How to Figure Out Your Cholesterol

Figuring out your cholesterol status is not always easy. While obesity puts you at risk for high cholesterol, you can have low cholesterol even if overweight, and those within their normal weight range can have high cholesterol. High cholesterol has no symptoms; you can feel perfectly healthy and still have high cholesterol.

Instructions

Figuring out Your Cholesterol

• 1

  Know the facts. It's important to know the difference between LDL, HDL and triglycerides. HDL is known as the "good" cholesterol," and it removes LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, from your bloodstream and the walls of your arteries where it accumulates in plaque. You can increase your HDL by exercise, eating right and making healthy lifestyle decisions. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. A lipid profile that measures your cholesterol levels also measures your triglycerides. Triglycerides above 150 is considered a borderline-high result.

• 2

  Get a lipid profile blood test. The lipid profile measures the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood. According to MayoClinic.com, a desirable level for your total cholesterol is below 200. A result of 200 to 239 is considered borderline, while anything above 240 is considered high and risky.

• 3

  Take a look at the foods you eat. If you eat foods high in cholesterol such as red meat and full-fat dairy products, you will probably have a high cholesterol level. Also, eating a lot of trans fats, found in cookies and cakes and margarine, for example, can also increase your cholesterol. The best diet is one rich in fruits and vegetables, heart-healthy fish and fiber, and these foods can actually help lower your cholesterol.

• 4

  Review your lifestyle choices. If you're a smoker, you may have high cholesterol. According to the American Heart Association, smoking lowers "good" HDL and raises "bad" LDL cholesterol levels. Also, frequent exercise -- at least three days a week -- helps lower your cholesterol.

• 5

  Analyze your family history. High cholesterol often runs in families. In these cases, lifestyle changes are seldom enough to lower cholesterol. If your parents and grandparents have high cholesterol, you probably do, too. Talk to your doctor about medications that may help you lower high cholesterol.