Say BYE to HIGH cholesterol
High cholesterolis one of those phrases that make people roll their eyes and stop listening. We don’t want to hear how we need to cut back on pizza and start including legumes into our daily regime. What should scare us is that around 50% of all heart attacks are associated with high cholesterol and over 5.5million South Africans are at risk of a disease due to high cholesterol levels.
The good news is that a little knowledge (and exercise) goes a long way to helping us reduce our cholesterol levels and start leading healthier, longer lives.
Good cholesterol, bad cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a substance manufactured by the liver and found in the fats (lipids) in your blood. Like most substances your body produces, cholesterol is not all bad. Your body needs it to continue building healthy cells. The problem comes when you have too much of it. High cholesterol may cause you to develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels, which will make it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. This means your heart may not get as much oxygen-rich blood as it needs, which increases the risk of a heart attack, while decreased blood flow to your brain can cause a stroke.
Four types of lipoproteins exist, with the two main types being low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL):
- LDL cholesterol, the so-called "bad" cholesterol, is transported throughout the body where it's used to repair cell membranes or make hormones.
- HDL, the so-called "good" cholesterol, is transported to the liver where it removes excess cholesterol from the tissues and disposes of it before it can do any damage.
Hyperlipidaemia or hypercholesterolaemia?
Forget the jargon. Hyperlipidaemia is just the medical word for a high level of fat in the blood, which, generally speaking, means the same thing as high cholesterolor measurements of hypercholesterolaemia or triglyceride, or both.
Common causes of high cholesterol
High cholesterol can be genetic, but is often the result of unhealthy lifestyle choices, which can be altered and therefore treated. Here are the most common causes:
- Genetics– some people lack certain cell receptors needed to remove LDL from the blood. This condition is called familial hypercholesterolemia. It is a result of inheriting either one bad gene (known as heterozygotes) or two bad genes (called homozygotes). Heterozygotes develop premature coronary-artery disease, usually in people’s 40s to 60s, while homozygotes can die of heart attacks as early as their teens or 20s.
Top tip:Check if your mother had a stroke or heart attack before the age of 65 or your father had a stroke or heart attack before 55. You could be genetically inclined to develop high cholesterol and should get tested. - Medical conditions –some medical conditions can cause high cholesterol. These include diabetes, underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism), Cushing’s syndrome, certain types of kidney disease and liver disease. Managing the medical condition will reduce your cholesterol levels.
- Diet– Saturated fat and trans fat are some of the biggest food contributors to high cholesterol levels. Your body easily turns saturated fat into cholesterol, which ends up in the walls of your arteries.
- Age and gender– after 20 years of age, your cholesterol naturally rises. In men, cholesterol generally levels off after age 50, while women’s levels will stay relatively low until menopause, after which they will rise to the same levels as in men.
- Medicines –certain medicines could increase your cholesterol levels. These include thiazides (treats hypertension), beta-blockers (treats heart arrhythmias and high blood pressure), retinoids (treats acne), antiretroviral medicines (treats HIV), oestrogen and progestins (for oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy), and glucocorticoids (treats allergies or autoimmune conditions).
Top tips to lower your unhealthy cholesterol levels
1.Be active.Regular exercise, like brisk walking, jogging, swimming and cycling, helps to increase your good cholesterol.
2.Replace saturated fatswith unsaturated fats. That means using olive, Canola, avocado, grape seed and sunflower oils instead of bricks of butter or margarine.
3.Drink alcohol in moderation. Stay within the recommended limit of one unit each day for women and up to two units each day for men. Choose dry or ‘light’ alcohol or red wine, which can assist in raising good cholesterol, when consumed in moderation.
4.Choose healthier cooking methodslike dry-frying, roasting, baking, poaching, boiling, steaming and grilling instead of pan-frying in oil.
5.Add fish to your dietat least once a week to make sure of your regular source of healthy fats called Omega-3s, which help reduce unhealthy fat levels in your blood.
6.Add fibre and plant sterols to your dietby including fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables and legumes into meals at least three times a week.
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