Lowering high cholesterol requires a balance of dietary interventions for lipids, understanding HDL/LDL ratios, and managing triglyceride spikes.
Lemons are a tasty addition to many dishes and can add life to a glass of water. You can use lemon juice in place of traditional salad dressings for a healthier salad. A member of the citrus family, lemon has many health benefits.
Read more →
Dehydroepiandrosterone, known as DHEA, has been termed the “mother” hormone for its vital role in creating androgens and estrogens. Normal levels of DHEA depend on age and sex, and women tend to have lower amounts than men.
Read more →
Age is a major factor in the amount of cholesterol in your blood. Being older than 45 years old if you're a man and older than 55 if you're a woman is a "risk factor" for having a cholesterol problem, according to the U.S. government's National Cholesterol Education Program, or NCEP.
Read more →
What you eat affects the amount of triglycerides, a type of fat, in your bloodstream. Some foods, such as meat, contain triglycerides naturally. Your body also converts some substances -- sugar and alcohol in particular -- to triglycerides.
Read more →
Human chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone that is most often associated with pregnancy in women. However, both males and nonpregnant females produce low levels of hCG throughout their lives as well.
Read more →
The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL, or good, cholesterol is a "better predictor of heart disease" than total cholesterol or HDL cholesterol, according to "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease."
Read more →
Among Americans age 20 and older, over 100 million have total blood cholesterol levels of 200 mg per decaliter or higher, according to the American Heart Association. They are more at risk for some of America’s leading causes of death such as heart disease and stroke.
Read more →
Shellfish and other seafood have been previously classified as high cholesterol foods. However, according to Yale New Haven Hospital, those claims don't entirely stand up. Much of the excess cholesterol from seafood comes from polyunsaturated fats, which are actually beneficial to heart health.
Read more →
Estradiol is the most common form of a type of hormone known as estrogen. This hormone is present in both men and women but has most of its function in women. Estradiol helps drive the menstrual cycle and is also involved in bone strength and in puberty.
Read more →
Cholesterol rings in the eye, also called corneal arcus, are deposits of fats in the clear part of your eye known as the cornea. They form a white or light gray arc or complete circle in front of the colored part of your eye.
Read more →
To gain weight, you must take in more calories than you burn through activity. While this may seem easy, the key to gaining weight healthily and without raising cholesterol is to increase your intake of healthy foods while remaining active and avoiding foods high in trans and saturated fats.
Read more →
Triglycerides, a type of fat in your bloodstream, can clog your arteries and make you more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes. If you follow a low-fat, low-sugar diet and exercise regularly, you can lower your triglycerides by 50 percent, according to the American Heart Association.
Read more →
Lipids are absorbed from the food you eat or manufactured in your body. Because these fats do not dissolve in blood, they are transported through your bloodstream to the tissues of your body as particles called lipoproteins. HDL and LDL are 2 of the 5 major classes of lipoproteins.
Read more →
Pregnancy is an intricate development of cells which multiply and eventually form a baby. Hormones play a complex role in this metamorphosis and assist physicians in determining the healthy progression of a pregnancy or potential problems.
Read more →
The brain is a complex system of neurons that communicate through the release and uptake of chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Two of these neurotransmitters, serotonin and dopamine, play an important role in the regulation of mood, sleep, appetite, movement and posture.
Read more →
Pizza is one of those foods that can either be a healthy treat or violate all of your dietary guidelines. If you're buying pizza from one of the popular fast food chains, you're probably exceeding your daily allotments for fat, saturated fat, sodium and calories.
Read more →
Hyperuricemia, an abnormally high level of uric acid in your body, can cause a type of kidney stone and exacerbate gout if excess uric acid forms painful crystals in joints. High cholesterol levels may be associated with the uric acid levels in your body, although more scientific evidence is needed to confirm a link.
Read more →
Estrogen refers to a group of hormones present in the female body: estradiol, estriol and estrone. During the course of your life, the levels of these estrogen hormones fluctuate. They help to regulate your menstrual cycle and are also key in supporting and maintaining a healthy pregnancy.
Read more →
While a blood test to determine your cholesterol level can be done anytime, for the most accurate results it is best to fast. Different foods such as fatty foods have varying effects on cholesterol levels and if you test too close to eating, you may not get accurate results.
Read more →