How To increase HDL?

How To increase HDL?

To increase HDL and Lowering your Cholesterol you need to

1-Building a Cholesterol-Lowering Diet that increase HDLs

Eating a lot of foods high in dietary cholesterol increases the amount of cholesterol in your blood and raises your risk of heart attack. So, controlling the cholesterol in your diet reduces the risk of two potential problems in your

arteries.

Cholesterol is a saturated fat found only in foods from animals: meat, dairy products, and eggs.

Dietary-cholesterol problem #1: cholesterol and perhaps homocysteine (an amino acid produced when you digest food — the jury is still out on this amino acid) can rough up the linings of your arteries, creating teensy little crags that snag cholesterol particles as they float by. The trapped cholesterol particles snag other debris floating through your blood, producing small piles of gunk (technical term: plaque) that narrow and may eventually block the artery, leading to the unpleasant event called a heart attack.

Dietary-cholesterol problem #2: Extra cholesterol in your diet may also increase the amount of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) in your blood. LDLs, also known as “bad” cholesterol, are the fat and protein particles that ferry cholesterol into your arteries, leading to problem #1.

Conclusion? Adding foods high in cholesterol can mess up any diet, which certainly explains why every description of a cholesterol-lowering diet calls the diet low cholesterol and controlled fat.

You keep the cholesterol low and you control the kinds of fat by following the 30-10-300 formula

• Less than 30 percent of your total calories each day from fat — predominantly unsaturated fats
• Less than 10 percent of your total calories each day from saturated fat
• Less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day, regardless of your calorie count

After you decide to control your cholesterol by controlling the amount of fat in your diet, the question is,

which foods work best and which foods aren’t that hot?

Grains: Grains have very small amounts of fat — just about 3 percent of their total weight — and most of the fats in grains are unsaturated. In addition, grains are filling, and they have dietary fiber. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDA/HHS) says that a healthy diet is based on grain foods. Who am I to argue?

Fruits and veggies: Fruits and vegetables have only traces of fat, and most of it is unsaturated. Your diet should have a lot of fruits and veggies. But you knew that, right?

Dairy products: Dairy products are a varied lot. For example, sweet cream is a high-fat food. Whole milks and whole-milk cheeses are moderately high in fat. Skim milk and skim-milk products are low-fat foods. And for the record, most of the fats in any dairy product are saturated, but milk products are your best source of calcium, so balance the fats and get your calcium by sticking to low- or no-fat dairy products — and don’t forget the yummy low- or no-fat frozen desserts.

Meat and poultry: Meat is moderately high in fat, and most of its fats are saturated. Some poultry — chicken and turkey — are relatively low in fat. Other poultry — duck and goose — have higher fat contents. You can lower the fat content of any poultry serving by removing the skin. I know; I know. That’s the good part! But your cholesterol levels will thank you.

Fish and shellfish: Fish and shellfish are special cases. Some fish, such as salmon and herring, are high in fat, but guess what? Those are the best fish from a cholesterol standpoint because their fats are rich in omega-3 fatty acids , polyunsaturated fatty acids credited with lowering your risk of heart disease.

Fats and oils: Vegetable oils, butter, and lard are high-fat foods, but their actual fat content varies from heart healthy to are-you-kidding-me!

Proteins: Protein is an essential nutrient — so important that its name comes from the Greek word proteios, which means “holding first place.” A protein molecule is a chain of other molecules called amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Amino acids are molecules made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, plus a nitrogen unit called an amino group. The amino group is essential for synthesizing (creating) specialized proteins, including the enzymes and hormones that make it possible for you to perform such basic functions as working your muscles and digesting food. So, when people talk about how much protein they need, what they really mean is how much nitrogen they need to synthesize specialized proteins.

Your body also uses proteins to build new cells and maintain tissues. Considering all that, you may be puzzled as to why it has taken me so long to get around to talking about protein. The reason is simple. Some protein foods are positively loaded with cholesterol and saturated fatty acids:

Animal protein: The only foods that add cholesterol to your diet are foods from animals — meat, poultry, fish, milk products, and eggs. Most of these foods are also high in saturated fatty acids. True, some animal foods have less cholesterol than others. True, some animal foods are lower in saturated fats. True, you can cut the fat and cholesterol content of animal foods by trimming visible fat. True, some animal foods are rich in special unsaturated fats called omega-3s that actually reduce everybody’s risk of heart disease. But generally, a diet designed to lower your cholesterol emphasizes foods from plants.

