Many people know that smoking cigarettes is bad for their health in general but what most people don’t realize is that smoking is even worse if you have high cholesterol levels or are considered high-risk for heart disease. In addition to eating lots of foods that cause high cholesterol, this is one of the most dangerous things you can do.
In this article I’m going to break down five specific ways that cigarette smoking (in reality all tobacco consumption) directly affects your cholesterol levels in extremely dangerous ways.
Danger # 1 – most smokers have no clue that the simple act of cigarette smoking increases their total cholesterol levels on the whole. This is due to the various chemical properties that are inherent in tobacco.
Danger #2 – as if increasing your cholesterol wasn’t bad enough, cigarette smoking also lowers your high density lipoprotein levels (HDL’s). So basically cigarette smoking is increasing your bad cholesterol levels while at the same time reducing the amount of good cholesterol in your body.
Danger #3 – cigarette smoking causes the blood vessels in your body to constrict. This causes an increased risk of heart attack and stroke due to blood flow blockages and increased clot formation.
Danger 4# – smoking also increases the triglyceride levels within our bloodstream. High triglyceride levels increase our risk of heart attack which is already a problem for most people who suffer with cholesterol issues.
Danger #5 – worst of all and one of the biggest reasons you want to avoid smoking in general but even more so if you have high cholesterol is the simple fact that smoking literally doubles your risk of heart attack regardless of your cholesterol level.
Smoking in itself causes all types of health problems but anyone who is dealing with cholesterol related health problems or is a high risk factor for cholesterol related health problems should seriously make a very strong effort in eliminating all forms of tobacco consumption from their lifestyle.