Traditional Modern Medicine as it is considered to be a natural source of statins. It also provides CoQ10 ubiquinol and Vitamin D3 to prevent any nutrient deficiencies. Learn more about Red Yeast Rice >> and if interested you can buy our popular Buy 3, Get 1 Free offer available for Red Yeast Rice >>

Pterostilbene - from Innovite Health

Pterostilbene (pronounced “tero-STILL-bean”) is a compound naturally found in blueberries, and can help maintain healthy cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. Learn more about Pterostilbene >> and if interested you can buy our popular Buy 3, Get 1 Free offer available for this product >>
 

De Cholest - from AOR

De Cholest™ ™ helps lower plasma LDL and total cholesterol and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. It™ also includes ingredients used in Herbal Medicine to increase bile flow and relieve digestive disturbances. Learn more about De Cholest >> and if interested you can purchase our popular Buy 3, Get if Free offer available for De Cholest >>

Learn more about Heart & Cardiovascular Natural Health Products available at Zwell.ca >>