When people examine their blood work reports, the first thing they check is their cholesterol: HDLs and LDLs. The terms are widely and popularly known and make easy referents, especially when it's time to begin scribbling prescriptions. But most people misunderstand these measurements. HDLs and LDLs are simply proteins, which carry cholesterol to and from our cells. If there is an elevated risk when the LDL figure is higher than the HDL, it's because this is an indication that spent cholesterol is not being effectively carried away from our cells for eventual elimination, but is instead allowed to linger, with toxic results. It certainly is not because one number is inherently superficially “bad” while the other is “good.”
A vital part of any assessment of blood work numbers should be determining the particle composition of the HDLs and LDLs, and the state of balance between their delivery and eventual elimination. Some people may have high LDLs and be perfectly fine; others may have low LDLs and have a problem. It's far more about the way in which these levels balance with one another.
To be sure, there are some people with metabolic syndrome…high cholesterol, high glucose, high triglycerides, high blood pressure. Such people are clearly at higher risk for cardiovascular disease and may in fact require medication. But even with these patients, a thorough assessment to determine the causes behind their elevated indicators is essential. To illustrate the importance of accurate assessment, consider this: for some people, it's actually more about stress in their lives than dietary choices. Yes, stress can push levels upward, and in today's difficult economy, it impacts a greater number of people than ever.
There are many questions that should be asked during an assessment. Here are several: what are you ingesting (food, drink and medications)? What are your exercise habits? What do we learn through analysis of your liver and colon health? And yes, what's going on in your life?
The presence, operation, and impact of cholesterol in our bodies —as influenced by many factors—is anything but simple. These are complex interactions and relationships. Perhaps the most misunderstood relationship involves diet. People see an elevated number and immediately move to eliminate eggs and cheese and other popularly implicated foods from their diets. These foods do not cause your cholesterol to rise. Are they high in cholesterol? Yes. But they don't produce the cholesterol in your body—your body does. A far likelier expression of a diet gone wrong—and an imbalance in your cholesterol numbers—is all the sugar we eat. Sugar causes inflammation, which leads to the conditions that are favorable for plaque deposits to build up in the arteries.
Next time: What's Clogging Your Arteries
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