You probably have enough numbers to keep track of at any one time, but medical professionals say there is one number we should all be aware of, no matter our age: our cholesterol numbers. For most adults over 20, an LDL, or bad cholesterol, level should be below 130, and a total cholesterol level of under 200 is considered ideal. For our latest edition of Balance, our series regarding health, nutrition, exercise and wellness, we are concentrating on cholesterol. Our usual co-hosts, Jamie Baum, associate professor in the U of A Department of Food Science and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Arkansas, and Erin Howie, associate professor of exercise science at the U of A, are again part of our conversation. And we asked Sidney Boudry, a registered dietitian with the Center for Human Nutrition, to return to our segment.
Jamie says cholesterol numbers can tell us plenty.
Jamie Baum: What our cholesterol can tell us is really our risk for heart disease. And it's part of a series of measurements that can indicate whether you'll have a host of diseases we call chronic disease — things like cardiovascular health, type 2 diabetes. I think those are the main ones. So we measure it also because — cholesterol, specifically LDL cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol — it builds up in your arteries and can cause plaque.
Kyle Kellams: I've heard about LDL and HDL. HDL — one is thumbs up, one not so much.
Sydney Boudry: So LDL cholesterol is considered the bad cholesterol because basically the cell membranes in our arteries can become compromised, and then the LDL cholesterol can basically squeeze into the arteries. And then that recruits different immune cells, and those immune cells kind of build up there and it causes more scarring. And then those scars can eventually burst or just cause blockages themselves. And so that's why the LDL cholesterol is bad. The HDL cholesterol, on the other hand, is good because it picks up other forms of cholesterol, including LDL cholesterol, and brings it back to the liver.
Baum: I like to oversimplify it. So LDL cholesterol, your bad cholesterol, is a transporter of cholesterol and it brings it to places you don't want it in the body, like your arteries, where it deposits it and bad things happen like heart attacks. HDL cholesterol is kind of like your garbage truck. It picks up the cholesterol, takes it to the liver so your body can get rid of it.
Kellams: Sidney, you're a nutritionist. Can what we eat determine our cholesterol levels?
Boudry: Yes, it definitely has an impact on our cholesterol levels.
Baum: Those of us that were born in the 1900s were raised that you shouldn't eat eggs, you shouldn't eat red meat because it's going to give you high cholesterol, because these foods tend to have cholesterol in them. Eggs and, for a while, shrimp had bad raps because they have high levels of dietary cholesterol. But over time, millions of dollars of research have been invested, and they've shown that the cholesterol found in foods really does not have a big impact on the cholesterol we see when you go to the doctor. They have found that dietary changes can change your body cholesterol maybe around 10%, but things like weight loss are more indicative, or more impactful, on cholesterol values.
Erin Howie: I've seen numbers around like 70% of our cholesterol is what our body makes. So that means only 30% is from what we eat. And like Sidney mentioned, we make cholesterol in our body. So even if you're a vegan and don't eat any animal products, you can still have high cholesterol because you're producing it. And that's where there's some new screening guidelines for cholesterol. One of them includes a new factor to screen for that increases your risk — it kind of shows that your body is overproducing cholesterol as opposed to what you would naturally eat or consume.
Kellams: Well, Erin, this is what I always ask about — exercise. What can exercise do for our cholesterol?
Howie: Unfortunately, not very much, Kyle, especially for our bad cholesterol. It doesn't have much of an influence at all. It can reduce your overall lipids. So we think also of triglycerides, which is not a cholesterol but is also related to heart disease. Exercise, especially higher intensity — a very vigorous lifestyle activity — can raise your good cholesterol, which is good to kind of get rid of excess cholesterol. But one of the important things with exercise, and we sometimes forget, is that even though it doesn't influence your bad cholesterol, it's still reducing your overall risk of heart disease, which is what we're trying to prevent. So still exercise.
Kellams: Jamie, you mentioned those of us born in the 20th century, at some point in our lives heard about eggs and cholesterol. My parents, my teachers, everyone said get away from eggs, egg substitutes hit the grocery shelves. Now we think about it a little bit differently. Cindy, as a dietitian, do you ever hear people ask about eggs and cholesterol?
