Heart disease is a serious illness. It kills people, at a rate that is higher than the mortality rate from cancers.1 One of the best actions you can take to improve your overall health is to take care of your heart and your cardiovascular system. This system is crucial to your body’s successful functioning. It is responsible for the flow of blood and oxygen throughout your body, especially to your vital organs. The heart, therefore, supports your brain and sensor organs (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin), as well as your bones and muscles. One of the leading causes of heart disease is clogging of arteries from fat and cholesterol, which is a result of food consumption choices, combined with other lifestyle actions including amount of physical activity, sleep, and drug use. These causes are in a person’s control, rather than genetically passed down, so heart disease is highly preventable through healthy lifestyle choices. Eating is a major factor in this, so we can prevent heart disease through mindful approaches to nutrition and diet.
Some food choices can lead to clogging of arteries, called “atherosclerosis,” mainly by overloading the body with cholesterol and fats. So, an understanding of cholesterol is important if you have been diagnosed with heart disease or if you are at risk for it. Indicators of risk include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and poor eating habits that favor fats and rich foods high in cholesterol. If these conditions apply to you, you should aim to understand cholesterol and, ideally, make some eating and lifestyle changes.
The good news is that diet can contribute to significant control and improvement of your cholesterol levels. Some foods help while others hinder, so everyone is encouraged to learn how to distinguish cholesterol types and sources, in order to prevent heart disease and improve cardiovascular health.
Cholesterol comes in two types: high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which are proteins that carry cholesterol through the bloodstream. Total cholesterol can be measured as well as each type alone. HDL is considered the “good” cholesterol as it absorbs cholesterol and carries it to the liver to be removed from the body. You want your body to have a somewhat “high” level of this. You can remember this because HDL starts with “H,” so think of “high.” The other one, LDL, is detrimental to your health and considered the “bad” cholesterol because it raises your total cholesterol and increases your risk of a heart attack or heart disease, so you want that to be low. Again, it helps that LDL starts with “L,” so you can think of that as “low.” The recommended ranges of these are the following: Total cholesterol below 200 mg/dL (ideally around 150 mg/dL); HDL higher than 40 mg/dL; and LDL below 100 mg/dL.2
Closely associated with the aforementioned three cholesterols types are triglycerides and glucose, and all five can be measured from a blood sample, called a “lipid panel,” which can be arranged through your health provider. High cholesterol and triglyceride levels indicate a likelihood of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, syndrome X, obesity, compromised immune system, and other health complications. As high cholesterol levels sometimes show no signs or symptoms until it’s too late, a lipid panel can help determine your current levels of cholesterol to reduce the risk for atherosclerosis and heart disease.
Certain foods are known to help raise HDL, so you are advised to eat a healthy amount of these daily. Some are known to raise LDL, so these should be avoided. See the table below for a guide to eating right to aid HDL and LDL cholesterol levels. Foods that increase your triglycerides to worrisome levels are all, yes all, foods with total sugars of any significance. You want to avoid frown foods, aside from desserts, fruits, and berries, as much as you can (and still be happy) to maintain a healthy triglycerides level.
While managing diet and increasing exercise are the two main pathsfocus for improving cardiovascular health, sometimes other methods need to be employed in order to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Prescription drugs (statins, e.g., Lipitor; cholesterol absorption inhibitors; and PCSK9 inhibitors; just to name a few) have been developed by pharmaceutical companies to treat cholesterol problems. Some reduce LDL, some reduce triglycerides, and some slightly increase HDL.3
References
- CDCBreastCancer. An Update on Cancer Deaths in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published February 28, 2022. Accessed November 18, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/research/update-on-cancer-deaths/index.htm
- CDC. About High Cholesterol | cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published October 24, 2022. Accessed November 18, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/cholesterol/about.htm
- Cholesterol medications: Consider the options. Mayo Clinic. Accessed November 18, 2022. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/cholesterol-medications/art-20050958