Cholesterol

[MORELLO]

Are tryglicerides the same thing as 'bad' cholesterol? What level should they be at?

[cruella]

Hi MORELLO,
Yes, you are right in thinking that tryglicerides is the fat in cholesterol.
These are the bad fats. The acceptable reading for those is under five. The lower the better. 4.5 is a good reading.

[Gef]

Sorry cruella but you are not a chemist.

Natural fats and oils (olive oil, sunflower, etc) are mainly triglycerides, ie esters of glycerol and fatty acids.

Cholesterol is not related chemically to these. It is a sterol.

I'm not saying that there is no link between them.

[cruella]

Gef,
I agree I am not a Chemist, so apolgise if I misread the question. I thought MORELLO was asking about trygliceride readings in relation to high cholesterol readings. As you say, there is a connection with them.

[soxcox1]

Cholesterol and triglycerides are both forms of fats (lipids) in the blood. Cholesterol is required as it gets converted to some hormones. Both triglycerides and Cholestrol can have atherosclerotic (artery furring) effect when held in the blood in excess. Cholesterol comes in two forms - high density and low density and its the ratio of these that can affect cardiovascular health as can high triglycerides.

The ratio of high density to total cholesterol is one for the tools used to predict cardio-vasuclar disease risk.

Ideally Cholesterol should be less than 5 and Tri should be less than 2.

Diet plays a big part in keepoingthe leves within sensible ranges but there are medical conditonns that cause high levels regardless of diet

Hope that helps