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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.