The Facts About Cholesterol

What's "Good", what's "Bad",
and what's the difference?

There's a lot of information in books, magazines and the internet about high cholesterol and its impact on a person's health. It's helpful to understand the basic terminology used in discussing cholesterol and how diet can play a role in improving cholesterol levels before prescription medications are needed.

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is part of your cells' structure, and a component of bile salts and vitamin D. The body needs cholesterol and can make it internally, so it is not an essential nutrient.

Cholesterol is transported by "bubbles" called LDL (low density lipoproteins) and HDL (high density lipoproteins). HDL and LDL are often referred to as good and bad cholesterol, respectively, because of what they do in the body. HDL (the good) transports cholesterol from inside the body to the liver where it can be made into bile salts, and eventually eliminated. LDL (the bad) transports cholesterol from the liver to places in the body where it can be used, or (here's the bad part) to storage sites that can lead to cardiovascular disease.

The optimal level of cholesterol in the blood is 200 mg/dl or lower. If cholesterol levels go higher than this, the specific HDL and LDL levels become important because a good ratio of HDL to LDL can downplay the risks associated with a higher overall level. So, always ask for the complete "lipid profile" which gives the LDL, HDL and triglycerides. Triglycerides are also factored into total cholesterol.

The phrase used by many health organizations is "Know your Number", which means get blood work that gives a lipid profile of total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides. Here are the current NCEP (National Cholesterol Education Program) recommendations:

Total Cholesterol 200mg/dl (if the reading is higher then the HDL/LDL ratio is important)
HDL - 60mg/dl or higher
LDL - 100 - 129mg/dl (optimal or near optimal for people without diabetes)
Triglycerides - less than 150mg/dl is optimal

Changing diet and lifestyle can improve these values in as many as fifty percent of people who are not currently active or eating a heart-healthy diet.  Articles that follow will discuss strategies to make better food choices and lifestyle changes needed to reduce the risk for heart disease.

« Return to ArticlesLearn More About Laura Coti Garrett »