Heart Health and Healthy Cholesterol Levels
We have all heard about cholesterol and know that it is an important factor in staying healthy. In the past 10 years, studies have shown that high cholesterol levels can cause many heart problems. You may not know that not all cholesterol needs to be low. In addition to the “bad” cholesterol that can stick to the walls of the arteries and cause plaque to develop, there is also “good” cholesterol. Many people are using supplements for a healthy heart to try to prevent so many causes of heart disease.
The good cholesterol helps the body to rid itself of these deposits by helping to eliminate them through the liver. This type is called HDL cholesterol, and instead of bringing this number down, you should be striving to keep this count high. A good HDL cholesterol number is one that is above 60. Anything lower than 40 is considered poor, and should be a cause for concern. For more information, click here.
If you are concerned about your HDL cholesterol, the next logical question would be how to raise that number higher. Natural cholesterol lowering supplements can assist, as can a healthy diet. You’ll find lots of tips for lowering the “bad” or LDL cholesterol number, but you’ll have a harder time finding out how you can raise your HDL cholesterol levels. Part of the reason for this is that we probably don’t have as much control over this number. For example, women tend to have higher HDL cholesterol levels prior to the menopausal years, primarily due to the hormones in her system. Some times, when you’re dealing with your HDL cholesterol number, you have the levels you have. Not only that, but studies have shown that certain methods can actually help to raise the numbers.