A lot of people do not really understand the causes of high cholesterol. Most people go through life not really caring much about getting enough exercise and eating a balanced diet. The fast food culture does not help either. Because fast foods are readily available and we do not have to go through the trouble of preparing our own food, most of us succumb to the temptation of living on fast foods almost everyday. According to experts, the habit of eating fast foods can have a lot of negative effects on the body. Fast foods are not only one of the leading causes of high cholesterol, they also cause a lot of other diseases that can be fatal to people from all walks of life. If you are one of those people who do not really understand the causes of high cholesterol, here are five things that you should look out for if you want to keep your cholesterol level normal.

What You Eat

One of the leading causes of high cholesterol is poor diet. Too much saturated fat can definitely send your cholesterol level up the chart. Port, beef, veal, eggs, milk cheese and butter are packed saturated fats that can elevate the level of your cholesterol. Coconut oil, vegetable shortening, palm oil, cocoa butter and those delicious snacks of cookies chips, cakes and crackers are also rich in saturated fats that causes high cholesterol level. No, you do not really have to give up all these foods totally. Just make sure that you eat them in moderation to avoid the accumulation of the bad fats.

Your Weight

Being overweight is one of the primary causes of high cholesterol. If you are tipping the bathroom scale too much, consider going on a diet and doing plenty of exercise to bring your weight down. Now, don’t make excuses that you do not have time to go to the gym and exercise. You do not really have to go to the gym to exercise. You can always walk and climb stairs when going to work. According to experts, climbing stairs everyday burns plenty of calories so you stay healthier. What is more interesting about walking and climbing stairs is that you do not have to spend money to do these activities.

Your Family History

According to experts, some people are naturally predisposed to high cholesterol. If you mother or father is suffering from symptoms of high cholesterol, you better watch out. You too can suffer the same fate.

Cholesterol gets so much bad press that it’s hard to believe that your body actually needs it. There are two kinds of cholesterol in your body, good cholesterol also known as HDL cholesterol, and bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol. Cholesterol in your body is necessary to make hormones, vitamin D and bile salts.

The bad cholesterol on the other hand can cause you lots of problems. The main worry with LDL cholesterol is that it will dump cholesterol onto artery walls that will create plaque. The plague in turn will narrow and block the arteries. This may cause blood flow to be blocked, which is bad news for your heart.

What Raises Cholesterol?

There are a lot of confusing terms being thrown around when it comes to cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol is one of those terms. You might think that all dietary cholesterol is bad, but in fact dietary cholesterol does not raise blood cholesterol as much as you might think. The two bad guys here are trans fatty acids and saturated fats.

So when you think about cholesterol problems what you want to do is reduce your levels of bad cholesterol. The best way to do this is through dietary changes. Besides cutting down on foods with bad cholesterol such as meat, dairy, eggs and seafood, you can also eat other foods that will reduce LDL levels.

Trans fatty acids are found in a lot of packaged food. Microwave popcorn, hard stick margarine and some French fries from certain fast food chains are all culprits. By eliminating these foods or finding better substitutes you can cut down your consumption of trans fatty acids that will all contribute to the level of bad cholesterol in your system.

Upping Good Fats

You can increase the amount of good cholesterol in your body while reducing the bad cholesterol. This is because the presence of good cholesterol in your body means that excess cholesterol will be taken back to the liver to be excreted out of your body. This means you want plenty of good cholesterol as high levels of good cholesterol means a reduced risk of heart disease.

Lifestyle changes such as eating foods rich in soluble fiber and monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats will help to increase good cholesterol levels. You can also increase the amount of physical activity in your daily life to decrease cholesterol levels. Limiting alcohol intake to one glass a day for women and two a day for men is also a good idea.

Pfizer introduced Sertraline hydrochloride, more commonly known commercially as Zoloft, in 1991. Although Zoloft is most commonly prescribed for people suffering from clinical depression, it has several other applications, including the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders, social anxiety disorders and panic attacks in adults and children. By 2007, it had become the most prescribed antidepressant in the United States.

