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What Is A Bad Cholesterol?

Practically everyone has at least heard of the medical term that becomes somewhat of a concern for the middle-aged population. It would be unusual to find the word come about in a teenage conversation.  Undoubtedly, because the threatening health concerns such as high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes and other chronic illnesses that manifest due to “high cholesterol” levels do not usually adversely affect the juvenile population. Simply put, when most people mention lowering cholesterol, they are referring to the effort of diminishing the accumulation of bad cholesterol.

Yes, there are actually two types of cholesterol in our bodies, good and bad. The harmful type otherwise termed as low-density lipoprotein is detrimental to human health because it can cause atheroma. Atheroma describes the plaque or fat streaks that commonly affect circulation through the arteries over time. If undetected early and left untreated an accumulation of “macrophage white blood cells” can make a member of any age group ill even a child below the age of ten.

It is even possible for certain symptoms to become apparent in a 5 year old and quietly grow in density in the child’s veins as throughout childhood. More commonly however, the more prominent of symptoms are not given diagnosis and attention until one of the more serious illnesses occurs such as stroke or heart attack, at which point it is oftentimes too far-gone to control. The results of such attacks may not always cause death but frequently result in lifetime disability.

It is difficult to picture exactly how high levels of bad cholesterol can wreak serious havoc on the body.  People who appear to be healthy may have a potential problem with bad cholesterol, which can only be verified by lab tests. It may be startling to most who discover how high their cholesterol level has actually risen over the years.

It’s not so mysterious how the condition of a high level of bad cholesterol is commonly caused by the over-consumption of saturated fats in one’s diet. In the advent of nutritional information being required by the FDA to print clearly on labels of processed foods such as canned goods and other packaged products at grocery stores, it is easier to determine the amount of cholesterol a food product contains.  This is just a small measure to raise public consciousness of the potential problem of high cholesterol.

Another major step in being more conscious about lowering cholesterol understands how the body metabolizes it. Actually it does not come from only from the diet. Diet is just one factor that contributes to the larger process of how your body uses cholesterol in general. As mentioned before there are actually two types of cholesterol. The other being good cholesterol which helps the body in its biochemical production of bile, which regulates fat soluble vitamins such as A, K, D, and E. 

Cholesterol also has an impact on the synthesis of the body hormone.  When cholesterol has been put to good use within the body, it is then excreted as excess lipids in the liver and gall bladder in the form of crystal particles.  Cholesterol is not water soluble, so it circulates continuously and then gets converted to the bad cholesterol (low density lipoproteins).  For the average and normal individuals with a healthy metabolism, bad cholesterol is naturally kept to a minimal and comes in as large quantities.  The unhealthy process however is when the low density lipoproteins come in many numbers of small sizes that can be trapped in the veins and accumulate as clogs. 

Genetic weakness or predisposition is not a significant factor in the matter of maintaining a healthy cholesterol level. The key is watching over the quantity of the kinds of food in the diet.  Cholesterol is prominent in animal meats and fats, especially pork and beef.  It is much easier to monitor your intake of fatty foods with all the precautions set forth in today’s food market.  But the discipline and responsibility truly lies in the hands of the consumer to live a life with less cholesterol consumption.

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