{"id":30882,"date":"2014-08-26T07:15:38","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T11:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=30882"},"modified":"2016-07-14T16:05:58","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:05:58","slug":"ldl-hdl-cholesterol-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/ldl-hdl-cholesterol-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Young People Need to Worry About Cholesterol, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cholesterol
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nothing says “I love you” quite like listening to your parents recap the stats from their latest doctor visit. But perhaps it’s time you listened up \u2014 cholesterol isn’t just for old folks to worry about. According to <\/a>the CDC<\/a>, about one-third of Americans have higher than optimal levels, putting them at greater risk for heart disease and stroke. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Check Yourself: LDL and HDL Cholesterol<\/h3>\n
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Anyone over the age of 20 should get their levels checked, recommends the AHA.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s no denying the \u201cc\u201d word often gets a bad rap. But at face value, the waxy substance isn’t all bad. Cholesterol is naturally found throughout the body and in foods from animal sources, like eggs and meat. And your body needs some<\/em> cholesterol<\/a> to function properly \u2014 it helps form cell walls and aids the body in making vitamin D and hormones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So when do cholesterol levels go from optimal to a cause for concern? “Cholesterol testing should start in your twenties<\/a> and, if in a healthy range, should be retested in five years, provided there’s no change in your health,” says\u00a0Dr. Nieca Goldberg, MD, National Spokesperson for the American Heart Association.\u00a0A desirable cholesterol level<\/a> is less than 200 mg\/dL, although target levels depend on other heart disease risk factors, like medical history, heredity, and other lifestyle factors.<\/p>\n

When you go in to see your doctor, the process will start with a blood test to measure several substances. The first two are lipoproteins<\/a> \u2014 both low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) \u2014 which carry cholesterol throughout your body. Your total cholesterol is the combination of your LDLs, HDLs and one-fifth of your triglyceride levels (triglycerides<\/a> are another type of fat found in the blood).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cause for Concern<\/b><\/h3>\n

Sure, there are plenty of medical tests you know you “should” get, but do you really need this one? Actually, yes. Cholesterol plays a key role in your heart health, and it\u2019s never too early to start taking note.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cholesterol in the blood combines with other substances to create plaque<\/a>, which then sticks to the walls of arteries. Over time, plaque buildup causes arteries to become blocked completely or too narrow for blood to flow easily from your heart to the rest of the body. This is known as atherosclrosis, a common form of heart disease. In the case of narrow passageways, chest pain (also know as angina) is common, and when arteries are blocked completely, a heart attack occurs.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, blocked arteries may also cut off blood flow<\/a> to the brain. When the brain stops receiving enough fresh, oxygenated blood from the heart, that can result in a stroke<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cholesterol Myths<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Healthy HDL levels may also protect against heart attacks and strokes, while low levels are actually associated with increased risk.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019re stressing over that cheeseburger you ate yesterday, don’t worry. The idea that consuming high\u00a0cholesterol foods automatically leads to higher cholesterol levels isn\u2019t gospel<\/a>, especially if you eat a fairly healthy diet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why the confusion? The difference between LDL and HDL may be to blame. You’ve probably heard of “bad” and “good” cholesterol. LDL is what’s known as bad cholesterol, because it contributes to plaque buildup, while HDL is the so-called good kind. According to the AHA<\/a>, “Experts believe HDL acts as a scavenger, carrying LDL cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver.” Healthy HDL levels may also protect against heart attacks and strokes, while low levels are actually associated with increased risk. Earlier understandings<\/a> of cholesterol and health didn’t necessarily take this important distinction into account.<\/p>\n

There’s also the question of what impact eating cholesterol has on your blood cholesterol levels. One recent review of the research <\/a>suggests that while cholesterol consumption does increase LDL levels, it also increases HDL levels equally, keeping the ratio of the two the same, and ultimately having little impact on health. Still the evidence isn’t conclusive, and U.S. medical recommendations err on the side of reducing cholesterol intake overall.\u00a0The AHA recommends a diet of fruit, veggies, whole grains, poultry, fish and nuts to keep your cholesterol levels in check.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Forming Healthy Habits\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Like everything relating to your health, there are a lot of factors that play into reducing your risk of heart attack or stroke. Where blood lipids are concerned, increasing your HDLs and decreasing your LDLs may lower your heart disease risk, Mayo Clinic<\/a>\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

Smoking, high blood pressure<\/a>, and being overweight<\/a>, all increase your bad cholesterol levels. The good news? Exercise both helps you lose weight and decreases your LDL. A healthy diet with a moderate amount of fat (mostly unsaturated fat from sources like olive oil, and little saturated fat from meat and dairy) can increase your HDL levels<\/a>. “Overall it is better to have higher levels of HDL [than lower levels of LDL],”\u00a0Dr. Goldberg adds.\u00a0Whole grains, nuts and seafood \u2014 among other foods \u2014 may also contribute to a healthier heart.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are many other things that impact your heart health. Unfortunately, you can’t control risk factors like heredity and gender, says the National Heart, Lung and Blood Association<\/a>. Men are predisposed to have lower HDL levels than women, and high blood pressure can run in families. Moreover, your LDL levels rise with age; for men, risk increases around 45 years old, and for women at 55.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most important to keep in mind: There are no symptoms of high cholesterol, says the CDC<\/a>. So anyone age 20 or older should have their cholesterol checked. If you have high cholesterol or other risk factors, you may need to be screened more often, though \u2014 ask your doctor to know for sure.<\/p>\n

Want to learn even more? Check out the AHA’s interactive cholesterol library<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Think you’re too young to start worrying about your cholesterol levels? It’s never too early to learn the facts about cholesterol \u2014 the good, the bad, and the ugly. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":30918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[41,217,224,71,341,396],"class_list":["post-30882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","tag-diets","tag-disease","tag-illness","tag-nutrition","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2womens-health"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}