We’re going to talk about how vitamins, minerals, and other supplements can help high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Rather than explain these very common health problems over and over, we’re going to deal with them here instead.

High Cholesterol

We worry so much about our cholesterol these days that we sometimes forget that you need cholesterol to live. Cholesterol is a waxy fat your body needs to make your cell membranes and many hormones, among other important roles. Most of your cholesterol you make in your liver, but also you get some from eating animal foods. Just like oil and water, cholesterol and blood don’t mix. To get the cholesterol to where it has to go, your liver coats it with a layer of protein. The protein keeps the cholesterol together so that it doesn’t just float around in your blood. The technical name for the cholesterol-protein package is lipoprotein.

There are several different kinds of lipoproteins, but the two most important are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Most of the cholesterol in your blood is carried as LDL cholesterol; only about a third to a quarter is carried as HDL cholesterol. But too much LDL cholesterol in the blood can lead to atherosclerosis—”clogging” of the arteries—which can lead to heart disease, stroke, and other problems. That’s why LDL cholesterol is often called “bad” cholesterol. HDL cholesterol actually helps remove cholesterol from the blood—that’s why it’s often called “good” cholesterol. Ideally, you want to have a relatively low LDL level and a relatively high HDL level.

What’s a good level and how do you know? To measure your blood cholesterol levels, your doctor sends a sample of your blood to a laboratory, where the amounts of LDL and HDL in it are measured. (To make sure the results are accurate, don’t eat for twelve hours before the test.) The results come back as milligrams per deciliter, abbreviated as mg/dL (a deciliter is one-tenth of a liter). Usually there are two numbers: your total cholesterol (LDL plus HDL) and your LDL stated separately. In general, if your total cholesterol is below 200 mg/dL, you don’t have to worry. If it’s above 200 mg/dL but below 240 mg/dL, you have borderline high cholesterol. If it’s above 240 mg/dL, you have high cholesterol.

If your cholesterol is borderline high or high, lowering it by even 10 percent could prevent a heart attack or stroke. Eating less fat, getting more exercise, and quitting smoking are the most important steps, along with cholesterol-lowering drugs if your doctor recommends them.

High Blood Pressure

Every time your heart beats (about 60 to 70 times a minute when you’re resting), it pumps blood out through large blood vessels called arteries. Blood pressure is the force of that blood as it pushes against the walls of the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when your heart beats and pushes the blood out—doctors call this the systolic pressure. When the heart is at rest between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is called diastolic pressure. Blood pressure is always given as two numbers: first the systolic and then the diastolic pressure.

Normal blood pressure ranges from below 130 to 140 systolic and below 85 to 90 diastolic. If your blood pressure is less than 140/90, then, it’s normal. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is anything above 140/90. High blood pressure gets more serious as the numbers get higher. Your risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease go up along with your blood pressure.

If your blood pressure is high, there are many lifestyle steps you can take to lower it, like losing weight, getting more exercise, avoiding salt, giving up cigarettes, and drinking less alcohol. If that doesn’t help, or if your blood pressure stays high, your doctor may prescribe drugs to bring it down.

Diabetes

This recommendations is for who have noninsulin-dependent diabetes. People with this disease have trouble getting glucose, your body’s main fuel, from their blood into their cells, where it can be turned into energy. Diabetes can lead to serious complications. It’s the single biggest cause of kidney disease, for example; it’s also a leading cause of blindness. Diabetics have double the risk of the general population for heart attack and stroke.

Noninsulin-dependent diabetes can be controlled by losing weight, watching your diet carefully, getting more exercise, and taking the medicine your doctor prescribes. Many of the problems diabetics get, including a painful condition called diabetic neuropathy, can be helped by vitamin, minerals, and supplements.