Despite all the buzz about cholesterol-free foods, cholesterol is one factor that is largely determined by your genetics, weight, activity level, and diet. Genetics determine whether or not you will have a tendency towards high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, and genetics largely determine your LDL-to-HDL ratio. Therefore, genetic factors greatly determine how seriously you will be affected by arterial aging due to elevated LDL cholesterol levels if you don't adopt age reduction activities specifically targeted towards preventing arterial aging. For example, if you are a man with a high LDL cholesterol level or a high LDL-to-HDL ratio and a number of your closely related male relatives have died early from heart disease, you are at high risk of the premature onset of cardiovascular disease. That means an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, memory loss, vascular disease of the legs, or kidneys, impotence, and wrinkling of the skin. The great news from science in the last two and a half decades is that you can control that disease. Weight loss is absolutely key to getting your cholesterol and triglyceride levels into normal ranges. That's one of the real benefits of the Atkins diet for those who can stick with it and lose weight. If they lose weight, the dieters normalize their lipid and triglyceride levels. However, to make it a really healthy diet, you should switch from saturated and trans fats to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Despite all the buzz about cholesterol-free foods, cholesterol is
one factor that is largely determined by your genetics, weight,
activity level, and diet. Genetics determine whether or not you
will have a tendency towards high low-density...
More
Dr. Michael Roizen answered:Despite all the buzz about cholesterol-free foods, cholesterol is one factor that is largely determined by your genetics, weight, activity level, and diet. Genetics determine whether or not you will have a tendency towards high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, and genetics largely determine your LDL-to-HDL ratio. Therefore, genetic factors greatly determine how seriously you will be affected by arterial aging due to elevated LDL cholesterol levels if you don't adopt age reduction activities specifically targeted towards preventing arterial aging. For example, if you are a man with a high LDL cholesterol level or a high LDL-to-HDL ratio and a number of your closely related male relatives have died early from heart disease, you are at high risk of the premature onset of cardiovascular disease. That means an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, memory loss, vascular disease of the legs, or kidneys, impotence, and wrinkling of the skin. The great news from science in the last two and a half decades is that you can control that disease. Weight loss is absolutely key to getting your cholesterol and triglyceride levels into normal ranges. That's one of the real benefits of the Atkins diet for those who can stick with it and lose weight. If they lose weight, the dieters normalize their lipid and triglyceride levels. However, to make it a really healthy diet, you should switch from saturated and trans fats to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
