( Nutrition )
THE LOWDOWN ON
CHOLESTEROL
Dr Joanna shares her tips for eating healthier , which is essential for a healthy heart .
If you ’ ve been paying attention to media reports on cholesterol and its association with heart disease , you may have found yourself getting increasingly confused . Much of the confusion has come about following reports that statins , drugs used to lower cholesterol , are being over-prescribed and questions have even been raised over the whether we should worry about cholesterol levels at all .
The real story is not nearly so controversial . Nutrition and medical science is always growing and our understanding of cardiovascular disease , including heart disease and stroke , is building . What has happened with the cholesterol story is not one where everything we thought we knew was wrong and here is the true culprit … rather it is a story that tells us we only saw a part of the picture and now we have a broader view that allows us to see where cholesterol fits into the bigger picture .
It is true that your blood cholesterol levels are not the be-alland-end-all when it comes to assessing your risk of cardiovascular disease . But it DOES remain a risk factor . What that means is that a high cholesterol level does not mean you will get heart disease or suffer a stroke , and neither does having low cholesterol mean you won ’ t .
Today doctors know much more about how to calculate your risk and your blood cholesterol – or more accurately your blood lipid profile - is one factor . Others include your family history of cardiovascular disease , your blood pressure , your waist circumference , whether or not you have diabetes , your blood level of an inflammatory marker called CRP , your level of exercise , heavy drinking and whether or not you smoke .
Further food for thought is that elevated cholesterol in middle age has been associated with an increased risk of dementia later on . So good blood cholesterol management may have benefits for your brain as well as your cardiovascular system .
To best lower your risk you want to look at all of these factors and do something about those you have control over . The bottom line is that eating a healthy diet , exercising regularly , maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking are absolutely key to cardiovascular health . This lifestyle combination has an impact on almost all of the risk factors above .
Your blood lipid profile
Cholesterol is actually a type of fat and it ’ s an essential fat in the body . So much so that in fact 75-80 % of the cholesterol in your body is made by the body . The remainder comes from dietary cholesterol we consume in foods . Generally , when we eat more cholesterol , the body makes less and vice versa . This is why health guidelines no longer focus on the cholesterol content of foods ( although if you have high cholesterol and it runs in your family your dietitian may advise you to limit your dietary cholesterol too ). We know that other dietary factors have far more influence on how much cholesterol your body produces .
Being a fat however , cholesterol can ’ t be carried around in the blood on its own – just think of trying to mix oil and water . Instead it is carried in particles made with a coating of proteins called lipoproteins ( lipid + protein ). There are different types of lipoproteins , each with varying amounts of cholesterol as they have different roles in the body . The major ones of interest here are low-density lipoprotein ( LDL ) and high-density lipoprotein ( HDL ). LDL particles are the richest in cholesterol and their job is to deliver cholesterol to cells around the body .
28 OH ! MAGAZINE ( DECEMBER 2016 )