Cholesterol and Heart Disease

Cholesterol and heart disease is the number one tandem of health ailments that most of us face as we age. If you have high blood cholesterol, you are more likely to have a heart attack or a stroke.

You are at a higher risk for high blood cholesterol and heart disease if someone in your immediate family (parent, brother or sister) has high blood cholesterol.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 100 million Americans have high cholesterol levels and every 26 seconds an American will suffer a coronary event.

Cholesterol and Heart Disease Connection

There is a connection between cholesterol and heart disease as the bad cholesterol will gradually block off the flow of blood in the arteries. According to many medical studies, cholesterol and heart disease are connected because the bad cholesterol acts directly upon a very important (key) protein that usually protects the body from harm by limiting its protective action.

When the cholesterol and heart disease relationship is imbalanced, the heart becomes vulnerable to diseases, which in most cases pave the way to a sure heart attack unless it is carefully monitored and treated correctly in time.

If you have diabetes, you understand the routine of checking your glucose levels and eating a healthy diet. There is another, less emphasized, problem found in diabetics: high cholesterol and heart disease.

Eighty percent of the cholesterol in the blood is made by a healthy liver that makes, every single day, as much cholesterol as is in six to eight chicken egg yolks. Cholesterol is part of the protective coating, the myelin sheath, that insulates nerves. As such, you might consider cholesterol your cells superglue. It is a necessary ingredient in any sort of cellular repair.

If you have a high level of HDL-C, you are not at risk, and usually have little, if any personal or family history of heart or vascular disease. A person’s genetics and race have now joined the forefront of factors that are considered when evaluating health risks associated with cholesterol. Some studies have shown that obese black Americans (regardless of gender) typically have higher HDL levels than obese white Americans do, which indicates that blacks have a “more favorable lipoprotein profile”

Reduce The Salt

Aim to consume less than 2,300 mg of salt of sodium per day. Choose foods labeled reduced-sodium and limit high-sodium condiments and foods such as soy sauce, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and mustard, flavored seasoning salts, pickles and olives.