Ever since the low-fat diet days of the ’90s—and even a few decades before as scientists dove into the topic of dietary cholesterol sources—the prevailing societal view has been that cholesterol is a “bad guy.”
But we’ve moved on from theno-yolks phase(hallelujah!) and are learning that healthy fats are absolutely worth including in our diets, and some of the cholesterol in our body is actually a boon for our overall health.
Before we dive into this new research, let’s recap the two types of cholesterol that make up your total cholesterol count (learn more aboutcholesterol numbers and what they mean):
In new research published on Monday in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) journalCirculation, scientists found that the ability of HDL to combat inflammation within blood vessels may be able to help doctors pinpoint and predict who might be at higher risk for heart attacks, strokes or othercardiovascular events. The connection is so potentially impactful that the anti-inflammatory capacity of HDL may become part of an overall heart disease risk panel, the researchers believe.
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Testing HDL levels is already part of the process when medical pros try to assess heart disease risk, but an additional test of the anti-inflammatory qualities of the HDL may offer even more insights about—even independent of the amount of HDL in the body.
To gauge this, the researchers studied data from 680 adults in the Netherlands. All were healthy at the beginning of the study more than 20 years ago, but since, 340 have experienced heart attacks or were diagnosed with a heart condition. The scientists matched this smaller group to 340 other people of similar age, sex, smoking status and HDL cholesterol levels who didn’t have cardiovascular disease. As a result, they found:
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“The HDL cholesterol level is a good, established, simple and cost-efficient CVD risk biomarker,” Tietge adds. “Our results, however, demonstrate that the anti-inflammatory capacity or assays looking at HDL function in general have the potential to provide clinically relevant information beyond the static HDL cholesterol measurements.
While many factors influence cholesterol levels, including genetics and exercise, there are foods that can improve your HDL levels—and their subsequent potential inflammation-fighting abilities. Theseanti-inflammatory foods, such as olive oil, legumes, whole grains, fiber-rich fruits and veggies, omega-3 rich fish, nuts and seeds are also good for your cholesterol levels. Looking for a lifestyle plan that includes all of these good cholesterol-boosting foods? Try following theMediterranean diet. We have plenty ofMediterranean diet meal plansto provide inspo.
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