Health Feature Archive
How Much Do You Know About Cholesterol?
Are you cholesterol smart? Test your knowledge about high blood
cholesterol with the following True or False statements. Check below for the
- High blood
cholesterol is one of the risk factors for heart disease that you can do
- To lower your
blood cholesterol level you must stop eating meat altogether.
- Any blood
cholesterol level below 240 mg/dL is desirable for adults.
- Fish oil
supplements are recommended to lower blood cholesterol.
- To lower your
blood cholesterol level you should eat less saturated fat, total fat,
and cholesterol and lose weight if you are overweight.
- Saturated fats
raise your blood cholesterol level more that anything else in your diet.
- All vegetable
oils help lower blood cholesterol levels.
- Lowering blood
cholesterol levels can help people who have already had a heart attack.
- All children need
to have their blood cholesterol levels checked.
- Women don't need
to worry about high blood cholesterol and heart disease.
- Reading food
labels can help you eat the heart healthy way.
to the Cholesterol and Heart Disease I.Q. Quiz
- True: High blood cholesterol is one of the risk factors for
heart disease that a person can do something about. High blood
pressure, cigarette smoking, diabetes, overweight, and physical
inactivity are the others.
Although some red meat is high in saturated fat and
cholesterol, which can raise your blood cholesterol, you do not
need to stop eating it or any other single food. Red meat is an
important source of protein, iron, and other vitamins and minerals.
You should, however, cut back on the amount of saturated fat and
cholesterol that you eat. One way to do this is by choosing lean
cuts of meat with the fat trimmed. Another way is to watch your
portion sizes and eat no more than 6 ounces of meat a day. Six
ounces is about the size of two decks of playing cards.
A total blood cholesterol level of under 200 mg/dL is
desirable and usually puts you at a lower risk for heart disease.
A blood cholesterol level of 240 mg/dL is high and increases your
risk of heart disease. If your cholesterol level is high, your
doctor will want to check your level of LDL-cholesterol ("bad"
cholesterol). A HIGH level of LDL-cholesterol increases your risk
of heart disease, as does a LOW level of HDL-cholesterol ("good"
cholesterol). An HDL-cholesterol level below 35 mg/dL is
considered a risk factor for heart disease. A total cholesterol
level of 200 239 mg/dL is considered borderline-high and usually
increases your risk for heart disease. All adults 20 years of age
or older should have their blood cholesterol level checked at least
once every 5 years.
Fish oils are a source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are
a type of polyunsaturated fat. Fish oil supplements generally do
not reduce blood cholesterol levels. Also, the effect of the
long-term use of fish oil supplements is not known. However, fish
is a good food choice because it is low in saturated fat.
Eating less fat, especially saturated fat, and
cholesterol can lower your blood cholesterol level. Generally your
blood cholesterol level should begin to drop a few weeks after you
start on a cholesterol-lowering diet. How much your level drops
depends on the amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol you used to
eat, how high your blood cholesterol is, how much weight you lose
if you are overweight, and how your body responds to the changes
you make. Over time, you may reduce your blood cholesterol level
by 10-50 mg/dL or even more.
Saturated fats raise your blood cholesterol level more
than anything else. So, the best way to reduce your
cholesterol level is to cut back on the amount of saturated
fats that you eat. These fats are found in largest amounts in
animal products such as butter, cheese, whole milk, ice cream,
cream, and fatty meats. They are also found in some vegetable
oils--coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils.
Most vegetable oils--canola, corn, olive, safflower,
soybean, and sunflower oils--contain mostly monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated fats, which help lower blood cholesterol when used
in place of saturated fats. However, a few vegetable oils--
coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils--contain more saturated fat
than unsaturated fat. A special kind of fat, called "trans fat,"
is formed when vegetable oil is hardened to become margarine or
shortening, through a process called "hydrogenation." The
harder the margarine or shortening, the more likely it is to
contain more trans fat. Choose margarine containing liquid
vegetable oil as the first ingredient. Just be sure to limit the
total amount of any fats or oils, since even those that are
unsaturated are rich sources of calories.
People who have had one heart attack are at much higher
risk for a second attack. Reducing blood cholesterol levels can
greatly slow down (and, in some people, even reverse) the buildup
of cholesterol and fat in the wall of the coronary arteries and
significantly reduce the chances of a second heart attack. If you
have had a heart attack or have coronary disease, your LDL level
should be around 100 mg/dL which is even lower than the recommended
level of less than 130 mg/dL for the general population.
Children from "high risk" families, in which a parent
has high blood cholesterol (240 mg/dL or above) or in which a
parent or grandparent has had heart disease at an early age (at 55
years or younger), should have their cholesterol levels tested. If
a child from such a family has a cholesterol level that is high, it
should be lowered under medical supervision, primarily with diet,
to reduce the risk of developing heart disease as an adult. For
most children, who are not from high-risk families, the best way to
reduce the risk of adult heart disease is to follow a low saturated
fat, low cholesterol eating pattern. All children over the age of
2 years and all adults should adopt a heart healthy eating pattern
as a principal way of reducing coronary heart disease.
Blood cholesterol levels in both men and women begin
to go up around age 20. Women before menopause have levels that
are lower than men of the same age. After menopause, a women's
LDL-cholesterol level goes up--and so her risk for heart disease
increases. For both men and women, heart disease is the number
one cause of death.
Food labels have been changed. Look on the nutrition
label for the amount of saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, and
total calories in a serving of the product. Use this information
to compare similar products. Also, look for the list of
ingredients. Here, the ingredient in the greatest amount is first
and the ingredient in the least amount is last. So to choose foods
low in saturated fat or total fat, go easy on products that list
fats or oil first, or that list many fat and oil ingredients.
Portions the above information has been provided with the kind permission of the the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-National Institutes Of Health.Last Editorial Review: 6/26/2003