« Remove Plaque from Arteries Now By Raising HDL | Main | Low Serum Cholesterol Levels Are Dangerous to Your Health »
May 30, 2005
Lower Your Heart Disease Risk by Raising Good Cholesterol
What traditional cholesterol measure, if any, is important to monitor for heart health? The answer is HDL, the so-called "good" cholesterol. HDL is the single most important cholesterol factor in determining your risk of developing heart disease. Don’t worry about lowering your total cholesterol level or your LDL level, just raise your HDL cholesterol.
The Framingham study shows that high levels of HDL are directly related to lower risk of heart disease. In fact, it showed that increased HDL could reduce coronary disease independent of LDL cholesterol. This is the real eye-opener: If your HDL is above 85, you are at no greater risk of heart disease if your total cholesterol is 350 than if it’s 150.
High HDLs trump other cholesterol concerns. Why isn’t this simple and powerful advice getting through? For one reason, there is no drug to boost HDL. What’s the best way to increase HDL cholesterol? Exercise. (You can learn how to raise you HDL cholesterol in with exercise in Chapter 7, Build a Strong Heart: Get More with Less.)
To read more about this topic order Al Sears MD’s The Doctor’s Heart Cure today.
Posted by james at May 30, 2005 5:50 AM