What are the Causes of High Cholesterol?


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Cholesterol in the blood consists of 3 main components namely low density lipoproteins (LDL), High density lipoproteins (HDL) and Triglycerides. When there are excess levels of cholesterol in the blood then it is known as high cholesterol. Let us see the causes of cholesterol in this article.

What are the causes of high cholesterol?

Inherited risk factors and a high-fat diet are the main causes of high cholesterol. More often, unhealthy levels of cholesterol are linked to physical inactivity, poor diet, being overweight, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, age, stress, sex, heredity and various other causes. Now let us see these causes in detail.

Poor Diet

Foods like saturated fats and transfatty acids are unhealthy and are most likely to increase the LDL level in the blood. Saturated fats are found in animal products such as pork, beef, whole milk, cheeses, ice cream, egg yolk and foods that are made out of these products. Transfatty acids are found in margarines, commercial baked goods and in processed and fried foods. People having high cholesterol must eat a lot of fibers particularly soluble fibers.

Physical Inactivity

Lack of physical exercise is one of the important causes of high cholesterol. On the other hand, regular physical exercise may raise HDL cholesterol levels and lower triglycerides levels.

Being Overweight

Being overweight can increase your LDL cholesterol level modestly. If you are obese and have high LDL cholesterol level then losing weight can help you in lowering the level of LDL. More over weight loss can aid in raising HDL cholesterol levels.

Age and Sex

Prior to menopause, women generally have lower total cholesterol levels than that of men of the same age. However after 50 years of age, women usually have greater total cholesterol levels than men. As men and women age, the blood cholesterol levels would raise until about 60 to 65 years old.

Excessive Alcohol Consumption

Moderate (around 1-2 drinks everyday) alcohol intake raises HDL or good cholesterol level but does not reduce LDL or bad cholesterol level. Doctors are not certain about whether alcohol lowers the risk of heart disease. Heavy intake of alcohol may damage the heart and liver muscle, cause high blood pressure and increase triglyceride levels.

Stress

Several researches show that stress increases the cholesterol levels in the blood over the long span. Stress does this by affecting your habits. For example, some people when they are under stress, console themselves by eating unhealthy foods (fatty foods). The cholesterol and saturated fat in these foods will increase the levels of blood cholesterol.

Heredity

Heredity is one of the uncontrollable factors. Your genes influence the LDL or bad cholesterol level by affecting the speed in which LDL is made and removed from the blood. Familial hypercholesterolemia is a specific form of inherited high cholesterol. It affects 1 in 500 people and often leads to early heart disease. Even if you don’t have such a specific genetic form of high cholesterol, genes play an influencing role in determining LDL cholesterol level.

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