Cholesterol 101: What Really Causes Your Levels to Go Up and Which Myths You Should Stop Believing
Written by: Sydney Koth
Research Provided by: Bryan Sullivan
As we approach the holiday season, and our diets become overloaded with sweet treats and rich dinners, many people find themselves with questions regarding their cholesterol levels and how to keep them within a healthy range.
So, this blog post will be dedicated to debunking a couple of widely-believed myths about cholesterol so we can all feel like we have a better grasp on the situation.
But first...
Here’s a brief overview of what exactly cholesterol is and how it affects the body:
Cholesterol is a type of fat that exists as a waxy substance in our blood. When your cholesterol levels rise—usually because of a poor diet and/or lack of exercise, but your genetics can play a part in causing you to have high cholesterol, too—it can clog up your arteries, which leads to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, and many other dangerous consequences.
The basic medical guidelines for keeping your cholesterol low are: eat a generally healthy diet, smoke and drink with moderation, and exercise most days of the week for at least 30 minutes. Of course, all of this is easier said than done. And that’s where Velocity Health comes in, providing you with your own personal team of doctors and accountability coaches to guide you on your health journey. But we’ll talk more about that later.
For now, let’s debunk those cholesterol myths.
“If I feel fine and I’m thin/fit, my cholesterol levels must be fine, too”
If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, high cholesterol has no symptoms of its own, and many adults with high cholesterol report feeling perfectly healthy.
Even if someone is not overweight, they still may have cholesterol issues as a result of their genetics or some hidden metabolism disruption.
The only way to know for sure what your cholesterol levels are is to get a blood test.
“If I have high HDL, that means I’m safe, no matter what my LDL numbers are.”
There are two types of cholesterol: HDL and LDL.
HDL (or high-density lipoprotein) is widely-considered to be the “good” type of cholesterol because it carries LDL (the bad type) away from your arteries and back to your liver, where it is broken down so that it can leave your body. Many people assume that if their HDL is high, they are protected from experiencing the health concerns normally associated with high cholesterol (which, more accurately, is really just high LDL).
But this is not necessarily the case. New studies show that simply raising your HDL numbers do not reliably reduce heart attacks or mortality, and it won’t guarantee your safety if your LDL (specifically, particles containing a protein called Apolipoprotein B or “ApoB”) is high as well. In fact, extremely high levels of HDL have even been shown to increase your health risks.
It is more important to focus on lowering your LDL than raising your HDL.
The Velocity perspective
If you’re concerned about your cholesterol levels, or if all of this myth-busting has simply made you curious to have your cholesterol tested, Velocity Health is here to help.
We administer extensive blood panel tests that reveal the precise makeup of the cholesterol types and lipids in your body. And once your test results come in, our team of world-class physicians and health specialists will get to work crafting a personalized health plan for you, to ensure that your health risks are completely reduced and that you can enjoy the holidays with peace of mind.
Click here to learn more about Velocity Health’s biomarker tests.
