Cholesterol: What is it and what should your level be?

It can be so confusing especially when you hear about ‘good and bad cholesterol’ and then ‘total’ cholesterol – what is the difference? Isn’t it all the same?

Cholesterol is a waxy substance which is found naturally in our blood – in fact it is made by our liver but we also receive a small amount from the food we eat. Without cholesterol our bodies could not perform a number of important body processes like making hormones and vitamin D. Having a low level of cholesterol our blood is natural and healthy but having a high cholesterol level can be dangerous. ‘Bad’ cholesterol gets stuck to the walls of blood vessels, making them harder and narrower so less blood can flow through and around the body. Eventually this spells big trouble for your heart, often leading to heart attack and stroke. ‘Good’ cholesterol on the other hand, takes cholesterol from body tissues back to the liver for re-processing and elimination.

To help keep your heart healthy it is important to keep your ‘bad’ cholesterol low (known as ‘LDL cholesterol’) and your ‘good’ cholesterol high (known as ‘HDL cholesterol’).