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A high level of LDL, the bad cholesterol, is the biggest threat to your heart -- although the other numbers are important, too. Bad cholesterol can clog your arteries and lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Lower tends to be better for LDL, though your personal goal depends on your heart risk. Diabetes, middle age, or family heart troubles can all raise your risk.
Triglycerides are a kind of fat. They're found in foods, in the plump areas of your body, and in your blood. Your body makes them from any food you eat. You use them for energy right away and store extras in your fat cells for later. Hello, belly fat!
If you eat too many calories, especially sugars or carbs like candy and sweetened drinks -- the level of triglycerides in your blood can be high.
Your total cholesterol gives you a ballpark idea of your chances of having a heart attack -- but it doesn't tell the whole story. Your doctor will need to look at all your "numbers" together: LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol.
Total cholesterol level of less than 180 mg/dL is considered optimal.
After you've enjoyed a hearty dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, with ice cream for dessert, your LDL cholesterol and triglycerides can briefly go through the roof.
It's best not to eat or drink anything except water for nine to 12 hours before a cholesterol blood test. This "fasting" test will give the most accurate results for all your numbers.
Aim to keep your triglyceride number below 150 mg/dL to protect your heart. Should you go even lower? Maybe. Some leading doctors say that getting below 100 mg/DL is best.
Here's how other triglyceride test results stack up:
150 -199 mg/dL: Borderline high 200 - 499: High 500 or above: Very high Most people can bring down triglyceride levels by making changes to what they eat and getting enough exercise.
Your body makes triglycerides quickly and easily from sugar and refined flour, two main ingredients in cake.
Bacon is certainly not great for your heart or your cholesterol level, since it has a lot of fat and saturated fat. But it won't make your triglycerides rise as quickly as a slice of chocolate cake.
Alcohol is chock-full of calories and sugar, and can give your triglyceride levels a powerful push in the wrong direction. If you've got high triglycerides, cut back on how much alcohol you drink.
Many people with diabetes have high triglyceride levels. Luckily, some of the same steps that help control blood sugar can better your triglycerides. Lose extra pounds, get more exercise, and eat more fiber from beans, veggies, and whole grains.
A good cholesterol level of 60 or higher can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. An HDL number that is too low -- and bad for your heart -- depends partly on your gender:
Risky for men - below 40 mg/dL Risky for women - below 50 mg/dL
You can raise your good cholesterol with exercise, losing extra weight, and quitting smoking. Alcohol may slightly raise HDL, but moderation is key. That means no more than one drink a day for women and one to two drinks a day for men.
Coconut meat and coconut milk are chock-full of saturated fat, which raises levels of bad cholesterol.
Walnuts can actually be good for your cholesterol, if you eat a small handful instead of a junk-food snack. They're a good source of fiber and healthy, omega-3 fats. Keep an eye on portion size, because walnuts have lots of calories.
Cholesterol tests done at a health fair can be a good first step, but you need to talk to your doctor about the results. The triglyceride and bad cholesterol numbers can be wrong, depending on what you ate beforehand.
Your doctor can go over what your numbers mean and talk with you about lifestyle changes and treatment -- and follow up to see if they've worked.
Cholesterol tests done at a health fair can be a good first step, but you need to talk to your doctor about the results. The triglyceride and bad cholesterol numbers can be wrong, depending on what you ate beforehand.