Cholesterol Levels

Also learn about lifestyle changes you can make to.

Cholesterol levels. Research suggests that adding an avocado a day to a heart healthy diet can help improve ldl cholesterol levels in people who are overweight or obese. Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in your blood. It can lower your chances of getting heart disease or having a stroke. Ldl low density lipoprotein sometimes called bad cholesterol makes up most of your body s cholesterol high levels of ldl cholesterol raise your risk for heart disease and stroke.

You might need treatment if you have triglyceride levels that are borderline high 150 199 mg dl or high 200 mg dl or more. A normal triglyceride level is below 150 mg dl. People tend to be most familiar with avocados in guacamole which usually is eaten with high fat corn chips. Along with these pointers it typically shows that total cholesterol above 240 and triglycerides more than 500 is high risk.

Cholesterol levels should be measured at least once every five years in everyone over age 20. The screening test that is usually performed is a blood test called a lipid profile. Over time a person s body tends to produce more cholesterol meaning that all adults should check their cholesterol levels regularly ideally. But they can be in mmol l millimoles per liter unit used in europe canada and other countries.

Triglycerides are not a type of cholesterol but they are part of a lipoprotein panel the test that measures cholesterol levels. The american heart association aha recommends keeping your cholesterol ratio below 5. Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is a great way to keep your heart healthy. Ideally it should be near 3 5 but anything under 5 also signifies healthy cholesterol levels in the body.

Cholesterol travels through the blood on proteins called lipoproteins two types of lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout the body. But first you have to know your cholesterol numbers. Cholesterol levels are in the unit of mg dl milligrams per deciliter of blood in the usa. Your body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells but high levels of cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease.

Cholesterol levels vary by age weight and gender. Managing your cholesterol levels can help to keep you healthy as you age. For example having a total cholesterol level of 162 mg dl and an hdl level of 44 mg dl implies a cholesterol ratio of 3 7. We explain what the healthy levels are for both adults and children.