Understanding Cholesterol: How Can You Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease?

nithya_hr
About Cholesterol...

Cholesterol is a type of fat made in the liver and found in animal foods. Cholesterol is needed for important body functions, such as building cell walls, protecting nerves, and making hormones.

There are two types of cholesterol: the good (HDL or High-Density Lipid) and the bad and the ugly (LDL or Low-Density Lipid). A higher level of HDL is needed to carry LDL from the blood back to the liver to be eliminated from the body. If there is a higher level of LDL cholesterol in the blood, this may cause high blood pressure, raise your risk of heart attack, raise your risk of stroke, and cause the kidneys to fail.

How?

Cholesterol is broken down into LDL, which is needed by the body cells. Once the cells are satisfied, the unused LDL remains to become what is known as blood cholesterol. The main danger of high blood cholesterol is that fatty plaques may form, which will decrease the diameter of blood vessels. This leads to a restriction of the flow of blood and oxygen to the tissues of the body. If an artery supplying blood to the heart becomes blocked, you may have a heart attack. If an artery supplying blood to the brain becomes blocked, you may have a stroke. If an artery supplying blood to the kidney becomes blocked, you may suffer kidney failure.

What Causes High Blood Cholesterol?

The main causes are eating too much high saturated fat (i.e., fat found in butter and dairy products, cakes, biscuits, and take-away foods), being overweight, and not exercising.

What Can You Do to Lower Your Cholesterol?

You can eat more fruits and vegetables, oily fish (tuna, mackerel, and herring), skinless chicken, and fiber-rich foods (e.g., oats and wholemeal bread). You can eat less fried take-away fast foods, high-fat dairy products and eggs, saturated fats and oils, biscuits, cakes, and pastries.

You can use unsaturated margarine instead of butter, unsaturated oils (olive oil) instead of lard, and low-fat cooking methods such as steaming, grilling, and microwaving.

You should make exercise a part of your day (walking is good), not smoke, and drink more water.

The link between blood cholesterol levels and heart disease is clear. Studies have shown that if an average man can reduce his blood cholesterol by only 10%, he can reduce his risk of heart attack by up to 50%! Start now to make the changes because your health and well-being are important to you and to us!
ronniechhibber
Dear Nithya,

Thank you, and I do hope each and every one of us can do just that one bit --- walk when you talk --- ha ha... Just do a bit of walking and avoid fried stuff; all will be well. Wishing sound health to all.

Regards,
Col. Ronnie Chhibber
impforsk
Hello Nithya Ma'am, I am highly impressed by your knowledge of cholesterol. Now, I should walk at least 5 km every week, which will help me to reduce my body cholesterol. Thank you for sharing this information with other HR professionals.

May I look forward to other information like this! Thank you.

Shrawan Kumar
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