For reference – What Is Considered To Be Normal Cholesterol?

There are many definitions concerning normal cholesterol, and it gets very complicated very quickly, but here we will take a simple look at what cholesterol is and what is considered a normal cholesterol level.

First of all cholesterol is a waxy, fatty substance that is soft too, and is actually present in many parts of your body, including the heart, skin, liver, muscles and nervous system. The body makes its own cholesterol if insufficient is found in your diet, and it is produced by the liver to help in the normal functions of producing hormones, bile acid and vitamin D. The blood is responsible for transporting the cholesterol around the body for use where it is needed.

While the cholesterol is in the blood stream, it combines with the fatty acids there to form High Density Lipoproteins or HDL, as well as Low Density Lipoproteins LDL. Now the HDLs are known as the “good” cholesterol, while the LDLs are the “bad” cholesterol because they are able to stick together to form plaque deposits on the walls of your blood vessels. This in its turn can lead to atherosclerosis, otherwise known as the thickening of the arteries, or the narrowing of them, and which ever way you look at it, this is bad news for you if you have this happening in your body, as it can lead to a heart attack.

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Now, according to nutritiondata.com, a quarter of the US population has high blood cholesterol levels, and more than half of the adult population has blood cholesterol levels which are considered to exceed the desirable range. So, what is this cholesterol range, and how is it measured? It is measured by testing your blood levels, and the results are in mg/dl, which means it is measured in milligrams per decilitre (one tenth of a litre), but don’t worry, they do not have to take that much blood from you to test it!

The lipoprotein profile will show you your total blood cholesterol level, your HDL (the good) cholesterol level, your LDL (the bad) cholesterol level, and your triglyceride level. Now of course, even this is not straight forward, but generally speaking your total blood cholesterol level should be below 200 mg/dl. If your other 3 levels (LDL, HDL and triglyceride) are at a reasonable level, then with a total blood cholesterol level of under 200mg/dl puts you in the low risk group for having a heart attack. However, you should be checked every five years, and you should maintain a healthy diet, with exercise regularly, and no smoking, and no heavy drinking.

Should your levels be between 200 and 239 mg/dl then you are at borderline to high risk, but at this point it depends on your other readings as to the level of risk you are at. If you have normal levels of LDL (the bad) cholesterol, this may be balanced with high levels of HDL, the good cholesterol. Your doctor will discuss these levels with you, but you should be trying to reduce your total blood cholesterol by eating sensibly, exercising regularly, and not smoking or drinking too much alcohol. In some cases, you may also need prescribed medications to bring down your bad cholesterol levels.

Should your total blood cholesterol level be 240 mg/dl or above, then you are considered to be at high risk of coronary heart disease, with typically twice the risk for it as those whose cholesterol level is in the desirable range of under 200 mg/dl. You need to create a prevention and a treatment plan to bring this number down by making changes to your lifestyle by exercising regularly, eating a diet good for your heart, avoiding smoking, reduce alcoholic drinks to one per day or night for females, or two for men. Your doctor may also want to see you taking a prescription drug to lower the level too, but discuss this with him or her.

Now if we look at the HDL, the good cholesterol figures, the higher this is the better it is for you. Levels under 40mg/dl for men and less than 50mg/dl for women are considered to be too low and place you in the high risk zone, with a reading of 60mg/dl or higher being considered safe, and giving you some protection against heart disease.

When we look at the LDL levels, the bad, cholesterol, they should be as low as you can get them, where 100mg/dl is the aim and optimal level, between 100 to 129mg/dl is considered near optimal, but 130-159 mg/dl is borderline high, 160 – 189 mg/dl is high, making 190 mg/dl very high and a high risk of heart problems for you.

The levels for triglyerides are normal for levels under 150 mg/dl, borderline high for 150 – 199 mg/dl, high is between 200 and 499 mg/dl, with 500 mg/dl or higher being very high. It has been found that people with high triglycerids also tend to have low LDL, and are at high risk for a heart attack or a stroke.

Okay, enough of the theory. If you know that your cholesterol levels put you at risk of a heart attack or stroke, the good news is that you do know, hopefully in advance and can do something about it. High triglycerides are often caused by being overweight, having insufficient exercise, smoking, drinking an excess of alcohol, and a diet high in carbohydrates is often the cause too, where carbohydrates are providing more than 60% of the calories.

This means that most people know what they should be doing, and they need to start being active, regularly, more days of the week than not. Eat a diet that is good for your heart, and reduce alcohol intake to just one drink a day for females, while men can get away with 2 per day (how unfair is that!).
Reducing your sugar intake will also help you to start taking control of your health, and this means cutting down on the sugary drinks, and all those prepackaged foods that have lots of extra sugar in them.

So, to summarize, find out from a blood test what your cholesterol levels are, and compare them to normal cholesterol levels, and you will discover whether you need to take immediate action to avoid heart problems in the very near future, or just the near future.

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For reference – What Is Considered To Be Normal Cholesterol?

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