What to Know About Blood Cholesterol Levels

By Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD 

It’s time for a refresher on cholesterol levels and cardiovascular health! There is a lot of confusing information about cholesterol and heart disease. 

Maybe you’ve heard that you need to avoid cholesterol in foods to keep blood cholesterol levels low. Or perhaps you are aware of the recent guidance that suggests that cholesterol in the diet is no longer a concern. 

This post explains dietary versus blood cholesterol levels. Plus, it addresses how blood cholesterol levels are related to heart disease and what you can do to keep your levels in check. 

Blood Lipid Levels and Heart Disease 

To evaluate the risk of heart diseases, heart attack, and stroke in their patients, doctors often monitor blood lipid levels. A typical lipid panel includes total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. These are the different types of fats that exist in your blood. 

Lipid panels may be done routinely, like at an annual check-up, or for specific reasons, like monitoring lipid levels if you have heart disease and are taking medications or making dietary changes.  

Here’s how normal blood lipid levels are categorized: 

  • Total cholesterol: <200 mg/dL 

  • HDL cholesterol: >60 mg/dL 

  • LDL cholesterol: <100 mg/dL  

  • Triglycerides: <150 mg/dL 

Having high levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and/or triglycerides may put you at greater risk of developing heart disease. In addition, a low level of HDL cholesterol is also considered a risk factor. 

Dietary Cholesterol 

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that’s found in cell membranes and necessary for certain bodily functions, such as making hormones. Your body naturally makes cholesterol, but you can also get it from animal-based foods. 

It was long believed that eating foods that contain cholesterol caused blood cholesterol levels to rise. Today, nutrition experts suspect that dietary cholesterol has little effect on blood cholesterol levels in most people. In fact, the 2015 to 2020 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans advised that cholesterol from foods was no longer a nutrient of concern and did not need to be limited. 

As with most things in nutrition, however, it’s not as cut and dry as it may seem. The foods you eat can still impact your blood lipid levels. For example, eating a lot of saturated and trans fats is linked to high cholesterol levels. Animal foods, which also happen to contain cholesterol, are sources of saturated fat in the diet. 

Diet and Lifestyle Tips to Lower Cholesterol 

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to keep your cholesterol levels in check. These include: 

  • Choosing leaner cuts of meat and low-fat dairy products 

  • Incorporating unsaturated fats, including fish, olive oil, nuts, and seeds 

  • Increasing your intake of soluble fiber from fruits and veggies, legumes, oats, and other whole grains 

  • Limiting alcohol intake 

  • Getting regular exercise 

  • Communicating with your health care provider about regular check-ups and medication options (if needed) 

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Stef Keegan