Preparing for a cholesterol test

If you have a body, you have cholesterol, and that's a fact. There are, however, two kinds of cholesterol - simply put, the good and the bad. The bad cholesterol is known, for short, as LDL, or low density lipoprotein. This cholesterol clings to the walls of your veins and arteries, clogging them up, chocking them up, filling them, in essence, with a thick, gooey, obstructing paste, which it makes it harder and harder for your blood to flow through smoothly and evenly.
If you imagine your veins and arteries as a system of pipes much like the one that brings water to your sink and bathtub, and then imagine going a long, long time without cleaning those pipes, yet filling them with soap scum and hair and bits of food and all the rest of the junk that usually swirls down drains, so that eventually the pipes get filled up with residue that just does not belong there - forcing the water, in time, down a narrower and a narrower chute - until it can't go down anymore, and must come back up, and spill, and overflow - then you'll begin to get a picture of what happens to veins and arteries blocked up with LDL, the bad cholesterol. Your blood will harden and grow sluggish from the effort of moving through your dirty system, until clots form, and then, watch out! - it's stroke and paralysis for you, and even death.

What can be done about this terrible disorder, this disease that is terribly effecting the lives of thousands and millions across the world? Why, it's easy, generally speaking - we only must do what our grandparents, parents, and doctors have told us to do all along, that is, eat healthily and exercise.
Some might say, "Easier said than done!" But diet and exercise does not have to be awful, sickening miserable work - it can be fun, and more than fun, it can be exciting and thrilling, a new beginning. Bodies that exercise, even though it may be difficult indeed at first, begin to crave more and more the feeling of exercise - the feeling ofblood flowing through veins and arteries freely and hotly. Exercise will get that blood moving again, will get it pumping and hot and encourage the sluggish stuff along. And natural foods, foods that grow from the earth, foods low in fat and high in fibers and complex carbohydrates will cleanse the complicated system of pipes so that it's shiny and free again. And, as it is with exercise, so it is with healthy, natural, fresh growing food - the more the body gets, the more the body wants. And soon the body will reject altogether those greasy, fatty foods that got it so sick in the first place.
But first things first! First, there must come a visit to the doctor, where a blood test needs to be taken, so that levels of cholesterol can be charted and known. Then comes the planning of exercise and diet so that each person can climb at his or her own pace. There's no need to start too fast - merely starting is enough.
Some tips on preparing for a cholesterol test:
- Call your doctor and schedule a cholesterol test. Tell him or her your concerns about cholesterol, how you've been feeling and eating in general.
- Usually, you will be told not to eat for at least several hours before the cholesterol test - sometimes you may be told not to eat the night before, either.
- Your blood will be tested to gauge its levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) versus HDL (good cholesterol). The higher the levels of HDL, the lower the levels of LDL, the better chance you have of not suffering from heart disease, which, again, can lead to heart attack and stroke.
- If you've never had a cholesterol test, and you're between the ages of 35 and 65, now's as good at time as any to do so. In fact, it's recommended by most doctors that you have one "periodically" at least. Whether your LDL level is low or high, you can plan with your doctor to make changes that will begin to ensure your good health and longer, happier life.