Cholesterol
What is cholesterol? what do HDL & LDL mean?

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that your body needs to function properly. Your body produces all of the cholesterol it needs. When your diet contains large amounts of saturated fat, this raises your blood cholesterol level. Too much cholesterol can build up in the walls of your arteries, restricting blood flow.

Since cholesterol is insoluble in the blood, it attaches to lipoproteins to be transported throughout the bloodstream.

The term HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein) refers to the GOOD cholesterol that carries cholesterol to the liver for elimination and prevents the build up of cholesterol in the arteries.

The term LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein) refers to the BAD cholesterol. The body uses only a certain amount of LDL and the rest circulates in the bloodstream and builds up in the walls of the arteries.

Safe level total cholesterol.
Less than 5

Triglycerides?

Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. They are a major source of energy and the most common type of fat in your body.

When you eat, your body uses the calories it needs for quick energy. Any extra calories are turned into Triglycerides and stored in fat cells to be used later. The excess calories are stored as fat regardless of what kind of food you eat-fat, carbohydrate, or protein. If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, you may have high triglycerides.

In normal amounts, triglycerides are important to good health. When triglyceride levels are high it can directly increase your risk for heart disease, as well as for diabetes and stroke.

BLOOD CELLS

What causes high Triglycerides?

Conditions that may cause high triglycerides include:
- Obesity
- Poorly controlled diabetes
- An underactive thyroid
- Kidney disease
- Regularly eating more calories than you burn
- Drinking a lot of alcohol

Certain medicines may also raise triglycerides. These medicines include:
- Tamoxifen
- Steroids
- Beta-blockers
- Diuretics
- Estrogen
- Birth control pills

Certain types of high cholesterol and high triglycerides are caused by genetics.

What are the sympthoms?

High triglycerides usually do not cause symptoms.
In rare cases, people who have very high levels of triglycerides may develop inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) This can cause sudden, severe abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and fever.

How can you lower your high triglycerides?

If you are overweight, losing weight may be the best way to lower triglycerides. You may be able to lower your triglycerides by eating fewer calories and increasing your activity. Other diet changes that might help include limiting fats and sugars, and limiting or not drinking alcohol.

BLOOD TEST

How can I reduce the fat in my diet?

Dietary intake of cholesterol and saturated fat can have an effect on the level of cholesterol in the blood. The following information may help you to understand more about saturated fat and cholesterol.

Calories from fat

Your goal should be to obtain less than 30 percent of the calories that you consume in a day from fat. To achieve this goal, read the nutrition facts on food labels. Check the listing for fats, saturated fat and cholesterol. Choose foods with a low percentage daily value. If the percentage daily value is 5 percent or less, the food is typically low in fat.

Saturated fat

Saturated fat raises blood cholesterol levels more than anything else in the diet. Eating less saturated fat is the best way to lower your blood cholesterol level. Significant amounts are found in animal foods (meat, poultry, and dairy products) and also in vegetable foods (coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils). Saturated fat is also found in hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Polyunsaturated fat

Polyunsaturated fat helps to lower blood cholesterol. Significant amounts are found in liquid vegetable oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean and cottonseed.

Monounsaturated fat

Monounsaturated fat helps to lower blood cholesterol. This fat is found in olives, olive oil, peanuts, peanut oil and canola (rapeseed) oil.

restaurant dining

It’s sometimes difficult to find hidden fat on the menu of a restaurant or cafeteria. Learn which terms and phrases signal the fat content.

terms that mean low-fat preparation
- steamed
- broiled
- baked
- poached
- tomato juice
- in its own juice
- roasted
- garden fresh
- dry broiled in lemon juice or wine

terms that mean high-fat preparation
- buttery, buttered, in butter sauce
- sauteed, fried, pan fried
- crispy, braised, creamed
- in cream sauce
- it its own gravy, hollandaise
- au gratin, parmesan, in cheese sauce
- marinated in oil
- potpie

low-fat cooking tips
- use nonstick pots and pans or nonstick vegetable spray instead of adding a chunk of margarine or butter

- substitute nonfat liquids such as chicken or beef broth for cooking fat whenever possible

- trim fat from meat before cooking

- bake or broil instead of frying

- skim fats from cooled foods before reheating