I am sure you have heard of both good and bad cholesterol... but I am guessing you don't know whether HDL is the good cholesterol or LDL is the good cholesterol, do you? Or vice versa... which one is the bad cholesterol?
The way I remember it is LDL starts with L... and L is for "lousy"... so obviously LDL would be the bad cholesterol.
HDL starts with H... and H is for "healthy"... so HDL is the good cholesterol.
Ok, now that you know which is the good cholesterol... and which is the bad cholesterol, here are some other facts you should know about cholesterol...
You might be wondering why your "total cholesterol" is not the same number as when you add up your LDL (lowsy cholesterol) and your HDL (healthy cholesterol) together.
To get the total cholesterol, they do add the HDL cholesterol and the LDL cholesterol together... however, they also add 1/5th of your triglycerides as well.
So, for instance, if your HDL is 80... and your LDL is 90... and your triglycerides are 100, your total cholesterol would be 190 (80 %2B 90 %2B 20)... or HDL %2B LDL %2B 1/5th of 100.
Now you may think that having a cholesterol score of 190 is good... since it is under 200. However, in rare instances, 190 may not be a healthy cholesterol score.
You need to take into consideration all of the parts.
For instance, research shows the optimal LDL should be below 100... and anything above an LDL score of 160 is considered too high.
And in the case of HDL, anything under 40 is considered bad.
Triglycerides should be less than 150.
So if your cholesterol score is under 200, you may not want to jump for joy until you make sure your LDL is below 100... your HDL is above 40... and your triglycerides are less than 150.
If they are, then by all means... jump for joy!
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Good Cholesterol Versus Bad Cholesterol - Is HDL Good Or LDL Good?
