What is Cholesterol?

• Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in blood and in all your body's cells. It is normal to have cholesterol, in fact your body needs cholesterol to work properly.
• Some people have too much cholesterol in their blood ( see What is a Healthy Blood Cholesterol Level? ).
• High blood cholesterol can cause fatty deposits to build up inside your blood vessels, which can block normal blood flow and cause a heart attack (blocked blood vessels to the heart) or stroke (blocked blood vessels to the brain).

Most of the cholesterol in your blood is made in your liver. The rest is affected by other factors, such as the type of food that you eat. For example, the amount of cholesterol in your blood is influenced by the total amount of fat and the kind of fat in your diet.

Types of Cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol: low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL).

• LDL cholesterol is known as "bad" cholesterol because it can cause the build up of fat deposits in your blood vessels, which can block normal blood flow. This may cause a heart attack or stroke. You want to have a low level of LDL cholesterol in your blood.
• HDL cholesterol is often called "good" cholesterol because it helps carry the bad cholesterol away from your blood vessels. HDL cholesterol helps protect against heart disease and it is good to have a high level in your blood.

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What is a Healthy Blood Cholesterol Level?

Your doctor can order a blood test to check your total cholesterol, as well as your HDL and LDL cholesterol levels.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada provides the following recommendations for people over the age of 30:

• Desirable Total Blood Cholesterol level: less than 5.2 mmol/L
• Desirable "Good" HDL Cholesterol level: greater than 1.0 mmol/L
• Desirable "Bad" LDL Cholesterol level: less than 3.5 mmol/L

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Benefits of Lowering Your Blood Cholesterol

Research shows that every 1% drop in blood cholesterol reduces the risk of heart disease by 2%.

If you have high blood cholesterol, you may not have any obvious symptoms and it may not make you feel sick. However, if it is not treated, the excess cholesterol in your blood could clog up your blood vessels, which puts you at greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

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What is the Difference Between Cholesterol in Food and Blood Cholesterol?

Cholesterol in food is called dietary cholesterol. Cholesterol is found in foods from animals, such as meat, poultry, fish, egg yolks and milk products. Plant foods like cereals, grains, vegetables and fruit do not contain any cholesterol.

Contrary to popular belief, cholesterol in food has little effect on blood cholesterol for most people. The fat that you eat can have a much greater influence on your cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is mainly caused by eating a diet that is high in total fat, especially some types of saturated fat and trans fat.

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Ways to Lower Your Blood Cholesterol

Many people can lower their blood cholesterol by making changes to their diet and by altering some lifestyle habits.

Enjoy a variety of foods from each of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating - emphasize cereals, breads, other grain products, vegetables and fruit.

Here are some specific actions that you can take to help control your blood cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease.

Eat more fibre.

The Daily Value for fibre for Canadians is 25 grams per day. Psyllium fibre has been shown to be particularly effective in helping to lower blood cholesterol. To increase your fibre intake:

• Add cereal with psyllium fibre to your diet every day. Learn about
  Easy Ways to Add Cereal with Psyllium Fibre to Your Diet.
• Start the day with a breakfast that includes a high fibre cereal.
• Choose whole grain foods like bran cereals, whole wheat bread, brown rice and barley.
• Eat more vegetables and fruit.
• Choose whole vegetables and fruit instead of juice.
• Snack on raw vegetables, fruit and bran muffins.
• Try meatless meals that include legumes like chick peas, kidney beans and lentils.

Eat less fat, especially saturated fat and trans fat.

Health Canada recommends that no more than 30 percent of your total calories should come from fat. To reduce the fat in your diet:

• Choose lean meats, trim visible fat from meat and remove the skin from poultry.
• Limit portions of meat, poultry and fish to 50-100 grams, or about the size of a deck of cards.
• Choose low fat or skim milk dairy products.
• Use spreads like butter, margarine and mayonnaise sparingly.
• Choose vegetable oils (like canola, olive and sunflower oil) whenever possible instead of lard or shortening, but use in small amounts.
• Cook with little or no fat, and use low fat cooking methods (like broiling, baking, steaming and microwaving).
• Limit the amount of fried foods, such as French fries, deep-fried fish or poultry that you eat.
• Ask for dressing and gravy on the side, so you can control the amount you eat.
• Limit your intake of fried snack foods and high fat baked goods, such as croissants, donuts and pastries.
• Check the Nutrition Facts panel on food label and chose foods with the lowest combined amount of saturated fat and trans fat.

Try foods with soy.

Replace some of the animal protein in your diet with foods that contain soy protein. To add soy to your diet:

• Eat soy cereal for breakfast or for a snack.
• Pour soymilk on cereal and use it in cooking or to make smoothies.
• Experiment with recipes that include tofu.
• Try soy-based veggie burgers and soy deli meats.

Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.

Be active and exercise regularly.

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† Based on results of a meta-analysis in J Nutr.1997 Oct;127(10):1973-80. Individual results may vary. Talk to your doctor about cholesterol lowering therapy.