Real about cholesterol: 12 things you need to know – from egg to weight, statins | Health and Welfare

HIGH cholesterol can cause heart problems and strokes – but levels can crawl without showing any symptoms. Therefore, if you are over 40 years of age, you should check your cholesterol every five years. This is a simple enough concept, but like alcohol and other things that may be slow, it can cause invisible damage to our bodies, cholesterol can feel a little abstract, flying more urgently than anything in the background in the background.

When legends fly online, they do not help because they contain cholesterol, such as the egg is unhealthy. Or some eaves scientists and low carbohydrates and high -fat diet defenders, on the contrary, despite all the evidence, when sugar is a greater risk for our health, when they significantly underestimate the importance of cholesterol in heart disease. It also does not help us with many different ways to present and therefore interpret cholesterol levels.

And still, Manuel Mayr, a cardiologist and professor in Imperial College London, is important to move early to avoid creeping levels: “Prevention is too serious, because if your cholesterol is high, if your cholesterol is high, if your cholesterol is high, it has been accumulated in your arteries for decades.

It can help you think of your circulatory system as a washing machine. “If you have too hard water, your washing machine has a high risk of clogging.” In the case of high levels of bad cholesterol, blockages may cause cardiovascular disease and may result in heart attack and paralysis. Mak Lifelong exposure is the thing that damages ships over time, May Mayr adds.

So what’s the truth about cholesterol? And how do you protect healthy levels?

What is cholesterol?

“It is a oily substance that is naturally found as part of your circulation, Emily McGrath, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said. Tracy Parker, a senior dietitian in the same organization, said, “To make hormones such as estrogen and testosterone. And our cells need cholesterol to make them solid and solid. However, when these levels rise, a problem.” Says. Our body makes cholesterol, but levels are also affected by lifestyle and genetics.

There are two kinds of cholesterol in the blood. Low -density lipoprotein (LDL) is known as “bad cholesterol, because it can cause too many plates to accumulate in the arteries and may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. High density lipoprotein (HDL) is good. “HDL helps your liver to metabolize and re -absorb LDL in the bloodstream, Mc says McGrath, helping to balance LDL levels in balance.

“What is shown in many studies, if you reduce your bad cholesterol, Mayor says,“ You reduce cardiovascular events. ”

When should you check your cholesterol?

McGrath, NHS proposes annual health checks for people aged 75 years and older and five-year controls aged 40-74 years old. “However, if you have concerns about the story of family heart disease or if you are experiencing angina -type chest pain, everyone has the right to ask for a check from the GP.”

What do the tests show?

Sometimes after a starter cholesterol test, a single number can be given for total LDL and HDL cholesterol in your blood. Ideally, the results will show a complete lipid profile, McGrath says, “Because this gives you the full casting of HDL and LDL and triglycerides, another type of fat we find in the blood.” All these details help to draw a clearer picture together.

Healthy HDL levels should be 1 mmol/l for men or 1.2mmol/l for women. “I don’t think I hear someone saying someone is too high HDL, Mc says McGrath. LDL levels are considered healthy if they are below 3mmol/L. In addition, you should get a number of cholesterol ratio comparing how good (HDL) cholesterol in your total cholesterol levels. With the division of your total cholesterol into your HDL levels, it is considered healthy under and under the bottom – it is so low.

What are triglycerides?

These other blood fats are important because McGrath said, “Some people may have good cholesterol levels, but it can be high triglyceride and still risk them.” Triglycerides, essentially, “unused calories, a stored energy form. Like LDL, you still need a part of it – if you use it for energy – you will not be removed from your blood – you don’t want much.” Unless quickly desired before your blood test, it is 2.3 mmol/l or less, in which case the healthy limit is 1.7mmol/L.

Where does genetics enter?

Although a healthy diet and active lifestyle are necessary for versatile health, Mayr said, “Lipid levels are genetic and if you have very high cholesterol and if you are unfortunate to inherit your parents, you will need medications, because you cannot reach the target level by making diet changes”.

McGrath says that the most common genetic lipid disorder is a familial hypercholesterolemia that affects one of 250 people: orsa If your father or brother are under 55 years of age or if your mother or sister is under 65 years of age, this is a indicator ”and your cholesterol is worth testing. “Unfortunately, some people may be the first person,” he adds. “So they don’t have any family history and they’re accidentally learning or unfortunately if there’s a heart attack.”

