High cholesterol in the blood has become a common health problem today. Actually, cholesterol is not harmful to the body; it is essential for the construction of cells, the production of some hormones, and the production of vitamin D. But when its amount exceeds the limit, it accumulates on the inner walls of blood vessels and causes heart attacks and strokes. Here are the 5 main reasons behind low cholesterol levels:
Improper diet and trans fats: Although it cannot be completely said that cholesterol increases through food, some of the foods we eat are the main reason for this. Trans fats contained in fried and fried desserts, bakery items, and fast foods are the main reason for increasing bad cholesterol in the body. In addition, saturated fats in cattle meat (Red meat) and dairy products can also increase cholesterol.
Internal Production: Our liver produces 80 percent of the cholesterol needed by the body. When we eat too many carbohydrates and sugars, the liver converts them into triglycerides and LDL, the bad cholesterol. Changes in this digestive process in the liver can raise cholesterol.
Lack of exercise and physical inactivity: People who work in a sedentary job and those who do not exercise much have significantly lower levels of HDL, the good cholesterol. The main job of HDL cholesterol is to take the bad cholesterol that accumulates in the blood vessels back to the liver and destroy it. When exercise is absent, this purification process is disrupted.
Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Some people do not reduce their cholesterol no matter how much they diet or exercise. This is due to genetic defects. If parents in the family have high cholesterol at a young age, it is possible that the liver’s cholesterol control system is genetically damaged.
Other diseases and hormonal changes: Some diseases that affect the body’s metabolism can increase cholesterol. For example, in people with thyroid hormone deficiency (hypothyroidism), uncontrolled diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, the body’s process of digesting cholesterol slows down and fat increases in the blood.
