Understanding the Two Main Types of Cholesterol

“Good” and “bad” cholesterol are terms you may hear when your doctor goes over your lipid profile results (cholesterol blood test) at your annual physical exam. But what does that mean?

Your doctor explains they want you to get your cholesterol to less than 200 to lower your risk of heart disease. But how do these good and bad numbers fit in? 

Medical director Dr. Michele Reed and our team of health specialists at MS Family Medicine Health Care in Mineola and Rosedale, New York, focus on wellness and preventive care, helping you get and stay healthy to prevent or delay disease. Education is an important part of our preventive plan, helping our patients understand the why behind our recommendations. 

In this month’s blog, we talk about the two main types of cholesterol so you can understand why cholesterol is good and bad and how to improve both.

Cholesterol basics

Cholesterol is a fat made by your liver and used by every cell in your body. It’s also needed to make vitamin D, various hormones, and bile — a substance that helps digest fat.

Your liver makes all the cholesterol your body needs to perform these functions. Some people make more cholesterol than they need because of genetics, poor nutrition, or lack of exercise. 

Excess cholesterol in your blood may combine with other substances and create plaque, a sticky substance that adheres to the blood vessel wall. Over time, plaque buildup narrows or blocks blood flow through your arteries, leading to health conditions like coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD). 

Too much cholesterol in your blood is a risk factor for health problems, but not all types of cholesterol are bad for your health.

Two main types of cholesterol

Cholesterol must attach itself to a protein in order to travel through your blood. Cholesterol is categorized into types based on the protein it needs for transportation. 

The two main types of cholesterol include high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

HDL

HDL is the good cholesterol, transporting fat back to your liver, where it’s processed and eliminated from your body.

LDL

LDL carries cholesterol throughout your body, where it’s used to make cell membranes, vitamins, and hormones. LDL cholesterol makes plaque and is the bad cholesterol. Too much LDL in your blood increases your risk of CAD and PAD. 

You naturally have higher levels of LDL than HDL in your blood. When evaluating lab results, we look at total cholesterol as well as LDL and HDL numbers to assess your health risks. We want lower amounts of LDL (less than 100) and higher amounts of HDL (60 or higher) but total cholesterol no greater than 200.

Improving cholesterol numbers

Whether your high cholesterol is from genetics or lifestyle, making changes to a few health habits can improve your numbers. 

To change the balance of good and bad cholesterol and lower your total, we recommend:

• Eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
• Adding foods rich in soluble fiber like oatmeal, barley, and peas
• Choosing more lean proteins like fish, poultry, and legumes
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Being more active
• Not smoking

All these lifestyle changes improve your total and lower your LDL numbers, while more exercise and not smoking increases your HDL numbers.

If lifestyle changes aren’t enough to improve your cholesterol levels, we may recommend cholesterol-lowering medication. However, the medications only work when combined with lifestyle changes.

Understanding how these two main types of cholesterol affect your health may motivate you to improve them, benefiting your health now and later. 

Are you concerned about your cholesterol numbers? Do you want to learn how to improve them? Call our office today or request an appointment online anytime so we can provide the support and guidance you need.