A waxy substance found in the lipids in your blood is known as cholesterol. Though body needs certain amount of cholesterol for building healthy cells, excess of cholesterol can be dangerous and can lead to heart disease. High cholesterol level leads to fatty deposits in blood vessels which eventually make hindrance to the flow of blood through arteries. Your heart may not be able to get enough oxygen rich blood needed for proper functioning. This can lead to heart problems. Decreased blood flow can also lead to stroke. Most often high cholesterol level in blood can be inherited. It can also be as a result of unhealthy life styles without proper dieting and exercising.
Causes for high cholesterol level
Cholesterol travels through blood attaching them to proteins. This combination is called lipoprotein. There are different types of cholesterol. They are low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein.
LDL cholesterol: LDL or bad cholesterol carries cholesterol particles and builds up plaques in the artery walls making it hard and narrow.
HDL cholesterol: HDL or good cholesterol takes excess cholesterol and brings it back to your liver. Factors like low activity level, obesity, unhealthy diet etc. keeps the HDL cholesterol to lower levels. And contribute to the increase in LDL cholesterol and Risk factors
There are some important factors which contribute for the increase in cholesterol levels. Some of them are discussed below.
Poor diet: Saturated fats found in animal products and Trans fats found in cookies and crackers will rise your cholesterol level. Similarly foods like red meat, dairy products etc are also capable of increasing your cholesterol level.
Obesity: People with an obesity index greater than 30 are at a greater risk of high cholesterol
Larger waist: A man who has his waist circumference greater that 40 inches and a woman with a waist circumference more than 35 inches are prone to the ill effects of high cholesterol.
Lack of exercises: A person who regularly engages in physical activities like running, jogging etc or a person who regularly goes to gym or do exercises regularly are likely to have control over the good cholesterol resulting in its increased availability. Similarly exercises also increase the thickness of bad cholesterol particles which is very good and less harmful.
Smoking: Regular smoking of cigarettes can result in the damages of your blood vessels making them capable of accumulating fatty deposits. Smoking reduces level of good cholesterol.
Diabetes: High level of sugar in blood can increase in LDL cholesterol and decrease in HDL cholesterol. High blood sugar can also cause damages to your arteries linings.
