LDL is often called “bad” cholesterol — and for good reason.
If you have too much floating in your bloodstream and sticking to the walls of your blood vessels and arteries, your arteries stiffen, and you can end up with blockages that cause a heart attack, stroke, peripheral artery or kidney disease, dementia, and or depression.
Lowering LDL levels with dietary changes, exercise, and medications such as statins when it registers above 70 mg/dL is heart smart.
It's also smart to take a multivitamin/mineral (half in the morning, half at night), psyllium fiber, and 900 mg of omega-3 fatty acid supplements a day.
But calling HDL cholesterol “good” — as is also often done — is a bit more complicated.
It turns out that HDL comes in different shapes and sizes. Some forms do round up excess LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream and artery walls and send it back to your liver, where it's rendered harmless.
But others do quite the opposite — moving cholesterol out of the liver and into the bloodstream. And recent research shows that for more than 98% of Americans, increasing your HDL cholesterol levels doesn't improve heart health or reduce the risk of heart attack.
To protect and improve your heart health, focus on achieving a healthy LDL level (some people may want to aim for below 50 mg/dL if they're at high risk for cardiovascular problems) by eating a plant-based diet, exercising regularly, managing stress, sleeping six to eight hours a night, and adding medications if needed.