Zoloft is considered to be one of the most effective antidepressants on the market, offering relief with side effects that are much less severe than those of its peers. Compelling research suggests that it works better than even Prozac, its closest competitor. The side effects of Zoloft may include nausea, insomnia, diarrhea and certain sexual side effects. On the plus side, Zoloft will not cause weight gain in patients and has only very mild effects on cognition.

A Lesser-Known Side Effect

While the well-known side effects of Zoloft are relatively mild compared to the usefulness of the drug, there is one other side effect that has begun to get widespread exposure. Recently, Zoloft has been found to be the cause of high cholesterol. Zoloft and its competitors make a habit of spelling out the most noticeable side effects in explicit details, but they have neglected to mention a side effect that many people won’t notice immediately. Indeed, the only people who will notice Zoloft’s effect on their cholesterol are the ones to whom it matters most.

Cholesterol is important to the body because it is responsible for the maintenance of cell walls. Other research suggests that cholesterol may well function as an antioxidant. Despite its importance to the human body, cholesterol can have very damaging effects if it is consumed irresponsibly.

High cholesterol has been linked with a likelihood of cardiovascular disease, which makes the connections between Zoloft and high cholesterol that much more disconcerting. Cardiovascular disease is often acknowledged as the cause of heart attacks, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. All of these things are extremely dangerous and in some cases life-threatening. If you or your family has a tendency towards heart disease, you owe it to yourself to avoid Zoloft and high cholesterol.

Zoloft and high cholesterol is a combination that people should avoid at all costs. The risks and harmful effects that high cholesterol represents are well documented, but Zoloft’s role in this trend is fairly new. You owe it to yourself – and your friends – to spread the word about Zoloft and high cholesterol. It could save a life.

I just wrote a review of one of my favourite cholesterol formulas named Hypercret.  I was going to post the review here at cholesterol tips, but thought I would post it on a Squidoo lens and see how it goes.  Please visit my lens at Hypercret Review for the full story.  Below is the fist Paragraph.

Many people today struggle with keeping their cholesterol within the normal range. It seems that even younger generations than before are having to face high cholesterol problems. So, you may wonder if there is a method of effecting normal levels and keeping them that way…

Read the full review here at Hypercet Cholesterol Formula.

First, you need to start with a balanced diet. A diet high in soluble fiver, and leafy green fruits and vegetables is key. Adding freshly ground flax seeds, salmon or salmon oil capsules, and products like Benefiber might help. Soluble fiber gets in the blood stream and absorbs the HDL cholesterol. Insoluble fiber, such as psyllium husk, roughage, and high fiber foods absorbed fat and cholesterol in the intestines, stomach, and colon so that less is absorbed or reabsorbed by the body in the first place.

Second, you need to eat a good diet low in saturated fats and high in omega threes.  Also by switching out your fat sources from refined vegetable oils to uncooked and minimally processed extra virgin oils such as olive oil, grape seed oil, coconut oil, and nut oils can reduce the high density fat that your body absorbs. The more low density fat compared to high density fat going into the body, the better. Making sure that most of the fat in your diet comes from fresh foods such as avocadoes, raw nuts, and sources rich in omega 3 fatty acids goes a long way.

Thirdly, you also need to drink plenty of water and steer clear of dairy, high acid (citrus juices, soda pop) and caffeinated beverages which can prevent the fiber in your diet form absorbing excess cholesterol. Instead drink fresh squeezed lemon water, herbal tea, and coffee replacement drinks which can help keep more body balanced and hydrated.

Next, be sure to get plenty of exercise and sunshine. Both work in adding the body to convert cholesterol into less harmful substances and turn them into useful substances. To be truly healthy a person should try to get at least 30 minutes of unprotected sunshine every day, preferably during the late morning and early afternoon when you will still get the most benefits and do the least amount of sun damage. Don’t bother with sunscreen; you will just block the suns rays from doing their job. Exercise helps buy stimulating your cells to use fats, sugars, and cholesterol as fuel sources. The more burned by the cells, the less there is to go around in the body. So aim for 30 to 45 minutes per day at a minimum.

Finally, you need to take Hypercet Cholesterol Formula. This contains four powerful ingredients that work together to support and maintain the systems responsible for cholesterol production and regulation. The synergistic blend includes: Calcium, Magnesium, Beta 1, 3d glucans, and Chromium that help keep cholesterol within normal range.

