The type of lipid everyone has heard of in connection with heart disease is cholesterol. According to the British Heart Foundation, lowering blood cholesterol levels by just 1 per cent can reduce your risk of heart disease by 2-3 per cent.

HDL cholesterol and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. Certain amount o cholesterol is needed by the body to help build cell membranes, but too much LDL cholesterol can be harmful. Cholesterol forms a large part of the plaques found in atherosclerosis and numerous studies have shown that a high cholesterol level can accelerate the process of atherosclerosis.

Several factors can influence cholesterol levels. These include your age (high cholesterol may be more common as you get older); your family history (a tendency towards high cholesterol runs in some families); and diet (certain foods have a cholesterol-promoting and others a cholesterol-lowering effect). Overweight also increases blood cholesterol in some people. The cholesterol story may also be rather different for men and women and research is at present going on to try to identify the healthiest cholesterol levels for women.

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