Omega-3

It’s clear that laboratory pigs and monkeys have cleaner arteries when their feed includes omega-3 fatty acids, and studies suggest human beings may also benefit. In the Diet and Reinfarction Trial (DART), a 2,033-man study run by the Medical Research Council Epidemiological Unit in Cardiff, Wales, in the late 1980s, men who ate two servings of fatty fish a week had a lower rate of heart attack than men who either cut their fat to no more than 30 percent of their total calories or increased their dietary fiber (from grains) to 16 grams a day. Yo, bring on the salmon!

But don’t forget the chocolate or at least the very special new chocolate form Canada. In the summer of 2007, Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited, a company that makes and distributes omega-3 food and dietary supplement ingredients, announced that the O Trois line of chocolate bars and “fingers” from Les Truffes au Chocolat, would hence forth contain omega-3 fatty acids. Who can ask for anything more?

Plant protein: Getting your protein from plant foods is a more complicated task than getting your protein from animal foods. Blame it on the amino acids (those “building blocks” of protein). Proteins from animals are labeled complete, meaning that they contain all the amino acids human beings need to thrive. Proteins from plant foods are often characterized as limited, meaning that they lack sufficient amounts of one amino acid or another. It takes a little work to mix and match plants to get the proper protein balance, but with no cholesterol and practically no saturated fatty acids, plant proteins are worth the effort, don’t ya think? At least once in a while.

2- Getting the healthful weight and HDLs

You don’t have to be enormously overweight to experience a connection between your higher weight and a higher risk of heart disease. Being as little as 20 percent over your suggested healthy weight — which I get to in a minute — raises your total cholesterol and your “bad” LDLs while lowering your “good” HDLs.

But don’t despair. Losing weight reverses the equation. Diet and exercise away those extra pounds, and your not-so-hot LDLs will start to fall while your hot-stuff HDLs begin to rise.

If you’re overweight, losing weight makes you look and feel better. It also lowers your total cholesterol and raises your HDLs.

Regular exercise is such an efficient weight loss technique that the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (the group of fine folks who treat weight disorders) considers a regular exercise plan the number one predictor for long term weight stability.

In other words, you can lose weight by cutting calories, but according to the bariatric docs, you’ll lose pounds faster and keep them off longer if you exercise.

Exercise can also change your body shape — and not just by making your muscles bulge. For example, exercise can transform a person’s “fruit” shape from the round-in-the middle “apple” shape known to carry a higher risk of heart attack to a slimmer, trimmer . . . banana? Carrot? No, wait. That’s a vegetable. Well, you get the idea.

3-Smoking and HDLs levels

The relationship between smoking and cholesterol is straightforward. Over time, lighting up and inhaling all those deep, “flavorful” breaths will

• Increase your total cholesterol levels.
• Decrease the level of your high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), the “good” cholesterol
• Hasten the buildup of cholesterol plaque on damaged blood-vessel walls.
• Constrict your blood vessels, increasing the risk that a passing clump of cholesterol may block blood flow.
• Increase the level of triglycerides in your blood, another risk factor for heart attacks .
• Double your risk of heart attack, regardless of your cholesterol level.

That last point deserves serious attention, Although many studies demonstrate a relationship between smoking and heart disease, many smokers are convinced that having a low cholesterol level reduces their risk of smoking-related heart disease. They’re wrong. Low cholesterol levels don’t protect smokers from heart disease. I can say this with impunity because I’ve read the results of the Korea Medical Insurance Company Study,( East Asia) the first effort to pin down a relationship between smoking, cholesterol levels, and the risk of heart attack

East Asia is a part of the world that’s best known for gorgeous scenery and scrumptious food. But it’s also known for having a large population of smokers and a rate of heart disease that’s now among the highest in the world. The confusing part of this equation has been that East Asians have a high risk of heart attack even though they generally have low cholesterol levels. A good guess to clear up this confusion may be that their love of smoking is an independent risk factor against which low cholesterol offers no protection.

