October is National Cholesterol Month
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is naturally made in our bodies, in the liver but is also found in some foods. It is a fatty substance that travels in our blood and is needed for the normal functioning of cells. However, if you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can increase the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases
The cholesterol that travels in our blood attach to proteins and is then called lipoproteins. There are two types of lipoproteins.
1) Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is known as the bad type of cholesterol. LDL carry cholesterol from your liver to the cells that need it.
2) High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is known as the good type of cholesterol. HDL carry cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver to be broken down.
High Cholesterol Risks:
Too much bad cholesterol (LDL) in your blood can cause fatty material to build up in your artery walls. This forces the heart to work extra hard and if the arteries become completely blocked, this can result in a heart attack or a stroke. The risk is particularly high if you have a high level of bad cholesterol and a low level of good cholesterol.
What causes high cholesterol?
There is no one single cause for high cholesterol. Many different factors can contribute to high cholesterol such as:
- Eating a diet that is high in saturated fat
- Smoking
- Lack of physical activity
- High alcohol intake
- Kidney or liver disease
- The genes you inherit from your parents
- Your weight
- Your age
How can I reduce my cholesterol level?
- The first step is to ensure you are getting a healthy balanced diet.
- Try and reduce the amount of saturated fat and sugary foods you are eating. Eating lots of fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain is better than eating foods high in saturated or trans fats.
- Instead of roasting or frying, consider grilling, steaming or poaching and if you need to use an oil try replace animal fats with vegetable based fats such as olive, rapeseed or sunflower oils.
- Choose foods that are high in soluble fibre such as oats, beans, pulses, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables. Soluble fibre can help lower cholesterol.
- Many experts believe that the fats found in avocados and oily fish, such as mackerel, salmon and tuna, are good for you. These are known as omega-3 fatty acids and high doses can improve (lower) triglyceride levels in some people.
- Do regular exercise
- Doing around 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week can reduce your bad cholesterol and can help increase your HDL cholesterol (the good type of cholesterol).
Quit smoking
Quitting smoking can help to lower your cholesterol and improve your heart health.
Medication
Cholesterol-lowering medicines such as statins are prescribed for people who are at greatest overall risk of cardiovascular disease. If you fall into this category your GP can discuss medication options with you. Even if you are on statins for high cholesterol, diet and lifestyles changes can provide great benefits to your health and help further reduce the likelihood of the dangerous side effects of high cholesterol.
Please discuss with your GP if you have any concerns about your cholesterol level.
Sources:
http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/healthyhearts/pages/cholesterol.aspx