I’m not entirely sure on how I personally feel stating that 2016 has been a year of good health as we draw closer and closer to Christmas. It has for some been a fantastic year for healthy eating and cook book sales seem to have done very well. I do believe there is certainly more awareness of health, people seem more conscience of what they’re eating and not only this understand more what is actually in the food we are consuming. That’s a good thing.

A few clients this year have had health screens which I think is a fantastic thing, nowhere near enough of us invest in our own health, me included. What has prompted this blog was a result that more often than not comes up high on any health screen, Cholesterol!! So I thought today I would cover what it actually is, where it comes from, and the impact it has on out health if its high. Is Cholesterol really the devil we know.

What is it? It’s a waxy, fatty like substance that can be found in the cells of our body and travels in our bloodstream called lipoproteins. There are two kinds, LDL (low density lipoproteins) and HDL (high density lipoproteins). Having both is important, however having high LDL can be an issue.

Our bodies need some Cholesterol to make hormones, Vitamin D, and substances that help with food digestion, its also found in some of the foods we eat and is predominantly produced in our liver.

Having high LDL can thicken our blood which can lead to circulatory and cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks or blood clots which is why is important to keep on top of the type of foods we are eating.

How to keep on top of your Cholesterol? Firstly, if you smoke, stop, and if you don’t exercise, start. Foods that are high in saturated fat such as butter, cheese, creams and very fatty meat can also increase the LDL within our bloodstream.

The best advice I can offer is eat a varied and balanced diet, do as much walking and exercise as you can and if you haven’t a health screen to see where your current cholesterol is at then it might be worth it.