In the old-time cowboy Westerns, good guys wore white hats and bad guys wore black ones. If only things could be so simple in your bloodstream! You have “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol in there all wrangling and tangling over your cardiovascular health. But never fear, September is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Cholesterol Education Month, and we’re going to celebrate by setting it all straight—yes, the good, the bad, and the ugly. So pull a stool up to the campfire and give a listen…
At least a fourth of the cholesterol in your blood is the good stuff, high-density lipoprotein (HDL). What’s so good about it? Having high levels of HDL actually protects you from developing heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. Doctors believe it slows the buildup of plaque inside the arteries by carrying excess cholesterol to the liver, which filters it from the body.¹
The only way to check your cholesterol level is to have a blood test, which your doctor or Life Line Screening can provide. An HDL count of 40-50 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter) is average for a man, and 50-60 is average for a woman.
If you want to raise your HDL level, according to the American Heart Association:
- Avoid tobacco smoke.
- If you’re overweight, trim down.
- On more days than not, get 30 minutes to a full hour of physical activity. Aerobic exercise such as running, swimming, and cycling, is particularly helpful—workouts that raise your heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time.²
- Consume more monounsaturated fats. These include olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil.²
Also, keep your overall cholesterol levels under control by following a heart-healthy diet, including plenty of fiber from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, lean meats, and a diet that’s low in saturated fat and trans fat. For help in identifying food that contain trans fats, check ingredients labels for “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.” Cranberry juice as well as the omega-3 fatty acids that you get from fish will also boost your HDL levels, heart experts say.¹ and ²
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Learn more about cholesterol screening
SCHEDULE A SCREENING
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