The Rights and Wrongs of Cholesterol

Your body contains two kinds of cholesterol : the easily oxidized low density lipoproteins, known as LDL or “bad” cholesterol, and high density lipoproteins known as HDL or “good” cholesterol. Women naturally tend to have higher levels of HDL especially at her young ages. But generally at her old ages, after 40-45’s the HDL level normally drops. In fact, it takes only 6 to 10 years after the onset of menopause for a woman’s risk of heart disease to catch up to a man’s, it’s even more important to work at raising our HDL levels.

How do you increase your HDL levels while lowering your LDL levels? The best methods are as follows:

-          Get regular aerobic exercise

-          Eat a low – far diet.

-          Include fats and omega 3 acids as a part of your low fat diet.

-          Avoid trans fatty acids.

-          Maintain a healthy weight.

Some of that advice is clear and familiar, some may seem, at first glance, to be rather complicated. How many different types of fats are there? Actually, we can list them as four. : Saturated Fat, Partially Hydrogenated Fat, Polyunsaturated Fat and Monounsaturated Fat.