Based on the number of men who were either hospitalized or died from heart attack or stroke during the study, the researchers found that smoking significantly increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. Even among men with very low cholesterol levels, smokers had a risk of heart attack and stroke that was 330 percent higher than that of nonsmokers. Conclusion? As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “This study demonstrates that . . . a low cholesterol level confers no protective benefit against smoking related atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.”

Translation: Low cholesterol levels provide no protection for smokers against heart disease caused by smoking.

4- Drinking and HDLs levels

The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) was designed to evaluate risk factors for heart disease in men and women 65 and older. Data from the 1,850-person study, which ran from 1989 to 1999, has served as a base for more than 400 research papers and 120 follow-up studies. In 2007, a team of researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston), the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Vermont (Burlington) and the University of Washington (Seattle) combed through the CHS’s data in search of medical gold. What they found was that men and women who consumed 7 to 13 drinks a week had the highest number of small LDLs, which have a higher chance of getting into the arteries, thus increasing their risk of blockage. Score another round for moderation — one to two drinks a day.

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LDL vs HDL

What is lipoproteins ?

A lipoprotein is born as a chylomicron, a particle that your intestinal cells assemble from the proteins and fats you eat. Chylomicrons are very, very low-density particles.

Why are some lipoproteins called low-density and others high-density?

• The term density refers to a lipoprotein’s weight.
• Protein weighs more than fat.
• Lipoproteins containing proportionately less protein than fat are low density lipoproteins, also known as LDLs. LDLs are the “bad” particles that carry cholesterol into your arteries.
• Lipoproteins containing proportionately more protein than fat are high density lipoproteins, also known as HDLs. HDLs are the “good” particles that ferry cholesterol out of your body.

Now, back to chylomicrons. These lipoproteins start out with very little proteinand a lot of light and fluffy fat and cholesterol. But as they flow through your bloodstream from your intestines on their way to your liver (your body’s lipoprotein factory), the chylomicrons release their fats, known astriglycerides, into your blood.

The stripped-down chylomicron, also known as a chylomicron remnant, still has its cholesterol and protein. Now, the remnant slides into your liver, and fat comes back into the picture

LDL vs HDL

When the chylomicron hits the liver, it picks up fat particles and mutates into the largest kind of lipoprotein, a fluffy particle called a very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL).

Then your liver sends the VLDL out into the wide world — your body.

As the VLDL travels far and wide, it drops globs of fat, picks up globs of cholesterol, and changes into a slightly smaller, heavier particle called an intermediate low-density lipoprotein (IDL), and then a slightly smaller, heavier low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

The last step in the transformation of the lipoprotein (the chylomicron) occurs when an LDL has dropped so much fat and cholesterol into body tissue that it’s mostly protein. Now, you’re looking at a high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

The primary proteins in VLDLs, IDLs, and LDLs belong to a class of apolipoproteins called apoB. The primary proteins in HDLs belong to a class of apolipoproteins called apoA. Other less prominent apolipoproteins found in lipoproteins are apoC and apoE.

You may have heard about a blood test for apoA; this test is interesting because a high level of apoA indicates a high level of protective HDLs (the “good” particles that haul cholesterol out of your body).

What is HDL?

HDLs truly deserve the name “good cholesterol.” These particles don’t carry cholesterol into your arteries for the simple reason that they’re so compact and dense that they can’t squeeze through the spaces in the walls of your arteries.

As a result, HDLs — and their cholesterol — travel away from your arteries and out of your body with the rest of your, um, solid waste.

What a neat set of facts to park in the back of your brain for the next time you’re at a party and someone asks you to explain the differences between VLDLs, IDLs, LDLs, and HDLs. “Well,” you can say, “it’s all a question of density, which, as you know, means. . . .” Don’t you just love being the smartest kid in class?

You can think of HDLs as scavenger molecules that remove cholesterol from the arteries. Having a lot of HDLs reduces your risk of heart attack regardless of your total cholesterol levels.

In fact, X-ray studies have shown that people who raise their HDLs by exercising, stopping smoking, or taking medication not only reduce the cholesterol in the arteries but also remove the plaque — thus opening the arteries.

Having read that paragraph carefully, you may assume that all LDLs are bad guys, right? Wrong.

