Thus, trying to reduce our consumption of traditional cholesterol-laden foods, including butter, cream, cheese, eggs, and meat, may be an exercise in futility. The fewer cholesterol-laden foods, the more our bodies produce it.

It has been known for many years that very large doses of cholesterol lead to a decreased percentage of its absorption. However, considerable variation is seen in absorption from person to person, and the ranges vary five-fold.

LDL-"bad” cholesterol carries cholesterol for cell building needs, but leaves behind any excess on artery walls and in tissues.

HDL-"good” cholesterol helps to prevent narrowing of the artery walls by removing the excess cholesterol and transporting it to the liver for excretion.

• in milligrams per deciliter of blood, abbreviated as mg/dL (used in U.S.), or
• in millimoles per liter of blood, abbreviated as mmol/L (used in Canada and Europe).

A deciliter (dL) is 1/10 of a liter or about 1/4 of a pint. A mole is an amount of a substance (in this case, cholesterol) that contains a certain number of molecules or atoms. A millimole (mmol) is 1/1,000 of a mole.

Total cholesterol levels:

• less than 200 mg/dL, or 5.2 mmol/L are considered desirable
• 200 mg/dL - 239 mg/dL, or 5.2 mmol/L - 6.2 mmol/L - borderline-high
• 240 mg/dL and above, or >6.2 mmol/L and higher are considered high.

LDL-"bad" cholesterol levels:

• less than 100 mg/dL, or less than 2.6 mmol/L are considered optimal
• 100 mg/dL - 129 mg/dL, or 2.6 mmol/L - 3.4 mmol/L - near optimal or above optimal
• 130 mg/dL - 159 mg/dL, or 3.4 mmol/L - 4.1 mmol/L - borderline high
• 160 mg/dL - 189 mg/dL, or 4.1 mmol/L - 4.9 mmol/L - high
• 190 mg/dL and above, or >4.9 mmol/L and greater are considered very high.

HDL-"good" cholesterol levels:

• 60 mg/dL, or 1.6 mmol/L, or higher is considered desirable (it reduces the risk of heart disease, even if total or LDL cholesterol is high)
• 40 mg/dL - 60 mg/dL, or 1.04 mmol/L - 1.7 mmol/L - acceptable
• below 40 mg/dL, <1.04 mmol/L are considered low (they increase the risk for coronary artery disease in people who also have high total cholesterol levels).

HDL-"good" cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio in adults, it should be higher than 0.24 (just divide your HDL level by your cholesterol). And, generally speaking, the higher the ratio, the better.

At levels under 150, you can be at a risk of too low cholesterol. This condition may cause suboptimal function of such steroid hormones as pregnenolone, DHEA, testosterone, progesterone and estrogen - resulting in depression and other health problems.

According to this theory, dietary saturated fat and cholesterol lead to elevated levels of total cholesterol in the blood -- and these elevated levels of cholesterol cause the pathogenic atheromas that block blood vessels.

Unfortunately, the "cholesterol-as-cause" hypothesis doesn't explain many observations and lacks clear-cut scientific evidence. However, it's still a popular theory that clouds the picture of atherosclerosis.

It's commonly known that the cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs:

• do not improve the heart's blood flow
• only partially reduce the incidence of heart disease or stroke
• only reduce the degree of arterial narrowing by a mere two percent or less, and
• inhibit, actually shut off statins and the production of CoQ10 by the liver what may cause serious complications (for example, as CoQ10 is involved in the energy production and protection of little energy furnaces in every cell, including the heart muscle, energy production goes way down).

The cardiovascular system is highly susceptible to free radical attack. As a matter of fact, the oxidation from free radicals seems to be much more important than cholesterol as a risk factor for atherosclerosis (cholesterol has to be oxidized before it becomes a problem).

For some reason, the lining of our blood vessels appears to have no receptors for normal cholesterol, only for oxidized, damaged cholesterol.

Only oxidized cholesterol can itself irritate the arterial walls and initiate abnormal, pathological buildup of plaque (atheromas), blocking the blood flow.

Medical establishments tend to overlook the fact that total cholesterol plays an important role in the body as a potent antioxidant. It scavenges and, therefore, protects the body against free radicals - harmful oxidative agents known to cause the arterial plaque formation.

• high temperature
• exposure to air
• stress (under stress conditions our internal antioxidant mechanisms are compromised)
• lack of sleep
• too little or -- too much exercise (!)

However, most of oxidized cholesterol comes directly from consumption of devitalized, processed, fabricated food products, including:

Considered a strong, independent genetic risk for atherosclerosis, Lp(a) has been linked to two functional bodily systems:

• a lipid transport system and
• the blood-clotting system.