Cholesterol too high?

[tbonetjs]

I just got my blood test results back and my cholesterol is high.  I'm 31 and very active my cholesterol is 202, HDL 75 and LDL 110.  I was hoping for rock start results and even though these don't seem too bad I am wondering if someone might be able to shed some light.  I have a love affair with cheese of all/any kind - could this be affecting it?

[allmymarbles]

For some people the cholesterol battle is hard won. That is because of the genetic factor.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

  A quick peek at my profile you would see I wish I had chose my "real" name in the first place (Michael). But, now that I have it, it doesn't matter...

  My overall Cholesterol was a bit low (106mm/dl) so I did a search and found Coconut milk will help with this by "balancing" the cholesterol by bring it up but wont let it get too high.  again, Balances the cholesterol.  All the Coconut sites I've read say the same thing and give the reason that it's high in MCFA as opposed to Long chain fatty acids (LCFA) which are the bad lipids. Problem is I can't find anything on any unrelated site to confirm this.  My science background has nothing to do with bioanatomy so I can't make heads or tails on the MCFA sites I have found (which mention coconut oil).

[Paxiled]

That's a long handle there.  Cholesterol, whatever type of fatty acid components of it we're speaking of, isn't dangerous in and of itself.  In fact, it's a necessary substance to sustain life.  We can't make hormones without it, for example.  So-called good cholesterol, such as the Omega 3 and Omega 9, help most to keep the fat moving through the system, which in itself prevents it from oxidizing.  So-called bad cholesterol, represented by triglycerides and LDL, oxidizes very quickly if the body lacks sufficient antioxidants, such as vitamin E complete (meaning including the tocotrienols), vitamin c, Co-Q 10, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and too many others to mention, including the various flavonoids found in colored vegetables.  They're also in fruits, but because of the sugar issue, too much fruit can also be problematic.  When LDL oxidizes, it can form attachments to blood vessel walls, creating plaque.  It is the plaque that narrows the size of the blood vessel, thus increasing the chances of heart disease.  If cholesterol doesn't oxidize, therefore, it isn't harmful.  Inflammation, represented mostly by homocysteine, also causes problems with blood flow, and is considered by many to be a much more serious problem than high cholesterol.  At any rate, there are so many books and articles on this now that you can find this info just about anywhere, but I'd to to source material to confirm what you see on the net -- anyone can spout off on the net.  Including me.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

"the most important thing is not having the LDL oxidize"  I believe this was mentioned in terms of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA).  However, My education comes from a few web sites, which says a lot about me.... ;-)  Any case, do you have any information on this?

[Paxiled]

Eating too much cheese can raise cholesterol.  It can also present problems in people sensitive to dairy, although cheese goes down better than milk.  On the other hand, the French eat a lot of cheese and don't get high cholesterol from it, but they eat a better all around diet than Americans.  The best thing is to not worry about those numbers, the most important thing is not having the LDL oxidize.  It's only when it oxidizes that it sticks to the arteries and becomes dangerous.  So what you want to do is eat a lot of organic vegetables every day to get those antioxidants, and eat plenty of the right kind of fats.  Since your HDL is pretty good, you're probably already doing that.  And exercise is important, bodies are made to move and we're very sedentary now in our daily lives.  

[SassyLassie]

Your numbers are just perfect. In my opinion, they want cholesterol to be too low and too low can be just as dangerous as too high. Cholersterol is the base for all hormones and so many other good things.

So, be happy, the numbers are great, the HDL is stellar and the LDL is just fine. Keep up the good work.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

Being "very active" is very subjective.  At age 41 I was "very active" until my heart attack. Then  I was told I wasn't active enough.  Kind of funny though, my cholesterol was perfect when in the hospital recovering and that's when I was told I wasn't active enough.

Your numbers in mg/dl are great!  If I were picky about them I'd suggest getting the over all cholesterol number down 10 and/or raise your HLD 10+.  Exorcising does this, just being "active" isn't always enough, sometimes you need the right activities.  Somebody here would have to tell you about the cheeses.

  I hang out in the heart forum and know people there can answer better than I can, I just appeared in this forum the other day to ask a question so I haven't a clue what anyone knows here.  No offense intended toward anyone here...