• Cholesterol: Good vs. Bad

  • Mar 14 2025
  • Duración: 22 m
  • Podcast

Cholesterol: Good vs. Bad

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  •  You've gone to the doctor and had your cholesterol checked, but what do all those numbers mean? And is there anything you can do to lower your cholesterol without medications? I'm so glad you asked. I'm Dr.Vickie Petz Kasper. If you're ready to take control of your health, you're in the right  place. Whether you're focused on prevention or you're trying to manage a condition. I'll give you practical steps to start your own journey toward better health because healthy looks great on you. This is episode 1 64. Cholesterol, the Good versus the Bad. When I was about 26 years old, I had my cholesterol checked for the first time. Imagine my surprise when the number was 256. Yikes. Now admittedly, the hospital where I was doing my residency had a fast food restaurant conveniently located right there in the cafeteria and my go-to: hamburgers and french fries. But also I have a strong family history of significantly elevated cholesterol. The doctor said I could lower it some and I should diet and exercise and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But guess what? I eventually lowered my cholesterol to 156 without medication, and I'm going to tell you how you can do it too. But first, let's start at the beginning and go to mini medical school and learn exactly what is cholesterol. Technically we call it a lipid, which is sort of like a fat that circulates in your bloodstream. Structurally, these compounds make up parts of cell membranes and functionally they help regulate the transport across these membranes, so that's good. Right? Well, yes, we do need cholesterol to help move and store energy, produce hormones, and absorb vitamins. But you know, too much of a good thing. We'll get to that. Lipids don't dissolve in water, so they have to hitch a ride on proteins to travel through the blood, and when they get hitched, they change their name to lipoproteins. Now this is gonna sound familiar if you've ever had a lipid panel drawn. HDL stands for high density lipoproteins and LDL stands for low density lipoproteins. Where does it come from? Well, your body actually makes it in both the liver and small intestines. Then it's stored in the liver where it's converted to bile acids, so you can get rid of it. Is it bad or good? Well, that depends. HDL cholesterol reduces inflammation, prevents blood clots, and helps transport oxygen. And your body makes all of it that you need all of it. But here's the deal. Not only does your body make cholesterol, but we also eat it. Most of the cholesterol in the standard American diet comes from meat, eggs, cheese, and dairy products. Oh, well, who can afford eggs anyway? But seriously, cholesterol is sneaky. Rather than announcing its presence, it just slips through your blood vessels undetected, but it leaves a calling card and we call it plaque. This buildup in the wall of the arteries can lead to hardening of the arteries and therefore cardiovascular disease. Think about it. If a plaque gets big enough, it can compromise blood flow and cause a heart attack or stroke. And this can also happen with smaller plaques when a piece breaks off. I told you cholesterol is sneaky. Most people who have high cholesterol have no symptoms. We call it hyperlipidemia, and that's why you need to know your numbers and you need to know what they mean. I guess all those burgers weren't helping me have healthy blood vessels when I was in my twenties. But that's not the whole story. We could go to mini medical school and learn the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol, or we could just call them good cop, bad cop. Because that kind of sums it up. The reason LDL cholesterol is the bad cop is because it causes a fatty buildup inside the arteries and that impairs blood flow and puts you at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke. You've seen those detective shows where they lock someone in an interrogation room and they just yell at 'em. No, it's not exactly the same, but I bet you'll remember now that LDL the bad cop cholesterol can make you have a heart attack. Now the good cop HDL cholesterol can actually lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. You know, it's the reassuring I'll be your friend cop. Picture the scene, bad cop is giving the suspect a really hard time and good cop comes in and sends the bad cop away. Stick with me here. HDL, good cholesterol carries at least a little bit of the LDL or bad cholesterol out of the arteries where it causes damage and into the liver where it can be broken down and eliminated. So speaking in very general terms, you want your HDL cholesterol to be high and your LDL cholesterol to be low. We'll get to specific numbers in a sec. I do want to mention triglycerides. They are not the same thing as cholesterol, but they hang out together because you know, birds of a feather... When you have a lipid panel done, they often measure the whole flock, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL, cholesterol and triglycerides. You've also ...
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