Blood cholesterol plays an important part in deciding a person’s chance of risk of getting coronary heart disease (CHD). The higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater is your risk. Even if your blood cholesterol level is close to the desirable range, you can lower it and can reduce your risk of getting heart disease.<\/p>\n
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When you have too much cholesterol in your blood, the excess builds up on the walls of the arteries that carry blood to the heart. This hardening of arteries is called “atherosclerosis.” It narrows the arteries and can slow down or block blood flow to the heart. With less blood, the heart gets less oxygen. With not enough oxygen available to the heart, there may be chest pain (angina pectoris), heart attack (myocardial infarction), or even death. Cholesterol build up is the most common cause of heart disease, and it happens so slowly that you are not even aware of it.<\/p>\n
A high blood cholesterol level is not the only thing that increases your chance of getting heart disease. There are certain other factors such as your age, sex, family history of early heart disease and your personality can play the role. Other factors include cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, elevated serum cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity and stress. The more risk factors you have, the greater is your chance of heart disease.<\/p>\n
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in all parts of our body. It helps make cell membranes, some hormones, and vitamin D. Cholesterol comes from two sources\u2014our body and the foods we eat. Blood cholesterol is made in our liver. Dietary cholesterol comes from animal foods like meats, whole milk, dairy foods, egg yolks, poultry and fish. Foods from plants like vegetables, fruits, grams, and cereals do not have any dietary cholesterol.<\/p>\n
Just like oil and water, cholesterol and blood do not mix. So, for cholesterol to travel through our blood, it is coated with a layer of protein to make a “lipoprotein.” Two lipoproteins are: low density lipoprotein, (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). When there is too much LDL-cholesterol in the blood, it can lead to cholesterol build up in the arteries. That is why LDL cholesterol is called the “bad cholesterol”. HDL-cholesterol, on the other hand, helps remove cholesterol from the blood and helps prevent the fatty build up. Therefore, HDL-cholesterol is called the “good cholesterol”.<\/p>\n
Triglycerides are the form in which fat is carried through your blood to the tissues. The bulk of your body’s fat tissue is in the form of triglycerides. It is not clear whether high triglycerides alone increase your risk of heart disease. However, many people with high triglycerides also have high LDL or low HDL levels, which do increase the risk of heart disease. <\/b><\/p>\n
Self-Help Guidelines<\/span><\/p>\n Whatever your blood cholesterol level, you can make changes to help lower it or keep it low and reduce your risk of heart disease by eating in a heart-healthy way, being physically active, losing weight if you are overweight and taking herbal supplements.<\/p>\n \u2022 Eating animal foods containing saturated fat is linked to high serum cholesterol and heart disease. Significant amounts of animal-based saturated fat are found in beef, pork, poultry (particularly in poultry skins and dark meat), cheese, butter, ice cream, and all other forms of dairy products. Avoiding consumption of these foods reduces cholesterol and has been reported to even cure existing heart disease.<\/p>\n \u2022 In addition to large amounts of saturated fat from animal-based foods, some people eat saturated fat from coconut and palm oils. Palm oil has been reported to elevate cholesterol. Research regarding coconut oil is mixed with some trials finding no link to heart disease while other research reports that coconut oil elevates serum cholesterol.<\/p>\n \u2022 Curd and other fermented milk products have been reported to lower cholesterol in some. Until more is known, it makes sense for people with elevated cholesterol who consume these foods to select non-fat varieties.<\/p>\n \u2022 Eating fish has been reported to increase HDL cholesterol and is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease in most of the studies.<\/p>\n \u2022 Vegetarians have lower cholesterol and less heart disease than meat eaters, in part because they avoid animal fat. Vegans (people who eat no meat, dairy and eggs) have the lowest cholesterol levels, and going on such a diet has reversed heart disease.<\/p>\n \u2022 Soluble fiber from beans, oats, and fruit pectin has lowered cholesterol levels in most trials. People with elevated cholesterol can eat more of these high soluble fiber foods. However, even grain fiber (which contains insoluble fiber and does not lower cholesterol) has been linked to protection against heart disease, though the reason for the protection remains unclear. It makes sense for people wishing to lower cholesterol levels and reduce their risk of heart disease to consume more of all types of fiber.<\/p>\n \u2022 Eating sugar has been reported to reduce protective HDL cholesterol and increase other risk factors linked to heart disease.<\/p>\n \u2022 Drinking coffee increases cholesterol levels. The effects of decaffeinated coffee on cholesterol levels remain in doubt.<\/p>\n \u2022 Alcohol, on moderate drinking, increases protective HDL cholesterol. Alcohol also acts as a blood thinner, an effect that might lower heart disease. However, alcohol consumption can cause liver disease, cancer, high blood pressure, alcoholism, and, at high intake, an increased risk of heart disease. As a result, many doctors of ayurvedic medicine never recommend alcohol, even for people with high cholesterol.<\/p>\n \u2022 Trans fatty acids (TFAs) are found in many processed foods containing hydrogenated oils such as dalda. Eating TFAs increases the ratio of LDL-to-HDL. Hence, hydrogenated oils should be sparingly used.<\/p>\n \u2022 It has been found in some researches that eating garlic helps lower cholesterol. Garlic is known to act as a blood thinner and may reduce other risk factors for heart disease. For these reasons, doctors of ayurvedic medicine typically recommend eating garlic as food, in curries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blood cholesterol plays an important part in deciding a person’s chance of risk of getting coronary heart disease (CHD). The higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater is your risk. Even if your blood cholesterol level is close to the desirable range, you can lower it and can reduce your risk of getting heart disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ayurveda"],"yoast_head":"\n