What is LDL?

For years, everyone — that is, all the experts evaluating your cholesterol — conversely believed that a person with a lot of light and mushy LDLs (which can squeeze through your artery walls) inevitably had a higher risk of heart attack. The fact that some people with high levels of LDLs sailed happily into old age without experiencing heart problems was dismissed as plain good luck.

Maybe not, says a group of researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. In 2003, looking for clues to longevity, the team, which included members from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston University School of Medicine, and Roche Molecular Systems, ran various tests, including cholesterol tests, on 213 senior citizens, plus 216 of their children and grandchildren. For comparison, they ran the same tests on a control group of non-blood relatives, such as the children’s husbands and wives.

The tests showed something really surprising: The long-lived oldsters were three times more likely than other people to have a mutation in a gene that regulates cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), an enzyme that affects the size of lipoproteins. As a result, compared with other people, including those non-related husbands and wives, even the oldsters who had high levels of LDLs had relatively larger low-density lipoproteins. (Their HDLs were also relatively bigger.)

According to the Einstein team, led by Dr. Nir Barzilai, the level of LDLs doesn’t predict heart disease; it’s the size of the LDLs in the mix. In other words, having many small LDLs may raise the risk of heart attack even if your overall cholesterol level is low.

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triglycerides range (level)

What is Triglycerides (TGs) level (range) test is for?

Triglycerides (TGs) identify the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD). This test is part of a lipid profile that includes the measurement of cholesterol and lipoproteins. This test is also performed on patients with suspected fat metabolism disorders.

What is Triglycerides (TGs) test explanation?

Triglycerides (TGs) are a form of fat in the blood stream. They are transported by very-low density lipoproteins (VLDLs) and low density lipoproteins (LDLs). Triglycerides (TGs) are produced in the liver using glycerol and other fatty acids as building blocks. Triglycerides (TGs) act as a storage source for energy. When Triglycerides (TGs) levels in the blood are high, Triglycerides (TGs) are deposited in the fatty tissues. Triglycerides (TGs) constitute most of the fat in the body and are a part of a lipid profile that also evaluates cholesterol and lipoprotein. A lipid profile is performed to assess the risk of coronary and vascular disease

What are the Triglycerides (TGs) test interfering factors?

• · Ingestion of fatty meals may cause elevated Triglycerides (TGs) levels.
• · Ingestion of alcohol may cause elevated levels of Triglycerides (TGs) by increasing the production of VLDL.
• · Pregnancy may cause increased levels.

What are the drugs that may affect Triglycerides (TGs) test result?

• · Drugs that may cause increased TG levels include cholestyramine, estrogens, and oral contraceptives.
• · Drugs that may cause decreased levels include ascorbic acid, asparaginase, clofibrate, colestipol, fibrates, and statins.

What is Triglycerides (TGs) test result clinical significance ?

• · triglycerides level high

1. o Glycogen storage disease (von Gierke disease): VLDL (TG-carrying proteins) synthesis is increased, whereas catabolism is decreased. TG levels in the blood increase.
2. o Familial hypertriglyceridemia: This is a genetic predisposition to elevated TGs.
3. o Apoprotein C-II deficiency: This congenital disease is associated with lipoprotein lipase deficiency. TGs accumulate.
4. o Hyperlipidemias: As lipids in the blood increase, so does TG, the major blood lipid.
5. o Hypothyroidism: Catabolism of TG is diminished.
6. o High-carbohydrate diet: Excess carbohydrates are converted into TG and blood levels of TG rise.
7. o Poorly controlled diabetes: Diabetics have an increased synthesis of TG carrying VLDL and a decreased catabolism of the same. Therefore TG blood levels increase.
8. o Nephrotic syndrome: The loss of proteins diminishes the plasma oncotic pressures. This appears to stimulate hepatic lipoprotein synthesis of VLDL and LDL. Also, lipoprotein disposal is possibly diminished.
9. o Chronic renal failure: Insulin levels are high in these patients, because insulin is excreted by the kidney. Insulin increases lipogenesis and causes TG levels to increase. Also, these patients have a deficiency in lipoprotein lipase that clears the blood of TG.

