What Is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a substance the body needs to make cell membranes and hormones. While your liver can make all of the cholesterol your body needs to function, you also get it from some of the foods you eat, including animal products such as meat and dairy.
How Does Cholesterol Affect Your Heart?
When you have too much “bad” cholesterol in your body, it can start to pose a problem. It contributes to fatty deposits in the arteries called plaque, which can cause heart disease. When that plaque builds up, it makes it harder for blood to flow, and these deposits can eventually break and form a clot that leads to a heart attack, explains Dr. Andrus.
What Is a Healthy Cholesterol Level?
Cholesterol is broken down into two types:
low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol, which can build up and block arterieshigh-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol, which helps remove other forms of cholesterol from the bloodstream
Your total cholesterol number is formed by adding your HDL and LDL numbers together and falls into one of three categories:
Healthy: Less than 200 milligrams/deciliter (mg/dL)Borderline high: 200–239 mg/dLHigh: 240 mg/dL and up
How to Lower Your Risk of Heart Attack
High cholesterol is one of several risk factors for heart disease and heart attack, as are being overweight, smoking, and having high blood pressure or diabetes, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The good news? Many other risk factors are within your control. Follow these steps to help lower your cholesterol and, in turn, reduce your risk of heart attack.
Eat a heart-healthy diet. “A healthy diet is first and foremost,” says Andrus. “One that is rich in vegetables and fruits, legumes, whole grains, and nuts. It can also include fish as well as lean meat and poultry.”Get regular exercise. Both the AHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of high-intensity aerobic activity each week to maintain good health. Moderate-intensity exercise includes walking briskly, whereas high-intensity activity would include running.Maintain a healthy weight. “If you’re overweight, losing that weight is important,” says Andrus. The good news is that the combination of a healthy diet and exercise can go a long way toward this goal. A study published in March 2019 in the journal Obesity found that people who successfully maintained a weight loss of 30 pounds or more for over a year were able to do so by exercising, as opposed to modifying only what they ate.Be proactive to manage stress. “Make an appraisal of what’s causing your stress, and try to address the underlying cause when possible,” Andrus suggests. For example, if you’re in a job that doesn’t match your interests and personality, you could work with a career coach. Of course, some sources of stress can’t be fixed, but they can feel easier to manage through exercise, meditation, counseling, or reduced caffeine and alcohol intake, he adds.Quit smoking. If you smoke, quitting is one of the best ways to lower your heart attack risk. “Mostly, quitting smoking is helpful because smoking is damaging to the lining of the blood vessels,” Andrus explains. “And smoking makes blood more prone to clot. So quitting smoking helps prevent a clot [that could otherwise lead to a heart attack].”Limit alcohol intake. Drinking too much alcohol can raise your triglycerides, a fat found in blood. Combined with high LDL, it can increase your risk for heart attack, according to the AHA. Moderate alcohol consumption is considered one drink per day for women and one or two drinks per day for men.Take cholesterol medications as prescribed. “Medications can be helpful in situations where lifestyle measures like diet and exercise aren’t enough [to control your cholesterol],” Andrus says. There are many types of cholesterol medications, and taking one doesn’t mean you’ve “failed” at managing your cholesterol. “Sometimes people look at it as lifestyle habits versus medication, but I don’t see it that way,” Andrus adds. “I think people will get the best results if they’re doing both.”Treat other health conditions. Some other health conditions, such as diabetes, can increase your risk of heart attack as well. Chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or inflammatory bowel disease can also damage blood vessels, says Andrus. Following proper treatment can help lower your risk of heart attack and improve your overall health.
Of course, even if you diligently follow a heart-healthy lifestyle, it’s still possible to have a heart attack. Some risk factors — like your age and family history — are not in your control. “If someone takes good care of themselves and has a heart attack at 80, it’s just the accumulation over 80 years,” Andrus says. “So it’s your risk factors along with how long you’ve had them.” Taking steps to stay as healthy as you can is still the best way to lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart attack, no matter how old you are.
