Cholesterol Levels

When you’re looking at cholesterol there are a few different profiles and ratio you should consider and these are rough values to give you an idea about what to expect and what to avoid

1.       Total Cholesterol

No matter where you take a test to measure your cholesterol, the first thing that will always show up is your total cholesterol levels. These are the first indication to spot if your cholesterol is too high or normal. This represents the total cholesterol in your blood and includes both HDL, LDL and VLDL. Triglycerides are not included in this!

Values to consider when looking at total cholesterol

Less than 200mg/dl is normal

200-239mg/dl is borderline high

240mg/dl is considered to be high

2.       HDL

Any good test will always include more data than just the total cholesterol and this for a good reason. HDL or otherwise known as High-density lipoprotein is the smallest in size of the  five major groups of lipoprotein, this is also often known as good cholesterol.

It is important to known your HDL when doing a blood test because in a healthy person about 30% or higher of your total cholesterol should be HDL and it has been found that those with low HDL (less than 40mg/dl) tend to have an increased rate of heart disease while the opposite is true with those individuals that have a higher HDL. However recent research suggest this may not be 100% accurate and some HDL may actually increase your risk at chronic heart disease.  This will probably spark further research in the near future but until then it would be wise to consider the 30% ratio and attempt to stick to that area .

What does HDL do ? HDL will transport cholesterol from tissue or organs to your liver, ovary and testes. This is considered to be the protective function towards atherosclerosis.

Values to consider when looking at HDL

Anything more than + 35mg/dl is desirable

If possible strive for  30% of your total cholesterol but a higher is often better.

3.       LDL

Another thing to consider with blood work is of course LDL the often feared counterpart of HDL, the question of course is should he be but that is for another time. LDL can also be referred to as Low-density lipoprotein and often referred to as bad cholesterol. However when testing this it is important to find out how much of your LDL has been oxidized since they will be easier retained once oxidized thus pose a greater risk.

Values to consider when looking at your LDL

Less than 130mg/dl

130-159mg/dl borderline high

160+ mg/dl High risk

When looking at the above one can already see that you have to consider all parts of the data to get a better picture.

4.       VLDL

VLDL is an interesting one, this lipoprotein is better known as very low density lipoprotein and is assembled in your liver. It is designed to enable fat and cholesterol to move within your bloodstream. When this happens VLDL will eventually turn into LDL.

As it circulates in your bloodstream it will eventually pick up certain proteins and get additional from HDL, when this happens VLDL will become a mature VLDL.
The rest is fairly detailed so to keep it simple it will deliver his cholesterol and fats and so on upon which it will meet back with HDL after which it will become a IDL.

About 50% of your IDL eventually becomes LDL when they reach your liver and the other 50% are absorbed by the liver.

5.       Triglycerides

And of course triglycerides, this is something entirely different then cholesterol and is actually a kind of fat in your bloodstream that your body will use for energy.

While this is a kind of fat and some of it will come directly from eating fat into your bloodstream, it is very often that when you have a very high level of triglycerides it actually comes from eating sugars and alcohol those are converted to triglycerides in the liver and add to your total levels resulting in hypertriglyceridemia.

A to high triglycerides level can be a issue and should be monitored alongside your cholesterol or can be a sign of metabolic syndrome. But they generally don’t cause any symptoms.

Values to look for with triglycerides are

Less than 200mg/dl is normal

200-400 mg/dl is borderline high

400+ high and if your over 1000 it is very high

What’s the difference between cholesterol and triglycerides ?

They are separate types that circulate your blood, triglycerides will store unused calories and provide the body with energy while cholesterol will build certain hormones and cells, neither can dissolve in your bloodstream and will circulate in your body with the help of proteins that transport the them.