Did you know that around 25 million American adults have cholesterol levels that are considered high?
Not many people know the shocking truth about cholesterol, or even what their cholesterol numbers are.
In this blog, I’ll talk about cholesterol and how it really affects your health, so that you can decide for yourself whether cholesterol medications are the right choice for you.
We’ll also cover five powerful ways that you can use to measure your cholesterol so you can see it from a different perspective you won’t get from other doctors.
But let’s start from the beginning, because this is a sticky subject and I want to unclog it for you.
The Difference between LDL and HDL Cholesterol
Cholesterol gets a bad rap. With everyone demonizing LDL and praising HDL, there’s a stigma that needs to be cleared up.
First, let’s give LDL cholesterol a little bit of credit.
The truth is, your body makes cholesterol. It’s not going to make a substance that’s inherently bad for you.
Your liver makes cholesterol in response to what your body needs.
You also get cholesterol through what you eat, which is why lifestyle choices are important.
Before you start worrying about your cholesterol levels and medications, you have to understand how your body uses cholesterol.
The two different types of cholesterol can be compared to dump trucks on their way to work on roads, which represent your blood vessels.
LDL is carrying everything that it needs to repair the blood vessels.
If you eat too much sugar, it causes oxidative stress, which damages the inside of your blood vessels.
The body then sends cholesterol, which is a waxy substance that your body needs to repair tissue, make hormones, and synthesize vitamin D.
These processes are essential for your body to function properly.
When you damage the inside of your blood vessels, your body has to send the LDL dump truck to try and repair it with a waxy layer.
This is so that your blood cells can continue to drive on the road.
This is where HDL comes in: it waits to clean up the garbage and hauls it away.
HDL is praised as good cholesterol because it’s getting rid of the damage.
However, you need both of these cholesterol types because they work together.
If you have enough HDL, it doesn’t matter how much LDL you have. You just have to have the right amounts of each.
How Cholesterol Drugs Rose to Power
Drugs have been traditionally used to treat high cholesterol, but what counts as high cholesterol has changed over the years.
Cholesterol levels back in the 1980s were considered normal at cumulative levels of 230. A very high range would’ve been 300.
We now have tightened it up, and in 2011, the consensus on where your total cholesterol numbers need to be was brought down to 180.
These days I see patients having totals under 150, but at those levels, you’re putting yourself at risk for dementia.
This is because your brain is made up of 60% fat, which is cholesterol.
Studies have even shown that cholesterol-lowering medications are linked to dementia.
So why do these cholesterol numbers keep going down?
The changes made from the 1980s to 2011 meant that 30 million more Americans could be diagnosed with high cholesterol.
If your LDL and your triglycerides are in a good range, you don’t have much to worry about, and therefore probably don’t need to use medications.
However, when a company can grab 30 million more customers by giving them a diagnosis, then they’re going to push the board that oversees those guidelines to make changes that benefit the pharmaceutical company.
The more patients there are to be treated, then the more profit the company makes.
Five Things To Know So You Can Lower Your Cholesterol
Let’s talk about what you can do to lower your cholesterol and the five facets of cholesterol that can empower you to take control of your overall health.
HDL Level to Overall Cholesterol Ratio
The first thing you need to pay attention to is the ratio of your HDL level to your total cholesterol.
Whether your total cholesterol is 150, 200, or 300 doesn’t really matter. What matters is the ratio.
If your cholesterol is made up of a bunch of HDL, you’re good.
If 24% of your entire cholesterol is made up of HDL, studies have shown you’re in a good range.
But if it goes below that, you won’t have enough HDL to clean up all the damage that the LDL cholesterol causes.
Triglyceride to HDL Ratio
Your triglyceride to HDL ratio is another important ratio to watch. The triglyceride level measures the amount of fat floating around in your blood.
For instance, if the number of triglycerides you have in your blood was 100, then that would be a little high.
But if we say your HDL is 50, then you now have a 2:1 ratio of triglycerides to HDL, which would mean that you’re good. Remember that HDL is the cleanup dump truck.
But what happens when you don’t have enough HDL?
Keep in mind that sugar is usually the biggest culprit in your diet because it’s being converted into triglycerides by the liver.
The way you lower your triglycerides is by eating more omega-3s and other healthy fats in order to raise your HDL levels.
My book will show you how to lower your triglycerides and raise your HDL.
LDL Particle Size
The third aspect of your cholesterol to watch is the LDL particle size.
Having a level of 200 LDL would normally be unhealthy, but if you have bigger LDL particles, they’ll bounce off the sides of your blood vessels and will be unable to cause trouble that smaller particles would.
Small LDL particles in your system are where the danger really lies.
Those little ones are able to slide right through blood vessels, and cause damage.
If you have high LDL levels, take a look at the size of the LDL particles before you go and jump on a cholesterol-lowering medication, so that you can make a smart decision.
Fasting Insulin Levels
The fourth thing you need to look at is your fasting insulin level. If you eat a high amount of sugar in your diet, this may mean that you’re a sugar-burner.
Why does this matter?
When too much insulin and sugar get to the liver, it drives up the cholesterol being produced.
Lowering the sugar in your diet can radically improve your cholesterol and your blood pressure levels.
In order to do this, you have to change your system from being a sugar-burner to being a fat-burner.
You can achieve this by changing your lifestyle and diet.
Knowing your fasting insulin number is going to give you the power to know not only where your cholesterol stands, but where you stand with other diseases as well.
Fasting Blood Sugar Levels
The fifth aspect of cholesterol that you need to watch is your fasting blood sugar levels.
Ideally, you would want to see this in the normal range below 100, and I would even challenge you to get it below 79.
The less sugar that’s in your system, the less inflamed you are, and the less damage you’ll cause to your blood vessels.
This will ensure that you have fewer problems with your liver and less cholesterol floating around in your body.
This will help lower the level of triglycerides that are going to cause damage as well.
Your Next Move
So where do you go from here?
Start by measuring your blood glucose. Keeping it low is the challenge to controlling your cholesterol and could also allow you to pursue drug-free alternatives.
I would also advise you to adopt an antioxidant-rich, anti-inflammatory lifestyle.
You can grab my book to understand how you can lower these levels. It’ll show you ways to decrease your sugar intake and change other aspects of your lifestyle that are causing your cholesterol to rise.
If you’re already on a cholesterol medication, I’m not telling you to stop taking it.
What I’m saying is that your cholesterol level isn’t the only aspect of your health that you need to focus on.
If you want to learn more about your cholesterol and health, then feel free to check out my other videos, articles, and even recipes.
They’re exactly what you need to make your next move on your way to becoming healthier.
Be a part of the Dr. Livingood community as we all get healthy together on this journey to experience real health.
