How cholesterol affects heart health

The primary source of dietary cholesterol is foods of animal origin, with eggs, red meats, dairy products and prawns very high in cholesterol.

The main concern is that regardless of the dietary intake of cholesterol, the human body continues to produce cholesterol every day. The body is in a position to try to balance the cholesterol it manufactures with what it takes in by means of food, tending to produce less and to eliminate more in response to a high cholesterol diet.

In most cases, healthy people are able to maintain a fairly constant level of cholesterol in the bloodstream, although this level may go up as a person advances in age.  A diet high in polyunsaturated fats is normally associated with lower levels of blood cholesterol, whereas a diet high in saturated fats tends to increase the amount of blood cholesterol.

Saturated fats are the main culprit – they are far more potent in raising the blood cholesterol level than a diet rich in cholesterol itself, for instance, eggs. A diet high in saturated fats also causes the body to retain cholesterol taken in the diet. On a diet low in saturated fats, dietary cholesterol has little effect.

Cholesterol appears in the fat deposits that form in the linings of the arteries, causing these arteries to become less elastic. This process is known as atherosclerosis and takes place gradually in any artery of the body. When these fatty deposits become heavy and irregular it is known as plaques. These plaques can restrict or even stop the flow of blood through the arteries or can cause rough spots that may break loose and form a site for blood clots. When this occurs in one of the major arteries of the heart, it causes a coronary.

It must, however, be stressed that diet is not alone in creating a high risk of heart disease. A person’s heredity, physical activity, smoking habits, body weight, blood pressure and even a person’s personality may all play a part.

There are two types of cholesterol-carrying lipoproteins who may either protect the body against or promote heart disease. Both of these lipoproteins contain cholesterol but the ‘protective’ higher density ones (HDL) are found in greater amounts in people who are lean, who exercise, drink moderately and who do not smoke,  while the ‘promoting’ lower density ones (LDL) are more prevalent in obese people, sedentary people and people who eat too much fat.

In high risk people the majority of them have blood cholesterol levels that put them at risk of heart attack. A change towards a lower-fat, lower-cholesterol diet is a must. Those with additional risk factors such as a family history of heart disease, overweight, high blood pressure, smoking or diabetes should cut down on fats and cholesterol even further.

It is a proven fact that lowering blood cholesterol will lower the risk of coronary heart disease.

Daniel