Chapter 2 - Cholesterol, Facts and FictionWant More Diabetes Info? Search HERE
cholesterol below 180, it adds as much risk to your life as raising it an increment above 200. Your heart is certainly important for staying alive, true, but it’s only one of many essential body organs we have to consider that are also required for maintaining life! “Good” Cholesterol and “Bad” cholesterol: Although there are other forms of cholesterol, the two that we’re most concerned with in this discussion are low density lipoproteins (LDLs) and high density lipoproteins ( HDLs). The LDLs are considered the “bad” ones. The HDLs are considered the “good’ ones. But healthy concentrations of cholesterol involve more than mere counts. Ratios are just as important, if not more so. When we go to the doctor’s office or the lab to have blood work done so that we can see what our cholesterol levels might be, we have to look at the total cholesterol number, the HDL number and the LDL number. Then we need to do a little math. Divide your total cholesterol count by your HDL count. Ideally, the number should be 4 or less. Next divide your LDL count by your HDL count. The ideal number should be 3 or less for maximum health. Write these ratios down so that you can remember them and keep an on-going record of them. Many report cholesterol levels becoming more ideal, without drugs, when they follow the dietary suggestions in this book. J. For instance, discovered on her initial work-up at her doctor’s office that her cholesterol was well over 700, certainly high by anyone’s standard. The doctor put her on a special diet specifically designed to lower cholesterol and he prescribed two cholesterol lowering medications. Although the strategy did lower it, it was certainly inadequate. It only brought it down to the upper 400’s. She decided to go to another doctor. Further testing showed that in addition to the high cholesterol, she also had an elevated blood sugar level. Her new doctor took her off of all of her cholesterol lowering medications and recommended a diet similar to the one suggested in this book - very low carbohydrate with adequate protein and fat. Her next appointment showed that her cholesterol level had
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