Boudry: Yeah. I feel like this is a topic that a lot of people want to know more about. Like Jamie mentioned, we have found that the amount of cholesterol that you consume actually doesn't have as much of an impact on your cholesterol levels in your blood.
Baum: And they have found with egg yolk — the yellow part where the cholesterol is found, or the fats are found — that there's also a lot of good fats and other good ingredients that have health benefits. So there's actually more benefit in addition to the protein and healthy fats and some of the vitamins and minerals than they had previously known about.
Kellams: So let's say I have a doctor, a medical professional, say your LDL is high — concerning. What do I do?
Baum: A good medical professional or healthcare provider will refer you to a registered dietitian nutritionist who is specifically trained in those things. But it's about lifestyle modifications. Most physicians may not be specifically trained in what lifestyle changes to make. So referring to someone who's trained in physical activity or nutrition, I think, would be the next step. It's about a balance in everything — it requires lifestyle changes to be healthier.
Boudry: And these new guidelines are much more aggressive at reducing cholesterol. There's still recommendations for healthy lifestyle changes, but physicians are much more likely to put you on medication to reduce cholesterol, because we know it's such a high risk for heart disease. Common ones are statins. As early as 30, depending on your overall risk. And it's not just your cholesterol levels — your physician should also look at your other risk factors: things like your age, BMI or body mass index, and your blood pressure. Those should all factor into your individual treatment plan.
Baum: I think one reason it has moved to an earlier age is that, with more than 73% of our population having obesity or overweight — which puts you at an increased risk for high cholesterol and other chronic diseases — and then after 50, it's like one in three or one in four Americans have more than one of these chronic diseases. By intervening earlier, it should hopefully also decrease the burden on our healthcare system. And it's hard to change habits when you're in your 50s or 60s versus targeting earlier.
Kellams: Sidney, I'm going to really oversimplify what you do here. But just like anything else, eating better is better for you, no matter what the subject.
Boudry: Yes. Especially with this, I feel like fiber is a really important part of the diet in order to lower cholesterol levels. Especially soluble fiber — there are two different types: insoluble and soluble. Soluble fiber has the ability to basically attach onto bile acids that are made of cholesterol and take those bile acids out of your system. We want to consume at least 5 to 10 grams of soluble fiber per day. Beans are a great source of soluble fiber. Oats — consuming oats at least two to three times a week is a great way to lower cholesterol. Flaxseeds, chia seeds, citrus fruits, apples, pears — those especially have a good source of soluble fiber — Brussels sprouts, carrots and whole grains. Even whole grain pasta has 7 grams of soluble fiber per serving, which is a lot.
Baum: And if you're at the grocery store and you look at the container of Quaker Oats or Cheerios, they usually have a heart on it that says "good for heart health" or "lowers cholesterol." There are a few of these types of claims that are approved by the federal government because they have decades of research showing that these types of foods do lower cholesterol and improve heart health. That's a good indicator of the fibers that you need. ‘
Boudry: And talking about foods that we want to limit — we don't want to directly say you can't have this, because that makes it even more tempting — but we want to limit saturated fat in the diet. We find saturated fat in red meat, full-fat dairy products like butter and heavy cream. We also find saturated fat in processed meats like salami, bacon, sausages, hot dogs and deli meat, and also in palm oil. And coconut oil has a high amount of saturated fat. So we want to take those saturated fats and replace them with unsaturated fats — different types of oils like corn oil, canola oil, olive oil.
Baum: One good way to remember this is that saturated fats — the unhealthier fats — are solid at room temperature. So your coconut oil, your butter, cream cheeses, cheeses — they're all solid at room temperature. And people don't know this, but coconut oil is the most saturated fat out there. More than beef. And then the liquids tend to be unsaturated, liquid at room temperature.
Jamie Baum is an associate professor in the U of A Department of Food Science and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Arkansas. Erin Howie is an associate professor of exercise science at the U of A. And Sidney Boudry is a registered dietitian with the Center for Human Nutrition.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