• · triglycerides level low

1. o Malabsorption syndrome: These patients have a malabsorption of fat from the diet. As TG is the major component of dietary fat, TG levels can be expected to fall in light of poor gastrointestinal (GI) absorption.
2. o Abetalipoproteinemia: Not only do these patients have a malabsorption of fat, but they also have a defective synthesis of apoprotein B (TG-carrying lipoproteins). TG blood levels are low.
3. o Malnutrition: These patients have diminished fat in the diet. As TG is the major component of dietary fat, TG levels can be expected to fall.
4. o Hyperthyroidism: The catabolism of VLDL, the main TG-carrying lipoprotein, is increased. Therefore, TG blood levels diminish.

What is the normal result of Triglycerides (TGs) test ?

Adult/elderly

• · Male: 40-160 mg/dL or 0.45-1.81 mmol/L (SI units)   
• · Female: 35-135 mg/dL or 0.40-1.52 mmol/L (SI units)

mg/dL: A gram per liter or liter is a unit of measurement of mass concentration that shows how many grams of a certain substance are present in one liter of a usually liquid or gaseous mixture

mmol/L: Millimoles per liter, a unit of measure that shows the concentration of a substance in a specific amount of fluid. In most of the world, except for the United States, blood glucose test results are reported as mmol/L. In the United States, milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) is used

Children(yr)	Male(mg/dL)	Female(mg/dL)
0-5	30-86	32-99
6-11	31-108	35-114
12-15	36-138	41-138
16-19	40-163	40-128

What are the Triglycerides (TGs) test Critical Values?

The Critical Values of triglycerides level is >400 mg/dL

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What are triglycerides?

What are triglycerides?

Ninety-five percent of the fats in foods are triglycerides, compounds that contain one molecule of glycerin and three (tri) molecules of fatty acids. Triglycerides are also the most common fats in your body. You use them to

• Build adipose (fatty tissue)
• Build cholesterol
• Fuel your energy

For the moment, just take my word for the fact that triglycerides are made of one unit of glycerol and three fatty acids. Glycerol is a small, water-soluble carbohydrate that carries fats through blood; fatty acids are chains of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms attached. You get some triglycerides from food. You also manufacture them in your liver using carbohydrates, alcohol, and some of the cholesterol in food. Either way, high levels of triglycerides are a risk factor for heart disease because, like cholesterol, triglycerides — which travel in lipoproteins — can rough up the lining of your arteries, which enables floating particles to get stuck and begin to build plaque that can clog the artery, leading to a heart attack.

Fats exist in foods—and are usually stored in the body—as Triglycerides. Recent research relating levels of triglycerides in the blood stream to heart attacks in human presents a sometime confusing picture but amounting level evidence suggests that, along with other indicators, triglyceride levels can be used to predict heart attack risk, especially in women and diabetics.

Although the exact mechanisms are not fully known, elevated triglycerides allow increased blood clot formation and may slow the natural deterioration of clots once formed.

Fat molecules are generally made up of four parts:

• A molecule of glycerol.
• three molecules of fatty acids.

Each fatty acid consists of a hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group at one end. The glycerol molecule has three hydroxyl groups, each able to interact with the carboxyl group of a fatty acid. Removal of a water molecule at each of the three positions forms a triglyceride.

The three fatty acids in a single fat molecule may be all alike or they may be different. They may contain as few as four carbon atoms or as many as 24. Because fatty acids are synthesized from fragments containing two carbon atoms, the number of carbon atoms in the chain is almost always an even number. In animal fats, 16-carbon,for example, palmitic acid and 18-carbon, for example, stearic acid fatty acids are the most common.

Some fatty acids comprising a given triglyceride have one or more double bonds between their carbon atoms. They are then said to be unsaturated because they can hold more hydrogen atoms than they do.

Mono-unsaturated fats have a single double bond in their fatty acids while polyunsaturated fats, such as trilinolein, have two or more. Additionally, there are trans-fats, which are only partially hydrogenated having fewer double bonds in a trans (as opposed to the usual cis) chemical configuration, and also omega-3 fats, which have at least one double bond, three carbon atoms in from the end of the fatty acid molecule. Linolenic acid is an example and fish oils are generally a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Double bonds are rigid and those in natural fats introduce a kink into the molecule. This prevents the fatty acids from packing close together and as a result, unsaturated fats have a lower melting point than saturated fats. Because most of them are liquid at room temperature, they are called oils. Corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, and olive oil are common examples. As this list suggests, plant fats tend to be unsaturated while fats from such animals as cattle tend to be saturated.

