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What Makes Your Cholesterol
High or Low?
Your blood
cholesterol level is affected not only by what you eat but also by how quickly
your body makes LDL-cholesterol and disposes of it. In fact, your body makes
all the cholesterol it needs, and it is not necessary to take in any additional
cholesterol from the foods you eat.
Patients
with heart disease or those who are at high risk for developing it typically
have too much LDL-cholesterol in their blood. Many factors help determine
whether your LDL-cholesterol level is high or low. The following factors are
the most important:
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Heredity. Your genes influence how high your
LDL-cholesterol is by affecting how fast LDL is made and removed from the
blood. One specific form of inherited high cholesterol that affects 1 in 500
people is familial hypercholesterolemia, which often leads to early heart
disease. But even if you do not have a specific genetic form of high
cholesterol, genes play a role in influencing your LDL-cholesterol level.
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What you eat. Two main nutrients in the foods you
eat make your LDL-cholesterol level go up: saturated fat, a type of fat found
mostly in foods that come from animals; and cholesterol, which comes only from
animal products. Saturated fat raises your LDL-cholesterol level more than
anything else in the diet. Eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol is the
main reason for high levels of cholesterol and a high rate of heart attacks in
the United States. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol you eat
is a very important step in reducing your blood cholesterol levels.
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Weight. Excess weight tends to increase your
LDL-cholesterol level. If you are overweight and have a high LDL-cholesterol
level, losing weight may help you lower it. Weight loss also helps to lower
triglycerides and raise HDL.
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Physical activity/exercise. Regular physical
activity may lower LDL-cholesterol and raise HDL-cholesterol levels.
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Age and sex. Before menopause, women usually have total
cholesterol levels that are lower than those of men the same age. As women and
men get older, their blood cholesterol levels rise until about 60 to 65 years
of age. In women, menopause often causes an increase in their LDL-cholesterol
and a decrease in their HDL- cholesterol level, and after the age of 50, women
often have higher total cholesterol levels than men of the same age.
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Alcohol. Alcohol intake increases HDL-cholesterol
but does not lower LDL-cholesterol. Doctors don't know for certain whether
alcohol also reduces the risk of heart disease. Drinking too much alcohol can
damage the liver and heart muscle, lead to high blood pressure, and raise
triglycerides. Because of the risks, alcoholic beverages should not be used as
a way to prevent heart disease.
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Stress. Stress over the long term has been shown
in several studies to raise blood cholesterol levels. One way that stress may
do this is by affecting your habits. For example, when some people are under
stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The saturated fat and
cholesterol in these foods contribute to higher levels of blood cholesterol.
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