What Is Cholesterol, What Are the Different Types of Cholestol and How YOU Can Make It Better?

What is Cholesterol? The Mayo Clinic defines cholesterol as "a waxy substance that's found in the fats (lipids) in your blood. While your body needs cholesterol to continue building healthy cells, having high cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease." 

You may have heard your doctor use the term "high cholesterol." When you have high cholesterol, you may develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Eventually, these deposits make it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. The deposits become like plaque and begin to build up on your artery walls. Because of this, your heart may not get as much oxygen-rich blood as it needs, which unfortunately increases the risk of a heart attack. Decreased blood flow to your brain can cause a stroke.

So, here is the question, is cholesterol bad for you? The answer is two-fold - yes and no. Your body needs a certain amount of cholesterol to function properly, but as always, everything in moderation. There are actually 2 different types of cholesterol - LDL and HDL. 

LDL is the "bad cholesterol." This is they type of cholesterol that, if it is in excess, will build on your artery walls causing blockage and can also cause problems such as heart disease and stroke. The higher your LDL is, the higher your risk of heart disease or stroke.

HDL is the "good cholesterol." HDL carries excess cholesterol (bad cholesterol) away from the heart and back to the liver to be broken down. Therefore, the higher your HDL is, the lower your LDL is and the better off  you are.

Now lies the question, if you have high cholesterol how do you lower your LDL and raise your HDL? A great way to do this is through the food you eat. You should eat fewer foods that contain high LDL and eat more foods that contain higher HDL. (And as always, consult your doctor for specific instructions.)

Foods that contain high LDL typically have a high amount of trans fats. Trans fats are formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature. If that isn't enough to scare you away from highly processed foods, I don't know what will. To name a few, foods that are high in trans fats are cakes, cookies, chips, fried foods, canned biscuits, frozen pizza, creamer, and margarine. 

Now let's look at good sources of HDL. According to the Mayo Clinic the following 4 foods are great sources for HDL:

• Foods high in Soluable Fiber
• Oatmeal
• Kidney Beans 
• Apples
• Pears
• Barley
• Prunes
• Fish and Omega 3 Fatty Acids
• Mackeral
• Lake Trout
• Herring
• Sardines
• Salmon
• Albacore Tuna
• Raw Nuts (no salt or sugar coating)
• Walnuts
• Almonds
• Peanuts
• Pecans
• Hazelnuts
• Pistachios
• Olive Oil

Be sure to read your food labels while you are grocery shopping. Pay attention not only to the nutritional information, but also to the ingredients!!