Ingested fats provide the precursors from which fat as well as cholesterol and various phospholipids are created(synthesized). In humans, fat provides the concentrated form of energy. The energy content of fat (9kcal/gram) is more than twice as great as carbohydrates and proteins (4 kcal/gram).Humans can synthesize fat from carbohydrates. However, there are two essential fatty acids that cannot be synthesized this way and must be incorporated into the diet. These are linoleic acid (an omega-6 fat, with the end most double bond 6 carbons from the methyl end) and alphalinolenic acid (an omega-3 fat, with the endmost double bond 3 carbons from the methyl end).

Many studies have examined the relationship between fat in the diet and cardiovascular disease. There is still no consensus, but the evidence seems to indicate that a diet high in fat is harmful and that mono- and poly-unsaturated fats are less harmful than saturated fats, with the exception of trans unsaturated fats which, according to some, are more harmful than saturated fats. It is also been suggested that ingestion of omega-3 unsaturated fats may be protective for the human body

KEY TERMS

Polyunsaturated fat

—A fat missing two or more hydrogen atoms from the maximum number of hydrogen atoms that can be bonded to each carbon in the carbon chain of the compound. These fats can remain liquid at room temperatures.

Saturated fats

—Fats containing the maximum number of hydrogen atoms that can be bonded to each carbon in the carbon chain of the compound.

Triglycerides

—A molecule containing three fatty acids chemically bonded to a glycol molecule..

How high is high?

Clearly, you want to keep your triglycerides in the normal range, which means watching what you eat. But here’s an interesting fact: A diet that’s very low in fat and very high in carbohydrate foods, such as veggies, fruits, and grains — the quintessential “good heart” diet — may actually raise your triglycerides rather than lower them. To lower your triglycerides, the AHA recommends eating a reasonable amount of polyunsaturated fats.

Where cholesterol comes from?

Yes, you get some cholesterol from food, but the curious fact is that most of the cholesterol in your blood and body tissues is produced right in your very own liver. Your liver uses the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in food to manufacture and churn out about 1 gram (1,000 milligrams) of cholesterol a day.

How cholesterol travels around your body?

Whether your cholesterol comes from food or your liver, it travels through your bloodstream in particles called lipoproteins, a name derived from lipos (the Greek word for “fat”) and protos (Greek for “first” or “most important”). The fatty substances in lipoproteins include cholesterol and triglycerides, the most common fatty substance in the human body The proteins that combine with fats to produce lipoproteins are called apolipoproteins, often abbreviated as apo. Lipoproteins develop through five distinct phases as they mature into the particles that carry cholesterol around your body:

• Phase 1: Chylomicrons
•  Phase 2: Very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs)
•  Phase 3: Intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDLs)
•  Phase 4: Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs)
•  Phase 5: High-density lipoproteins (HDLs)

How does a chylomicron become a VLDL, then an IDL, then an LDL, and finally, maybe, an HDL? The following roadmap marks the route

How triglycerides are formed?

A lipoprotein is born as a chylomicron, a particle that your intestinal cells assemble from the proteins and fats you eat. Chylomicrons are very, very low-density particles.

Why are some lipoproteins called low-density and others high-density?

The term density refers to a lipoprotein’s weight.

• Protein weighs more than fat.
• Lipoproteins containing proportionately less protein than fat are low density lipoproteins, also known as LDLs. LDLs are the “bad” particles that carry cholesterol into your arteries.
• Lipoproteins containing proportionately more protein than fat are high density lipoproteins, also known as HDLs. HDLs are the “good” particles that ferry cholesterol out of your body.

Now, back to chylomicrons. These lipoproteins start out with very little protein and a lot of light and fluffy fat and cholesterol. But as they flow through your bloodstream from your intestines on their way to your liver (your body’s lipoprotein factory), the chylomicrons release their fats, known a triglycerides, into your blood.

