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Can Cholesterol Affect Metabolism?

Cholesterol does not directly raise or lower your metabolism, but an unhealthy total cholesterol level and low metabolism can be related. Changing your diet alone is not enough to improve your cholesterol levels.

  1. Metabolic Syndrome

    • Metabolic syndrome involves a combination of factors that double your risk of heart disease. High triglyceride levels, low HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and obesity are conditions that, together, make up metabolic syndrome.

    "Good" Cholesterol

    • Cutting back on dietary fat and cholesterol lowers your total cholesterol, but it also lowers the "good" cholesterol (HDL), which is not good news. Exercise is the best way to raise your HDL. The more you exercise, the higher your metabolism will be.

    Crash Diets

    • When you're crash dieting, you are depriving yourself of vitamins and nutrients (such as vitamin C), which are essential for keeping your HDL levels elevated. Crash diets also slow your metabolism and kick-start your body into survival or storage mode.

    "Bad" Cholesterol

    • Increasing your metabolism through steady exercise and a diet low in fat and cholesterol can help promote weight loss and the lowering of your "bad" cholesterol (LDL). Staying at a healthy weight is a better way to keep your LDL down than using medications.

    Metabolic Stress Test

    • A metabolic stress test, which you can request from your doctor, will help you determine your maximum workload. This will help you find where your optimum fat-burning zone is and aid you in losing weight more effectively and keeping your HDL levels elevated.

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