Your cholesterol

levels
This leaflet is for people with high
cholesterol. High levels of cholesterol
can cause heart and circulatory diseases
including heart attack and stroke.
But, there are simple things you can
do to help bring your cholesterol down
UNDERSTANDING to a healthy level like eating better
and taking medication.
Cholesterol is a fatty substance in our
blood, which is produced naturally in the
liver. Everyone has cholesterol. We need
it to stay healthy because every cell in our
body uses it. Some of this cholesterol
comes from the food that we eat.
There are two main types of cholesterol –
one is good and the other is bad. Having
too much bad cholesterol can cause
problems. It can clog up your arteries, the
blood vessels that carry blood to your major
organs. If the arteries that carry blood to
your heart get damaged and clogged, it
can lead to a heart attack. If this happens
in the arteries that carry blood to your
to reduce your risk of heart brain it can lead to a stroke.
and circulatory diseases 2
There are different types of cholesterol
and they mean different things for your health.
Cholesterol is carried in your blood by proteins.
When cholesterol and proteins combine, they’re
called lipoproteins. There are two main types:

Good
High-density lipoproteins /
HDL cholesterol
It takes cholesterol that you don’t need
back to the liver where it is broken
down to be passed out of your body.
This is known as ‘good’ cholesterol
because it gets rid of ‘bad’ cholesterol
from your blood vessels.

Bad
Non-High-density lipoproteins /
Non-HDL cholesterol
It delivers cholesterol from the liver
to cells around your body. This is
known as ‘bad’ cholesterol because
if you have too much it gets stuck
to the walls of your arteries.

Your total cholesterol is your good HDL

cholesterol and your bad non-HDL cholesterol
together. For a healthy heart, the aim is to have
a low non-HDL level and a higher HDL level.
4
Inside your arteries
Too much
bad cholesterol
If you have more bad cholesterol in your
blood than you need, it gets stuck to the
Good walls of the arteries. This makes it harder
cholesterol for blood to flow through, which can cause
a heart attack or stroke.
If your total cholesterol is high, it can mean
you have a lot of bad (Non-HDL) cholesterol
in your blood.
A high level of good (HDL) cholesterol can
help keep that bad (Non-HDL) cholesterol
in check and remove it from your body.

Bad cholesterol Inside the artery

build up

Artery
wall Blood inside Atheroma (fatty
the artery material) building up
5 6
What causes “I’ve made changes and
high cholesterol? brought my cholesterol
back down to normal.
Anyone can get high cholesterol and it can It’s actually not that
be caused by many different things. Some
things we can control like lifestyle habits,
hard to make changes.”
others we can’t. As long as you take care of Shirley, age 53
the things you can control, you’ll help lower
your risk of heart and circulatory disease.

High cholesterol can be caused by:

“EAT
Things you can control ING
FROZ
YO G EN
HURT
INST
OF IC EAD
Eating a lot Smoking Not being Having too
of saturated active much body fat,

REAL E CREAM
or trans fats enough especially around
your middle
LY HE
Things you can’t help
ME” LPED
40
Getting older Ethnic background Family History

GO bhf.org.uk/high-cholesterol 7 8
How to get your Saturated fat
cholesterol level down and cholesterol
You can reduce your chances of a condition
like heart attack or stroke. Here are some of
the ways you can help your cholesterol get
back to a healthy level.
You may be prescribed medication to lower
your cholesterol levels. Make sure you take
these regularly.

You need to eat less saturated fat to

help bring your cholesterol levels in check.
Eating many foods high in saturated
Changing Reducing how fat can increase your cholesterol levels.
what you eat much alcohol Saturated fat is mainly found in butter,
you drink
lard, fatty meats, cheese, cakes, biscuits
as well as palm and coconut oil.
Swap foods high in saturated fat for
foods that contain unsaturated fats like
Being more Stopping rapeseed oil, olive oil or sunflower oil,
active smoking as well as vegetable oil spreads, nuts,
seeds and oily fish.

9 10
Healthier swaps Look at
labels
Consider swapping some everyday foods Look at the labels on the food you buy.
with healthier alternatives; a small handful Make sure you mostly eat things that are
of unsalted nuts instead of crisps, vegetable labelled green or amber for ‘saturates’.
spreads instead of butter, reduced-fat cheese
or a skinny latte instead of one with whole milk.

FAT SUGARS SATURATES SALTS

FULL SEMI LOW 3g 5g 1.5g 0.3g

Healthier
or or or or
choice less less less less

Normal milk Low-fat milk and

and butter low-fat spread
MED 3.1g 5.1g 1.6g 0.3g
OK most to to to to
of the time 17.5g 22.5g 5g 1.5g

Normal sausages Low-fat sausages HIGH More More More More

Just
than than than than
occasionally 17.5g 22.5g 5g 1.5g

All measures as 100g

Chops or steak The fat cut off

GO bhf.org.uk/prevention 11 12
Move more Cut down or
stop smoking
Increasing the amount you move your body Smoking stops good cholesterol doing its
strengthens your heart and reduces your bad job of getting rid of your bad cholesterol.
cholesterol. Being active helps increase your Speak to your doctor about how to stop
good HDL cholesterol while helping your smoking as soon as you can – not smoking
body move the bad Non-HDL cholesterol to will really help you avoid heart disease.
your liver where it will be disposed of.
You don’t have to join a gym or take up a sport,
just look for chances to move more every day.

Smoking daily Stop smoking

Taking the lift Taking the stairs

After you’ve been making changes
for a while, go back to your doctor
or nurse and ask them to test to see
if you’ve got your cholesterol back
A leisurely stroll A brisk walk to where it should be.

GO bhf.org.uk/exerciseanimation 13 GO bhf.org.uk/smoking 14
 bhf.org.uk
Good
to know
Heart transplants. Clot busting drugs. Pacemakers.
Breakthroughs born from visionary medical research.
Eggs, liver and kidneys as well as shellfish Research you fund with your donations.
like prawns, do contain cholesterol.
You may hear this referred to as dietary Heart and circulatory diseases kill 1 in 4 people
cholesterol. For most people, this dietary in the UK. They cause heartbreak on every street.
cholesterol doesn’t have much effect on But if research can invent machines to restart hearts,
blood cholesterol levels, so you can eat fix arteries in newborn babies, build tiny devices
them as part of a healthy diet. It is much to correct heartbeats, and give someone a heart
more important to reduce the amount they weren’t born with – imagine what’s next.
of saturated fat you eat.
We fund research into all heart and circulatory
A medication called statins is sometimes diseases and their risk factors. Heart attacks,
prescribed to lower your cholesterol. heart failure, stroke, vascular dementia, diabetes
It’s important that you take them as and many more. All connected, all under our
instructed. But still do what you can microscope. Our research is the promise of future
prevention, cures and treatments.
to keep your body healthy.
The promise to protect the people we love.
Our children. Our parents. Our brothers.
Our sisters. Our grandparents. Our closest friends.

You and the British Heart Foundation.

Together, we will beat heartbreak forever.

Beat heartbreak forever.

15 © British Heart Foundation 2018, registered charity in England
and Wales (225971) and in Scotland (SC039426) U003/0818