Are you aware of the symptoms of high cholesterol? It’s caused by saturated fats. The taste of gooey, melted saturated fat is so delicious. It’s been scientifically proven though to not only make food more palatable but also highly addictive!
The problem is that there is a direct correlation between people who eat high-fat processed diets and being diagnosed with high cholesterol. This makes you a strong candidate for heart attacks, strokes, and other lifestyle diseases.
When you suffer from these attacks, it means that saturated fat has turned into a blob of fatty substances in your blood – the dreaded cholesterol. It can be hereditary, or caused by an unhealthy diet.
Inherited high cholesterol starts early and is known as familial hypercholesterolaemia. More young children are being diagnosed with high cholesterol because of the family diet with old family recipes, just like grandma used to make it. Blood tests should be taken from the age of 9 and every 5 years after that, especially when a child is overweight.
Besides fatty foods, medical experts list insufficient exercise, smoking, downing alcohol, living on stress, and being overweight as the main culprits.
What Exactly is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a type of lipid. It’s a waxy, fat-like substance naturally produced by the liver. It’s vital for forming cell membranes, certain hormones, and vitamin D.
Cholesterol doesn’t dissolve in water, so it travels through your blood. To help transport cholesterol, your liver produces lipoproteins. These are particles made from fat and protein. They carry cholesterol and triglycerides, another type of lipid, through your bloodstream. The two significant forms of lipoprotein are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
LDL cholesterol is any cholesterol carried by low-density lipoproteins. You may be diagnosed with high cholesterol if your blood contains too much LDL cholesterol.
High cholesterol is insidious; meaning you don’t know it’s there until you’re diagnosed. That is when you get the symptoms of killer diseases that result from plaque build-up in the arteries and blood vessels. These diseases include high blood pressure, circulatory conditions, stroke, and angina – chest pain due to coronary artery disease (heart disease) and heart attack.
According to WebMD.com, the following are indicators that you should be tested for high cholesterol:
- Dizziness,
- Slurred speech,
- You’re unsteady on your feet,
- Pain in your lower limbs,
- Chronic kidney disease and diabetes,
- Having an HIV-positive status,
- Having thyroid diseases,
- Having inflammatory diseases such as Lupus, and
- Having PCOS.
When it comes to obesity, visceral fat around the belly means possible high levels of cholesterol. This is especially true if your waist measurements are 88.9cm or more for women or 114.3 cm or more for men. Losing10 -20% of your body fat can drastically reduce cholesterol readings.
Male impotence may be a result of too many fatty deposits in the blood that is blocking the arteries.
One of the few outward signs is xanthomas. These are yellowish pimple-like growths or lesions, which may be an indicator of high cholesterol. They typically form near the eyes.
Testing for Cholesterol
Going for a blood test, called a lipid panel, is vital, as it determines the amount of cholesterol in your blood. Even thin, active people can have high cholesterol, and it is best to start testing from age 20.
Males should test annually until the age of 45, and females until the age of 55. After that, you should test every two years.
You’ll be tested for three main levels: Bad cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and good cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides. Combined readings from these test numbers form your “lipid profile”.
All tests must be done by registered medical practitioners.
Lifestyle Causes Of High Cholesterol
Besides genetics and hereditary patterns of high cholesterol, lifestyle plays a crucial role in you ending up with a high cholesterol risk profile and living on chronic medication.
Lifestyle patterns that raise cholesterol are:
- Living with high levels of stress leads to hormonal changes, with high levels of cortisol flooding your body. In turn, these hormones lead to fatty deposits forming. Implementing lifestyle changes such as meditation, journaling and stress management helps.
- Quit smoking or vaping, as these lower your HDL levels and raise your LDL levels. Smoking is linked to diseases such as high blood pressure, heart conditions and diabetes. Non-smokers should avoid secondary smoke, while everyone should limit alcohol intake, which raises total cholesterol levels.
- A diet high in saturated and trans fats such as fast foods, fried foods, cookies, margarine, microwave popcorn and other processed or pre-packaged desserts. Animal-based products such as beef, pork, lamb, and dairy products also contain bad fats. It is best to change your diet to a whole food diet with limited salt, fat, and sugar.
- Sedentary lifestyle – regular physical exercises such as aerobic exercise, walking, swimming, and resistance training all help produce sufficient good cholesterol that controls overall levels.
