Cholesterol

The average cholesterol level in the blood is 5.5mmol/l for men and 5.6mmol/l for women in the UK. However, this is the average value for a relatively unhealthy population, and the current guidelines recommend target levels of 5.0 or below.

Examples of high cholesterol levels -

• 5 to 6.4 as mildly high
• 6.5 to 7.8 as moderately high
• Above 7.8 as very high

Too low a cholesterol level is not a good thing as cholesterol is an used by the body for making hormones, and is an essential ingredient in the body and brain. Some research suggests the ideal level is quite narrow between about 4.9 and 5.4.

Your most important cholesterol levels are, however, not your total cholesterol, but your levels of the good HLD and bad LDL cholesterol.

Now things get a bit more complicated because cholesterol doesn't dissolve in blood it has to be carried around dissolved in minute blobs of lipoprotein, and there are two types of lipoprotein to do this -

• HDL (High Density Lipoprotein or Good Cholesterol) carries cholesterol from body cells back to the liver. This is also thought to protect against furring up of the blood vessels in atherosclerosis, and so is called "good cholesterol".
• LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein or Bad Cholesterol) carries cholesterol from the liver to the body cells. High levels of LDL are thought to be responsible for furring up the blood vessels in atherosclerosis by depositing cholesterol, and so is called "bad cholesterol".

Your cholesterol numbers to aim for now become -

• Total cholesterol: less than 5.0mmol/l
• LDL cholesterol: less than 3.0mmol/l

Damaged cholesterol can be produced in the blood by oxidation. Such oxidation is caused by smoking, eating fried food, pollution and normal body processes. This oxidation is prevented by having adequate levels of antioxidants in the blood, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc. This damaged cholesterol can no longer be carried around in the blood by the lipoproteins, and can damage and be deposited on the blood vessel walls, thus becoming a risk factor for heart disease in its own right. These antioxidants are a natural part of a good diet, which contains a lot more antioxidants than in this short list, showing that a good diet low in fried food, and high in fruit and vegetables is important for heart health. Vitamin and mineral supplements can also help.

You can improve your cholesterol levels by healthy eating. This will lower your level of bad LDL, increase your level of good HDL, and increase your antioxidant intake to prevent oxidation of cholesterol. There are, however, certain foods or food combinations that can specifically have a beneficial effect on your total cholesterol, as well as making healthy improvements to the amounts of good and bad cholesterol in your blood. One big thing to do is to reduce the amount of saturated fat in your diet. High cholesterol levels can also be caused by the body struggling to control blood glucose levels, which can now commonly happen due to a diet high in sugar which causes weight gain and insulin resistance leading to metabolic syndrome and diabetes. The books below are an excellent source of more detailed information.

Cholesterol in the diet has no effects on the cholesterol in your body, because the body makes its own cholesterol in the liver, so there is no need to limit the amount of eggs, offal and shellfish you eat on this account, which are the only foods to contain appreciable amounts of cholesterol.Â

Exercise improves your cholesterol levels, so get moving every day. This doesn't mean you have to go to the gym, just be physically active evry day.

Statin drugs reduce the amount of bad LDL in the blood, but have no effect on the good HDL. Zocor Heart-Pro is the first preventative prescription-only statin medicine to be licensed for sale direct to the public in the UK. It lowers any-one's cholesterol level, whatever the starting level, and this reduces the chance of you having a heart attack. Use the Zocor Heart-Pro Risk Assessment to see if it will benefit you. Zocor Heart-Pro.