Your healthy target: Less than 120/80 mm Hg
Why it matters: Your blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. If it’s too high, your heart must work harder. Over time, high blood pressure can cause the heart to enlarge or weaken. This can lead to heart failure. High blood pressure can also narrow your arteries, which disrupts proper blood flow to your heart or brain, triggering a heart attack or stroke.
Your healthy target: Up to 100 mg/dL
Why it matters: Your body breaks down food into glucose (a type of sugar), which cells absorb for energy. When this process doesn't work correctly, glucose builds up in the blood. Extra sugar in your bloodstream is a sign of diabetes, a disease that can harm every organ in your body, while also damaging nerves and blood vessels.
Your healthy target total cholesterol: Less than 200 mg/dL total
Why it matters: Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in your body’s cells. It helps your body make important vitamins and hormones. But too much cholesterol can lead to plaque buildup inside your blood vessels. This sticky substance causes your arteries to harden and narrow, which limits blood flow to your heart.
Your lipoprotein targets:
LDL: Less than 100 mg/dL
HDL: men greater than 40 mg/dL and women greater than 50 mg/dL
Why it matters: The body makes all the cholesterol it needs. Cholesterol circulates in the bloodstream but cannot travel by itself. As with oil and water, cholesterol (which is fatty) and blood (which is watery) do not mix. So cholesterol travels in packages called lipoproteins, which have fat (lipid) inside and protein outside. Two main kinds of lipoproteins carry cholesterol in the blood:
- Low density lipoprotein, or LDL, is called the “bad” cholesterol because it carries cholesterol to tissues, including the arteries. Most of the cholesterol in the blood is the LDL form. The higher the level of LDL cholesterol in the blood, the greater your risk for heart disease.
- High density lipoprotein, or HDL, is called the “good” cholesterol because it takes cholesterol from tissues to the liver, which removes it from the body. A low level of HDL cholesterol increases your risk for heart disease.
Your healthy target: Less than 150 mg/dL
Why it matters: Triglycerides, which are produced in the liver, are another type of fat found in the blood and in food. Causes of raised triglycerides are overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol intake, and a diet very high in carbohydrates (60 percent of calories or higher). A triglyceride level of 150 mg/dL or higher also is one of the risk factors of metabolic syndrome.
