High ldl cholesterol and the consequences

When you perform the lipid profile test, the normal ldl levels should be till 100 mg/dl. If you have figures higher than 130 mg/dl, these are considered high ldl cholesterol levels.

How can high ldl levels affect you heart and health?

You must understand that ldl cholesterol is considered the “bad” one because it undergoes the oxidation process. It is also called the oxidized cholesterol due to some changes source by free radicals in this process.

The first to suffer are your body arteries, especially those medium and small size. The ldl cholesterol binds within your arteries, makes them become thicker. Thus, they lose their elasticity and heart has to do and extra work to pump the blood into the bloodstream.

There comes heart attack or stroke. Or the worst can occur: the sudden death.

There are various factors that contribute to cholesterol oxidation. Stress, insomnia (lack of sleep), having a sedentary life (with too little exercise).

However, too much exercise can be a factor too. Other factors include air exposure and high temperature.

Anyway, most of oxidized cholesterol you may take directly from the food you eat. I’m talking about the processed, devitalized, fabricated food items. Those are a potential source of high ldl cholesterol and potential risk for heart disease.

These kind of foods include: fortified white flour, caffeine, soft drinks, pasteurized, heated milk protein, commercial vegetable oils (especially those of corn, safflower, canola and soy origin).

Other food sources involve fructose and sugar (particularly in high-fructose corn syrup), miller and egg powders, margarine and shortening (hydrogenated fats).

If you pay more attention to what you eat, for sure you will not get involved in all these high ldl level troubles.

If you find out that you have high ldl cholesterol level, the first thing you should do is to consult your doctor and decide what changes you need to do.

I’m talking about some of your bad habits that you need to change or quit.

And of course planning your daily menu adequately is very important step too.