What else affects your risk of heart disease?

Cholesterol levels are usually given as part of a “basic risk assessment” that takes into account a number of factors. McGrath, “Age, weight, family story, smoking status, alcohol intake, high blood pressure, ethnicity and gender.” If the key risk assessment is over 10%, you will be offered a statin. ” Statins inhibit an enzyme that the liver needs to perform, which reduces the risk of breaking and blockage of the LDL cholesterol in the blood.

If your statistics are presented, can you try lifestyle changes instead?

McGrath, if your high cholesterol is not genetically dependent, you have the right to say that you want to try lifestyle changes before the drug, McGrath says. “Most GPS will be willing to allow that person to reduce themselves and then try to see how they continue. This is a doctor and a conversation for you.” A doctor thinks about how much of your cholesterol level and your other risk factors.

Exercise creates wonders for this very important cholesterol rate by reducing LDL and increasing HDL. And a healthy diet (more below) only affects how much fat is swimming around your blood, but also helps the liver to remove more LDL cholesterol. “You have LDL receptors responsible for cholesterol metabolism on the surface of the liver, Mc says McGrath. “And you want most of them, so there’s more to get bad cholesterol.” This increase in LDL receptors is also when you receive the statin.

After making positive lifestyle adjustments, McGrath says you can start to see the results after six to eight weeks. “It can be so fast. And then you’ll probably set a new target.”

Parker generally, “When you ask people to make changes in their diets, we make them return within three months and see what the effect is at the cholesterol levels. It is difficult for many people, but small, simple changes change everything. Most of the time, five out of seven days, you probably go well.”

How does body weight affect cholesterol levels?

Not everyone who is overweight or obese will not have high cholesterol, but McGrath said, “This is a contributor factor. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, when you are overweight or obese, if you are not active or if you have a weak diet, your risk of heart disease increases.

What are the best foods for good cholesterol?

Parker helps to lower all dietary fiber cholesterol, but the soluble fiber you find in oats, beans and lentils has an additional effect. “A specific type of fiber called beta-glukan. In the intestine, you create a gel that stops the absorption of cholesterol into the body and then throw it. It can help maintain or reduce approximately 3G cholesterol levels per day.” A bowl of oats with approximately 40g oats will provide about 1.4 g beta-glucan.

Parker is high in both general fiber and soluble fiber “and a large low -fat protein source”. “When replacing the diet with beans and lentils, you get this dual action to help lower your cholesterol.” This is largely part of the recommendation of a plant -based diet: “More fiber, more vitamins and minerals”. Most of us still consume only three of the five fruits and vegetables recommended per day. “This also includes things like salt -free nuts and seeds, because it contains fiber and other vitamins and minerals as well as healthy unsaturated fats.

Parker, unsaturated “good” oils, “olive oil, rapeseed oil, avocado, olives and almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios such as hazelnuts such as hazelnuts.

What are the worst foods for cholesterol levels?

“When we talk about lowering cholesterol, we know that it is linked to raised LDL cholesterol because we talk about lowering cholesterol, because it is listed.

High -fat dairy products such as butter and cream are found between high foods in saturated fat. Parker also talks about tropical oils such as coconut (about 85% saturated fats) and palm oil (with about twice two layers of butter oil).

Sugar foods should be kept at a minimum. And to make it more delicious, you should avoid choosing low -fat foods that add sugar. “In those days, they removed the oils from the products and replaced them with sugar from their delicious face, and that did not do it well.” Ultra -processed foods are also rich in saturated fat and should be minimized in your diet.

What will be diet cholesterol in eggs and other foods?

“You often receive legends surrounding things like eggs, shellfish and disability and diet cholesterol, Par Parker says. These foods contain cholesterol, but this says, “It has a really small effect on our blood cholesterol levels and it is more important to reduce your saturated fat intake, which we know is increasing cholesterol,” he says. Most people can enjoy these items as part of a healthy diet. “The exclusion is the familial hypercholesterolemia, where the body makes a lot of cholesterol and some of the guidelines of such foods have lower purchase.”

When do you need more than statins?

IF You Have Borderline High Cholesterol Levels, Or Moderately High Cholesterol Levels, Says Mayr, “it’s very impermine to statins that statins are a super-safe drug. They are widly USED and Effective at Reducing Cholysterol. Lower Cholesterol by Around 50%. It can be thought if you have already had a heart attack.