How to determine your cholesterol levels
- By:groshan fabiola
It is very important the any person, especially the older ones know what their cholesterol levels are. To find out your cholesterol level, you simply must visit your doctor.
If you find yourself at the doctor, in order to check your blood cholesterol levels, this is what is going to happen. A sample of your blood will be taken to determine the total cholesterol levels in your blood. I say total, because you have two different types of cholesterol: good and bad. The HDL cholesterol is the good one and LDL cholesterol is the one that can get you into trouble. Before taking this cholesterol test, no special measures must be taken by you. You do not have to fast in order to take the cholesterol test. After your cholesterol levels have been found, the are some things to do depending on the result of the cholesterol test. There things that must be done are only for people that do not suffer from heart problems. So after discovering the cholesterol test results, this is what you must do:
- if the cholesterol level that you have is less than the 200mg/ Dl number and the "good " cholesterol levels are 40 or higher this means that you are in a good condition when cholesterol is concerned; the cholesterol test must then be taken after five years. Meanwhile, to maintain the good cholesterol levels that you have, there are some things you must do: eat saturated fat as little as possible and cholesterol as well, exercise a lot and try to keep a healthy weight; If you do this, then the good cholesterol test results will appear when taking the test for cholesterol after five years;
- if the total cholesterol level is little than 200, but the HDL cholesterol is less than 40 mg/ Dl, then you have a problem; you will then need another test to find out what the LDL cholesterol levels are as well; this cholesterol test requires that you fast about twelve hours before taking the LDL cholesterol test; only water, tea or coffee are allowed before taking the test for cholesterol;
- between 200 and 240 mg/ dl total cholesterol and higher than 40 when HDL cholesterol is concerned means that your doctor must also look into risk factors for heart conditions; eat foods that have low saturated fat levels in order to improve your cholesterol condition;
- if the total cholesterol number is above 240 mg/ dl, the HDL level of cholesterol does not matter anymore, because you certainly have a cholesterol problem;About the author:
For greater resources on cholesterol please review http://www.cholesterol-info-guide.com/high-cholesterol.htm or http://www.cholesterol-info-guide.com/low-cholesterol-diet.htm