Updated: Feb 26
We pride ourselves on providing all the treatments and care you need to improve your everyday health and live a long, happy, active life. But we go beyond medical care, offering a personal patient-doctor connection and a relationship that respects your unique personality, needs, and desires. Our expert team, led by double board-certified physician Dr. Raj Singh, is excited to help you improve your health and reap all the benefits that follow. So, reach out to us today at HEALOR Primary Care, or visit our practice in Las Vegas, NV for a professional consultation! What is cholesterol? Cholesterol is a lipid, or fatty substance, made in the liver and supplied through the diet. Like other substances we commonly consume, it’s not inherently bad. And its overall effects depend on many factors, including personal health, medical history, genetics, and, of course, how much we eat. The undeservedly vilified cholesterol also performs many necessary functions throughout the body. It helps create cell membranes, is a precursor to vitamin D, is needed to make certain hormones, and even aids in digestion by supplying the materials to make bile salts. How does cholesterol affect you? Cholesterol is transported through your bloodstream inside lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are spherical proteins that wrap around fats (which hate and avoid water), so they can be carried through the (very watery) bloodstream. There are two types of cholesterol-carrying proteins. Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are the ones termed “bad” cholesterol, while high-density lipoproteins (HDL) are dubbed “good” cholesterol. “Bad” cholesterol is linked with significant health problems. And if you have too much, it accumulates on the walls of blood vessels, hindering blood flow. The result is an increased risk of cardiac events and strokes. The “good” HDL reduces these risks because it absorbs cholesterol and transports it to the liver, which tosses it from your body. To find out more, or for a personalized cholesterol-busting plan devised by experienced and knowledgeable Dr. Singh, contact us at HEALOR Primary Care as soon as possible. How to lower your cholesterol in the comfort of your home Here’s the good news: it’s up to you. The primary treatment for high cholesterol is to make lifestyle changes by focusing on proper dietary choices and being physically active. It’s also important to address lifestyle factors, like stress and smoking, which negatively skew good and bad cholesterol levels. “Eating right” includes staying within the boundaries of your daily caloric intake limit to avoid unhealthy weight gain. It’s also recommended that you limit the consumption of trans and saturated fats. By replacing these with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, you can lower your level of LDL cholesterol. For those who are overweight, shedding the pounds will reduce health risks and correct related problems, including metabolic syndrome, which encompasses low HDL levels, high triglyceride counts, and the large waist circumference (40+ inches for men, 35+ inches for women) associated with being overweight. It’s also important to include lots of lean meats, grains, and plants in the diet. In addition to the protein, fiber, and other nutrients offered by a sensible diet, plants are full of phytosterols that could help you decrease your cholesterol levels. In plants, phytosterols act as structural components in the cell membranes. And they’re so similar to cholesterol that they compete with actual chole