 Cholesterol is produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder to be released for the aid in digesting and absorbing nutrients from the foods we eat. Without it there, or if we block it from being reabsorbed through prescription drugs, we actually rob our bodies of the vital nutrients we need to survive! The body makes most cholesterol from processed and refined foods, mostly refined vegetable oils, refined sugars, and refined and processed flours.  The less of these in the body, the fewer sources it has to make fat and cholesterol.

The liver produces bile to digest our foods. This bile is then reabsorbed by our intestines and colon as fat, or cholesterol and redistributed for other purposes within the body. On a daily basis this can amount to 20-25% production in the liver. Their liver produces about 1g daily and their diet can supply 200mg or more. For a 150 pound person (68kg) their body contains about 35g. Of this around 97% is reabsorbed and recycled.

Our cell membranes rely on cholesterol to build and maintain themselves. It keeps the membrane flexible and permeable. It also acts as a conductor for fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K. It is actually what your body uses along with sunshine to produce vitamin D. Good cholesterol also acts as an antioxidant in the body, sweeping away debris. (In the process it does become bad cholesterol, good reason to stay on a healthy and chemical free diet.)

Cholesterol is also important for the production of all the body’s hormones, nerve cell membranes and signals, for protecting the cell walls of plasma from harmful substances, and for chemical messages send along the bodies systems. The brain itself is the fattest part of most people bodies, being made mostly of cholesterol and fats.

The side effects of high cholesterol, or bad cholesterol can be life threatening. It’s not just the idea of the extra fat globule swimming around the body in the blood stream. As a natural process of the repairing of the body and tissues cholesterol is needed to help make repairs. A simple tear in on of our blood vessels and along with fibrin cells and cholesterol comes to the rescue to help plug up the hole.

Too much cholesterol in the body, or too much of the “bad” low density lipoprotein (LDL) and a person will form a clot in any narrow passage way or simple tear in their blood vessels. And with today’s high fat, highly processed diet, along with more and more people living a sedentary lifestyle, the more people are finding that they to have dangerous levels of cholesterol.

  “Good” High density lipoprotein (HDL) counteracts the LDL.

The answer is a product called Hypercet Cholesterol Formula. This natural based formula along with dietary changes and more aerobic exercise and you too can avoid the complications of taking highly toxic prescription drugs for a cholesterol problem.

All people have cholesterol. Surprised? A majority of people don’t realize, or never were told that, the body manufactures cholesterol. You heard right. Your liver takes the foods you eat and turns it into cholesterol.  This is normal, and healthy. For some reason, either through genetics, obesity, or a poor diet, some people have cholesterol levels in dangerous, almost deadly ranges. They may produce more that their body can rid itself of, or their diet and nutrient intake is not where it should be.

All the low fat, no fat, low carb, no carb dieting in the world will not prevent this. Cholesterol is a naturally made element in all living mammals and is required for normal cell function. Without it your brain, nerves, cells, and muscles would die. It serves as a carrying agent for nerve messages in the body and it is necessary to make hormones, including those that control the blood sugar and metabolism.  The problem occurs when a persons body cannot rid itself of or produces too much of the substance.

If you have high cholesterol then there are many things you can do to lower it.  There are many different medications designed for lowering your cholesterol and there are many things that you can do on your own to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

It is common for doctors to prescribe medications to patients with dangerously high cholesterol levels.  These medications include statins, ezetimibe, bile acid sequestrants, and niacin.  Statins are very effective in reducing cholesterol because they work inside the liver by interrupting the formulation of cholesterol from the circulating blood.  Ezetimibe is known to lower LDL cholesterol and is a relatively newer drug on the market.  This drug works inside of the digestive tract reducing the absorption of cholesterol.  Some doctors prescribe this drug and a statin to work collectively.  Bile acid sequestrants are known to be effective in lowering LDL.  These drugs may be effective alone or when used with statins also.  Types of bile acid sequestrants include Questran, Colestid, and Welchol.  There are side effects to sequestrants that include bloating and gas, abdominal pain, and constipation.

