Cholesterol Can Be Healthy!

Cholesterol is a big bad word to many people, but in reality, cholesterol, like a lot of things in life, has both good and bad qualities. The secret to a healthier heart is to increase your good cholesterol while reducing your bad cholesterol. But what exactly is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a yellow, waxy substance related to fat that circulates in the bloodstream. It can come from your own body, which produces its own cholesterol (serum cholesterol), or from your diet (dietary cholesterol). Cholesterol is necessary for good health because it has important functions, like building new cells, insulating nerves, and producing hormones. But an excess of cholesterol can gum up your arteries, restricting blood flow, and eventually it may lead to a heart attack, stroke or the pain of angina. Coronary artery disease is the most common cause of death in men and women over 20 years of age, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

Your body produces all the cholesterol it needs. You don't need to obtain any cholesterol from your diet. But if you do, the AHA recommends that you restrict your dietary cholesterol to less than 300 mg. a day or less than 200 mg. a day if you have heart disease. Cholesterol can be found in all animal products but no plant products. Some people inherit a tendency to manufacture too much cholesterol and have to be especially careful about their dietary cholesterol intake.

Serum cholesterol comes in two varieties. HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol is good because it actually cleans arteries of debris. For optimum heart health, you should increase your HDL while decreasing your LDL. LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol is bad because it does just the opposite: it clogs arteries. The AHA suggests that serum HDL levels should be kept over 60 mg./dL and LDL levels at less than 100 mg./dL. A serum cholesterol reading of 200 mg./dL or less is considered optimal.

There are numerous ways to bump up your good (HDL) cholesterol while you knock down your bad (LDL) cholesterol:

1) First and foremost, if you're overweight, lose the extra pounds, because the more obese you are, the more cholesterol your body will produce. A diet high in plant-based foods (fruit, veggies, cereals, whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts) and low in animal-based foods (meat, dairy, eggs) is an effective way to raise good cholesterol levels and reduce your weight. Even if you're not obese, your cholesterol levels can still benefit from this diet. Many people erroneously believe that a high-carb diet will make you fat, but that's only the case if you eat a lot of refined, fatty carbs.

2) Decrease your saturated fat and trans fat intake. This means you should cut down on animal products like meat, cheese, butter, whole milk, and ice cream as well as snack foods like cookies, cakes, crackers and chips and fast foods like French fries, stick butter and margarine, which contain trans fats. Instead, eat more fish, poultry, low-fat dairy products and oils such as corn, soybean, and safflower.

3) Start using monounsaturated fats like olive oil, canola oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, peanut oil, peanut butter and soy products, and eat more nuts and seeds. A study has shown that macadamia nuts can improve cholesterol levels. Other good nuts are pecans and walnuts. Monounsaturated fats can lower LDL cholesterol while leaving HDL cholesterol alone.

4) Eat fish, dark green vegetables and flaxseeds, which contain omega-3 fats that contribute to a healthy HDL cholesterol level.

5) Add a cup of beans or peas a day to your meals. Beans are particularly effective in regulating cholesterol levels because they contain a soluble fiber called pectin, a substance that actually surrounds cholesterol and helps eliminate it from the body. Fruit also contains pectin, so eat a couple of servings of fruit every day (particularly citrus, apple and strawberries), as well as vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and onions, which contain pectin-like fiber.

6) Learn the virtues of grains like oat bran, oatmeal and barley, which are also rich in soluble fiber and have a similar effect to fruit on cholesterol. A tablespoon of corn bran at each meal has been shown to lower cholesterol by 20% in one study. Rice bran is another good choice of fiber.

7) Add raw garlic to your diet. It is very effective in establishing healthy cholesterol levels. If you don't like what it does to your breath, try Kyolic, an odorless liquid garlic extract.

8) Drink a moderate amount of red wine, beer or liquor, with the emphasis on "moderate," to increase your HDL cholesterol.

9) Reduce your coffee intake. Coffee at the rate of two cups or more a day can actually raise bad cholesterol levels. The culprit is not the caffeine but the method of preparation. Perking or boiling coffee is worse than drinking filtered coffee.

10) Dump the cigarettes. Everyone knows that smoking is bad for your lungs, but did you know it also decreases good cholesterol? According to two studies, chronic smokers tend to have lower HDL levels.

11) Start and stick to a regimen of vigorous exercise, particularly strength-training exercises, which can raise HDL cholesterol. Conversely, rest can also improve your cholesterol levels.

12) Experiment with other substances that have been found in studies to fight bad cholesterol and encourage good cholesterol, including tea, spirulina, lemongrass oil, psyllium seeds, pomegranate juice, and even activated charcoal.

13) Don't underestimate the value of nutritional supplements. Calcium at 1,000 mg. a day has been found to raise HDL cholesterol in post-menopausal women. A Tuffs University study has shown an increase in HDL cholesterol in elderly people taking 1 gram a day of vitamin C. Vitamin E can also raise HDL levels, according to a French-Israeli study. Niacin may also play a role in increasing good cholesterol.

Cholesterol is scary only if you don't understand the double life it leads in your body. Just remember that it wears both a white hat and a black hat, and learn to recognize the difference between the two. Your life may depend on it!