Fat as a Nutrient

Fat is an essential nutrient, because our bodies require small amounts of several fatty acids from foods (the so-called essential fatty acids) to build cell membranes and to make several indispensable hormones, namely, the steroid hormones testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen, and the hormone-like prostaglandins. Dietary fats also permit one group of vitamins, the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), to be absorbed from foods during the process of digestion. Fats help these vitamins to be transported through the blood to their destinations. The fat in our bodies also provides protective insulation and shock absorption for vital organs.

As a macronutrient, fat is a source of energy (calories). The fat in food supplies about 9 calories per gram, more than twice the number of calories as the same amount of protein or carbohydrate. As a result, high-fat foods are considered “calorie-dense” energy sources.

Any dietary fat that is not used by the body for energy is stored in fat cells (adipocytes), the constituents of fat (adipose) tissue The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that no more than 30 percent of our calories should come from fat, and only a third of that should be saturated fat.

Dietary fats, or triglycerides, are the fats in foods. They are molecules made of fatty acids (chain-like molecules of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen) linked in groups of three to a backbone called glycerol. When we eat foods that contain fat, the fatty acids are separated from their glycerol backbone during the process of digestion.

Fatty acids are either saturated or unsaturated, terms that refer to the relative number of hydrogen atoms attached to a carbon chain. Fat in the foods that we eat is made up of mixtures of fatty acids—some fats may be mostly unsaturated, whereas others are mostly saturated Monounsaturated fatty acids are fatty acids that lack one pair of hydrogen atoms on their carbon chain.

Foods rich in monounsaturated fatty acids include canola, nut, and olive oils; they are liquid at room temperature. A diet that provides the primary source of fat as monounsaturated fat (frequently in the form of olive oil) and includes only small amounts of animal products has been linked to a lower risk of coronary artery disease. This type of diet is commonly eaten by people who live in the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Polyunsaturated fatty acids lack two or more pairs of hydrogen atoms on their carbon chain. Safflower, sunflower, sesame, corn, and soybean oil are among the sources of polyunsaturated fats (which are also liquid at room temperature). The essential fatty acids, linoleic and linolenic acid, are polyunsaturated fats.

Like monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats lower blood cholesterol levels and are an acceptable substitute for saturated fats in the diet. Saturated fatty acids, or saturated fats, consist of fatty acids that are “saturated” with hydrogen. These fats are found primarily in foods of animal origin—meat, poultry, dairy products, and eggs—and in coconut, palm, and palm kernel oil (often called “tropical oils”). Foods that are high in saturated fats are firm at room temperature. Because a high intake of saturated fats increases your risk of coronary artery disease, nutrition experts recommend that less than 10 percent of your calories should come from saturated fats.Omega-3 fatty acids are a class of polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish (tuna, mackerel, and salmon, in particular)and some plant oils such as canola (rapeseed) oil. These fatty acids have made the news because of the observation that people who frequently eat fish appear to be at lower risk for coronary artery disease.

Omega-3 fatty acids also seem to play a role in your ability to fight infection. Hydrogenated fats are the result of a process in which unsaturated fats are treated to make them solid and more stable at room temperature. The hydrogenation process, which involves the addition of hydrogen atoms, actually results in a saturated fat. Trans-fatty acids are created by hydrogenation. An increase in consumption of these fats is a concern because they have been associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease. Hydrogenated fat is a common ingredient in stick and tub margarine, commercial baked goods, snack foods, and other processed foods. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is a necessary constituent of cell membranes and serves as a precursor for bile acids (essential for digestion), vitamin D, and an important group of hormones (the steroid hormones). Our livers can make virtually all of the cholesterol needed for these essential functions. Dietary cholesterol is found only in foods of animal origin, that is, meat, poultry, milk, butter, cheese, and eggs.

Foods of plant origin, that is, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, grains, and the oils derived from them, do not contain cholesterol. Eggs are the food most often associated with cholesterol, because the average large egg contains about 210 milligrams of cholesterol (only in the yolk), and the recommended daily cholesterol intake is 300 mg or less. However, for most people, meat contributes a higher proportion of cholesterol to the diet than do eggs, because cholesterol is found in both the lean and fat portions of meat. Shellfish have acquired an undeserved reputation for being high in cholesterol. Their cholesterol and total fat contents are actually comparatively low

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