Wade T. Smith, APRN, FNP-BC, explains why a total cholesterol number on its own says little, and walks through the parts of a cholesterol panel that do: LDL, HDL and triglycerides. He covers what raises triglycerides, what a high triglyceride and low HDL pattern can point to, and the natural options available alongside medication.
Video Transcript
Most people think cholesterol is bad. It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s important for it to be in the proper balance. Total cholesterol by itself doesn’t give me much information, but there are four components to the total cholesterol that do give me the information.
The LDL is the low-density lipoprotein. Think of it as many little work trucks in the arteries. Too many cause blockages. And the way we can avoid that is we have the HDL. Think of that as the cleanup crew. That takes the bad cholesterol and takes it back to the liver, where it’s stored.
Triglycerides are produced as a result of consuming excess calories that are then changed into fat. This is basically done by refined carbohydrates, excess sugar and alcohol. When I see the triglycerides are high, along with the HDL being low, I begin to think about insulin resistance, which means diabetes can be around the corner.
Medication many times is offered as a solution for this, but there are many natural ways of dealing with high cholesterol today. If you have a problem with your cholesterol or you haven’t had it checked in a while, come see me. We can take a look at it together and decide on the best plan of action.
