High Density Lipoprotein is a substance that carries cholesterol particles from your artery walls back through the bloodstream and into the liver where some of it is metabolized and some excreted from your body in the form of bile salts. Statistics show that when the ratio is favorable, your risk of heart problems is minimized, so it makes sense to learn how to increase HDL, and keep the HDL LDL ratio as good as possible.
The ratio is determined by taking your LDL, (low-density cholesterol) number, and dividing it by your HDL (high-density cholesterol) number. The result is what doctors use to determine your risk of cardiovascular disease.
The higher the HDL, the lower the risk. Lets look at some numbers to give you an idea of how this works.
For example:
* Total cholesterol is: 200
* HDL is: 50
* LDL is: 150
The ratio would be: 3 This would be considered a good ratio, indicating the person would have a lower than average risk of heart disease.
Over time, what was considered to be good or safe levels of cholesterol have been adjusted downward, in part due to the push to get more people on cholesterol lowering medications. Foods to raise HDL have not been emphasized for this reason. The current medical model for prevention of cardiovascular disease focuses on drug therapy. This is why you must learn how to increase HDL and get the optimal HDL LDL ratio to prevent heart disease.
High-density lipoproteins have recently been found to have potent antioxidant activity, and this may well be the reason for its “protective” role in regards to vascular disease. See the notation below:
Vohl MC, Neville TA, Kumarathasan R, Braschi S, Sparks DL: A novel lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase antioxidant activity prevents the formation of oxidized lipids during lipoprotein oxidation. Biochemistry; 1999 May 11;38(19):5976-81
Several things that are known to raise HDL levels.
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