The “Good” Cholesterol A good level of HDL cholesterol is vital to heart health.  The idea is that HDL cholesterol is cholesterol that is being moved to the liver, where it will be processed.  After the liver, the cholesterol leaves the body.  HDL levels reflect how well your body is processing cholesterol.  When your LDL [...]

Addressing the Issue I will not pretend I know the answer to this question, but I can give some of my opinions on the matter. Doctors for years have been telling us to eat right and exercise.  For most of those years we have taken a very American stance and asked them kindly to mind [...]

So you came back from the doctors office with a page full of numbers and you are trying to make some sense of them.  I am going to try to give a simple breakdown of the main components of the number on a cholesterol blood test.  Hopefully, by the end of this post you’re a [...]

Sugar and Insulin When we eat sugar it is absorbed into the body and makes its way to the bloodstream. The bloodstream then carries the sugar to the cells of the body. When a large amount of sugar is in the bloodstream, the body releases a large amount of insulin. This insulin drives sugar into [...]

The ATP III The ATPIII is considered to be the most authoritative document on cholesterol in America. It was released by the National Cholesterol Education Program.  It gives guidance to physicians and those in the health care field on how to address high cholesterol levels in America.  It answers the why, what, how, and why [...]

The “Bad Guy” The first thing I’m going to say about this guy is that he’s nasty.  He is just not a pleasant fat.  He’s got nothing good about him, at all.  The only time you want to eat trans fat is…well, never. Trans fats are man-made.  Think Crisco.  They’re greasy, thick, and are solid [...]

Cut Back Your chances of remaining healthy can be amped up simply by reducing your intake of saturated.  It has been proven that diets high in saturated fats are directly linked to a higher risk of heart disease.  Studies have also shown that saturated fat has the largest potential to increase unhealthy cholesterol.  Take a [...]

Not All Fat is Bad! One of the “good fats” is polyunsaturated fat.  This fat can be used a more health-conscious substitute for saturated fats.  It’s suggested that up to 10% of your caloric intake consists of polyunsaturated fats.  Research shows that a diet including moderation of polyunsaturated fats actually proves to be lower in LDL [...]

The Not-So-Bad-For-You Fat The “best” fat out there is monounsaturated fat.  While it is still a fat and shouldn’t be overdone, it’s the only fatty acid that has proven to reduce LDL cholesterol without hurting a good HDL level.  Of the fats, this one is most important to your diet and should be the largest [...]

Understand the Importance of LDL Cholesterol If you know someone who has suffered a heart attack or stroke, then the words “You have high LDL cholesterol” from your doctor may have some meaning to you. For the rest of us, the words “high cholesterol” may not conjure up many thoughts or images. Even if you [...]