More on Cholesterol Help and Tips

The fried foods and meals thick with saturated fat content are just some of the things that can send cholesterol levels skyrocketing. In order to maintain your health, it is suggested to request a cholesterol test on your next visit to the doctor. While there are several different blood tests that measure the various types of cholesterol in the body, a total test roughly indicates all of the cholesterol and triglycerides found in your blood. Before you investigate the meaning of the test and possible results, it is best to gain a basic understanding of the substance you are testing in the first place.

More on Cholesterol Test

I know you probably shutter when you hear the word ‘cholesterol’ even mentioned at the doctor’s office, but keep in mind that there are two different types to consider. While you hear so much about the "bad" cholesterol that attacks the body – LDL – the importance of "good" HDL cholesterol is often overlooked. Don’t make the mistake of grouping both types of cholesterol as bad, as this can influence your chances of reaching the HDL levels that you need in order to stay healthy.

When taking a look at good cholesterol, you probably didn’t know that about ¼ to 1/3 of blood cholesterol is transported throughout the body by high-density lipoprotein (better known as HDL). The reason why HDL is referred to as the "good" type of cholesterol is because when you are able to achieve high levels of HDL, you help protect the heart against attack.

Doctors believe that HDL possess a knack for carrying cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it later passes out of the body. Also, HDL is thought to work on eliminating extra cholesterol hanging around your arteries, which eventually slows down the buildup of the plaque that leads to heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

If you go to the doctor and they request you undergo a cholesterol test for HDL levels, you can learn your  risk for heart disease. Most likely, you will also be tested for total cholesterol levels, LDL, and triglycerides, which makes up a lipid profile.

An HDL cholesterol test checks out the beneficial class of lipoproteins that carries cholesterol in the blood. Since you are testing levels found in the blood, a sample of blood is taken from the vein to measure the amount of HDL it contains. At times, it is not uncommon to check for HDL levels by using a drop of blood collected during a finger prick or insignificant puncture of the skin. If you’ve ever been at a health fair, you might have noticed the fingerstick testing done to measure HDL levels when a portable testing machine is involved.

Once you get the results of your cholesterol test, always keep in mind that the higher your HDL levels – the better. For starters, low levels of HDL (less than 40 mg/dL) show an increased risk for heart disease. It is much better when you are told that your levels have measured greater than 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L). The best levels come when tests reveal HDL levels at 60 mg/dL (1.55 mmol/L) or more, which means your chances of heart disease, are less than the average person.

Let’s say you have been diagnosed with low levels of HDL and wish to increase your chances of combating heart disease and other life-threatening conditions. There are a lot of lifestyle changes to consider when prescription drugs are not an option. Usually, doctors do not administer medication based upon HDL levels. Some of the ways I feel are most beneficial when it comes to increasing HDL levels include:

·    Stop Smoking: If you use tobacco products, I suggest you make a fresh start without the daily cigarette or puff of the pipe. Smoking is known to decrease HDL levels, so if you smoke – quitting not only helps increase HDL, but also improves your overall health.

·    Weight Loss: Did you know that for every two pounds of extra weight that you shed, your HDL levels stand to increase by .35 mg/dL?

·    Exercise: Get your blood pumping and your body in motion if you want to increase your HDL levels. Exercising also helps you to maintain a healthy weight, which boosts HDL levels since extra pounds tend to affect desirable results. I suggest getting on that treadmill for 30 to 60 minutes, taking a fast-paced walk around the block, jumping on your bike, or swimming at the local YMCA.

·    The Alcohol Debate: While enjoying one to two alcoholic drinks per day has been cited as a way for increasing HDL levels, you probably won’t find many doctors promoting this as the new approach towards maintaining cholesterol levels.

·    Limit Fats: When choosing the foods that make up your diet, limit your fat intake (processed foods, baked goods, margarine, and fried foods) when eating and cooking. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is highly discouraged. I recommend sticking with monounsaturated fats like peanut, olive, and canola oils.

Rest assured – after you have increased your weekly exercise; improved your dietary choices; cut out bad habits (like smoking and excessive drinking); and shed a couple of pounds – you will start to see positive changes in your HDL cholesterol levels.