Cholesterol and Your Digestive System

Cholesterol is a lipid - one of the body's fats - which is required to help the body produce cells, energy and hormones. It is also one of the reasons individuals suffer from angina, heart attacks and problems with their digestive systems.

Cholesterol is - as we have said - one of the body's fats and as such it can be a contributing factor in health problems because of over production and one of the most common reasons for this over production is eating too many fatty foods.

Fatty Foods, Takeaways and Cholesterol

It is a sad fact of life that many of the foods and drinks we like to indulge in are not good for us and this can be no truer than of fatty foods such as meat and fast food takeaways.

A constant diet of fast food meals, fatty meats, cigarettes and alcohol can go some way to increasing the risk of high cholesterol levels which can lead on to Arteriosclerosis - a hardening and narrowing of the arteries in the heart - and diabetes.

Your Digestive System

Your stomach, pancreas, spleen and intestines all need to work in tune with each in order to provide you with a good digestive system and a healthy digestive system but a constant diet of the sort of foods we have already mentioned can only lead to problems with this delicate system.

Many people go through their teens and early adulthood suffering no problems with their digestive system only to find that in later years they suffer from problems with their bowels, kidneys, stomach and pancreas which can all be adversely affected by these highly levels of cholesterol.

Higher cholesterol levels can also cause problems with the Mesentery; the twin layers of the peritoneum leading to parts of the small intestine. Problems in this area can make it difficult for food to be digested correctly and also make it difficult for waste products to move through to the bowels.

Cholesterol Testing

It is not unusual that upon visiting your doctor - if he or she feels that your diet may be causing or leading to the cause of your illness - suggests you have a cholesterol test.

This is a painless procedure that involves a simple blood test from which it can be determined if your cholesterol level is too high or indeed too low.

Once this test has been carried out and the results returned to your doctor he or she may suggest a course of treatment or indeed a change in lifestyle. A change in lifestyle is one of the most advantageous ways of reducing cholesterol levels and can include any or all of the following:

• A reduction in your alcohol intake
• Quit smoking
• Cut down on fatty foods
• Relieve Stress
• Exercise more

Again the emphasis is on improving your quality of life by changing your lifestyle as opposed to reducing your quality of life and if possible you should try to implement any changes that your doctor might suggest in order to reduce your cholesterol levels.

Also if there is a history of heart disease or diabetes in your family you should inform your doctor of this as sometimes cholesterol can be a hereditary problem and as a hereditary problem it can be treated in a different way.