A quick guide to Cholesterol

You must have heard a lot about cholesterol, especially through advertisements. Certain oil brands claims that they will decrease cholesterol, and you will become healthy with them. A complete BS

Seriously, I didn’t know much about cholesterol until I researched about it, and with research, I have found that it’s something we all have, and it’s right there in our blood.

In this blog, I will try to explain what is cholesterol, what are its types, how it increases and how to control it (immediately). As you have reached here, you have to read this.

What is Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that helps the body make cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D & many other metabolic processes. It is carried around in the blood by little couriers called Lipoprotein.

This fatty substance is produced by the liver & also found in various food items (which I will mention later). So, as you read this fantastic blog, cholesterol is doing its job inside you.

It’s types

Before I explain its 2 types, I want to tell you that from this point on I will call Cholesterol as Mr C as it’s very tedious to write this typical name, and also I have to correct the spelling every time.

So Mr C has 2 types, Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) & High-density lipoprotein (HDL)

LDL is bad dude, when its levels are high it can clog up the arteries and that’s not a good thing.

HDL is a good dude, as it helps in removing excess Mr C out of our cells.

There are other Lipids (or fat) in our blood called Triglycerides (sound like a Pokémon), but we shall discuss them in another blog.

Normal Mr C should be below 200 mg/DL and anything above that can cause health issues. At first, high Mr C is unnoticeable & people may not realize it. But our body starts giving us some signals, and we should never ignore them.

Sudden loss of balance, dizziness, inability to move (especially one side of the body), confusion, slurring words, numbness in arms, legs, and pockets below the eyes are some signals that indicate high cholesterol.

What causes High Cholesterol

We, humans, have created many problems and high Mr C is one of them. Some of the causes are:

Genetics-Like if your daddy or daddy’s daddy has it, you can have it (thanks to them).

Age-Old age brings many problems, and this is one of them.

Medicines-Some medicines can cause high Mr C.

Obesity-Being fat and sassy was cool until high Mr C.

Inactivity- I told you multiple times to exercise, now see what you did. Inactivity can lead to an increase in LDL.

When you don’t get enough exercise, your body doesn’t produce enough HDL cholesterol & can’t keep up with removing deposits of bad cholesterol from your vascular system. 

Mr C

Smoking-Smoking has some other benefits as well check out here Benefits of Smoking

Diet- As mentioned above our body produces enough Mr C, so we don’t need to eat food that contains Cholesterol. The bad thing is, all the tasty food contains Cholesterol and the only person getting a benefit out of it is the seller.

What can high cholesterol do?

The list is long so you better take a screenshot of something.

High levels of Mr C if not treated on time can develop plaque over arteries. Over time, this can limit the flow of blood in the arteries.

High Mr C can cause Heart attack, stroke, kidney diseases, liver failure, hypertension, Increase in gallstones, chest pain etc.

Simple ways to control it

You have just read how Mr C increases. Now you have to do the complete opposite to decrease it.

Which is to be active, a daily 30 mins workout is sufficient. However, if you need a certain physique, you need to give more efforts. Decide whatever you want to do, just stay consistent

Eat a healthy balanced diet. Right now, I am eating the best diet I can possibly have. This diet is balanced and calculated, and I should thank my coach for it.

Quit smoking, smoking is injurious to health. You can read this on the packet as well along with a terrifying cancerous pic. If you want to see me become the best Health & wellness blogger, then quit smoking.

Go for a regular check-up. The best way to counter anything is to know about it in advance. After reading this mesmerizing blog, get your blood tested. It will tell you a lot about your body. You can then take the necessary step.

That’s it for this blog. I was expecting it to be less wordy, but well when I am in good mood I just keep writing. My first idea was to make this blog a serious one. But, while researching for this blog I read 20+ blogs and all were serious. Then I thought to write it in my style.

Drop comments below if you leant something new, even if you didn’t then let me know how to improve it.

Until next time, keep smiling.

63 responses to “A quick guide to Cholesterol”

  1. Cholesterol runs in my family so I find this post super helpful. I would like to avoid it if I can lol. If I’m not wrong vegans have less of a chance of having high cholesterol so I’m happy about that.

  2. Devang, I’m glad you wrote this “in your style”! Definitely helps to liven up what could otherwise be a dry read. Love your little cartoons and graphics you throw it too!

    I’m trying to focus on being overall healthy without beating myself up when I’m not. Happily, my efforts paid off, as my latest Mr. C blood test showed the bad ones were lower than 2 years ago, so yay!

    Good on you for bringing these healthy topics to our attention!

  3. This is a really helpful post, Devang. I do know about cholesterol because high LDLs run in our family. This is purely genetic. It’s a condition called Hypercholesterolaemia (rather a long word). Because of this, I have to take a medication called a statin. This has helped bring my LDL levels down quite a lot. Unfortunately, and very sadly, my dear Mum had this condition and refused any medication. She suddenly had a stroke, which is why she died. If she had taken the drug, she may still be alive now, although she would be in her nineties. I am vegan, so I don’t have many cholesterol-containing foods. I’m hoping this will go some way to helping I don’t have a stroke or heart attack in the future. Thank you for all the additional information, too. I love your graphics, by the way. They make everything so clear and understandable. Have a good day, my friend.

  4. Nice and easy to understand.
    Diabetic type 2, eat little meat, plenty of veg and fresh fruit, quit smoking 32 years ago, don’t drink, and was walking the dog (german shepherd) at least three times a day. Ill health (arthritis and mobility issues) have taken a toll over the past few months, but I am gradually getting on top of it. My cholesterol has always been a little high, but I have refused statins because they could complicate other health issues I have. Generally though, apart from a few pounds overweight (due to lack of exercise, see above) I am in pretty good health for 67 and on post cancer meds until 2029. I do try to eat sensibly, though confess to having a sweet tooth, so have to be careful with cakes and confectionery. Cakes I usually make so know exactly what goes in them!

    • I feel you are doing a great job
      by not smoking, going for walks

      Keep doing them.

      Maybe try Yoga, dance or any other activity that you can enjoy.

      Eating occasional cakes is not bad at all, as they are homemade.

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