High cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fatty substance that you
need to repair cells in your body. There are two types of
cholesterol.
LDL (bad) cholesterol comes from unhealthy food in your
diet and has a lot of saturated fat in it. HDL
(good) cholesterol helps clear away the bad cholesterol in
your bloodstream and stop it from damaging or blocking your
coronary arteries.
HDL good, LDL bad
Stephen says, "Before, I would eat really bad food. I found it
difficult to find motivation to go out and exercise; to do things
like go for a walk. Then a couple of months ago I began
getting pains in my chest so I booked an appointment with my
doctor.
"I told my doctor about the pains in my chest and he explained
to me that my cholesterol levels were
really high. I needed to sort this out, because if I didn't I was
at risk of having a heart attack before I was 50! I'm only 33 now.
This made me realise that 50 isn't that far away."
Too much saturated fat, found in food such as crisps, biscuits,
cakes, sausages and pies can increase your bad cholesterol. Your
body cannot get rid of so much fat and so it becomes fatty deposits which narrow and block your
arteries, which can cause coronary heart disease.
Increasing your HDL cholesterol will help to lower your LDL
cholesterol. You can increase your HDL by eating at least
five portions of fruit and vegetables a
day and doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity, five days a week.
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