Understanding Lipids

Lipid is another name for fat Blood lipids are fats in your blood Doctor creates a breakdown of different types of fat in your blood Help determine the type of heart disease you’re at risk When your doctor or healthcare provider checks your lipids You are to get a list of the following categories Total cholesterol Includes the sum of HDL, LDL, and VLDL cholesterol components High-density lipoprotein (HDL) Commonly called “good” cholesterol It carries excess cholesterol back to liver Which processes and excretes the cholesterol Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) Bad cholesterol High levels are linked to increase the risk for heart disease You want this below 100 mg/dl Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) Determined by dividing triglyceride by 5 VLDL can be converted to LDL or Bad cholesterol Triglycerides Blood fat that is not only affected by the fat in your diet But is increased by excess calories in the diet By excess carbohydrate in the diet Normal for triglycerides to increase after eating a meal But they usually fall back to normal in 2 to 3 hours High triglycerides have recently been linked to heart disease You want this number below 150 mg/dl 2022015