Measuring Cholesterol

Cholesterol Basics

More than half of Americans, and according to American Heart Associationfigures, most of them have less than desirable cholesterol levels.What this means is that every other person walking down the street is at riskfor some sort of heart disease. Buthow do we know how grave those risks are when we are looking at ourselves? Thesenumbers help the average person make cholesterol levels and risksunderstandable and because of this it can also make establishing achievablegoals easier. Actually achieving them, ofcourse, is something else altogether, but I digress.

Measuring Your own Cholesterol Levels

There are actually five different ways to measure for a complete reading on yourown cholesterol levels and they are: total, HDL, LDL, total/HDL ratio, LDL/HDLratio. These measurements are actually categorizedas desirable, borderline, and of course, at risk.Measurement units are milligrams per deciliter.It is extremely misleading to consider any of them on their own.Consult your health practitioner to best understand your cholesterol levels andwhat, if anything, to do about them or how to maintain them properly.

Here is how it really works in the numbers.Total desirable is below 200 mg/dL, total borderline level is 200 to 240 andtotal risk above level 240. HDL ideal level isabove 45 mg/dL, HDL borderline is 35 to 45 and HDL at risk below 35.LDL ideal level is below 130 mg/dL, LDL borderline is 130 to 160 and LDL at riskabove 160. Total/HDL ideal ratio is below 4.5,total/HDL borderline is 4.5 to 5.5and total/HDL at risk is above 5.5.LDL/HDL ideal ratio is below 3, LDL/HDL borderline is 3 to 5 and LDL/HDL and atrisk is above 5. Whew! That is a lot ofnumbers!

What all of that shows is that one very important set of numbers that youwill want to bear in mind as you face your own cholesterol levels is that everymilligram per deciliter makes a very large difference: with a 10 mg/dL drop inyour overall cholesterol comes an approximate 40 percent decrease in risk ofheart disease. Isn't that a good enough reasonfor you to want to do something about it?

When it comes to actually doingsomething about your cholesterol levels, a balanced diet, combined with a goodfitness regimen is your best bet in combating high cholesterol.You have to be both active and eat right to maintain the right balance.You can look to the my pyramid charts as a means of being sure that your eatinghabits are balanced. Supplements of vitaminswill not be able to compensate for your poor eating.You have to eat whole foods for any of this to be effective, and you must layoff of heavy fatty foods and junk food to keep your cholesterol balanced.