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What are Normal Cholesterol Levels?

The ideal cholesterol reading for total cholesterol (HDL + LDL) should be below 200 mg/dL. Total cholesterol levels between 200 and 239 mg/dL is considered borderline high risk while levels above 240 is considered high risk.

Total Cholesterol Levels should not be too low either. Anything less than 179 mg/L is not desirable.

In evaluating cholesterol, we must consider the components that make up total cholesterol. HDL or Good Cholesterol should be high and range between 38-72 mg/L for men and between 46-87 mg/L for women. LDL or Bad Cholesterol should be low. Less than 100 mg/L is optimal while 100-129 mg/L is considered near optimal. Between 130-159 mg/L is borderline high while 160-189 mg/L is high. Anything above 190 mg/L is too high.

It is important to measure cholesterol ratio which is the ratio of total cholesterol level to HDL cholesterol. Cholesterol ratio indicates your risk to heart disease and it should be as low as possible. A Cholesterol ratio between 2.5 and 3.6 is below average while 3.7 and 5.5 is average. Between 5.6 and 8.3 is high while anything above 8.3 is simply too high indicating a higher risk of heart disease.

For example if your total cholesterol level is 198 mg/L and your HDL cholesterol is 68mg/L. Divinding 198 by 68 gives you a cholesterol ratio of 2.9 which indicate a low risk to heart disease.

Triglycerides should be as low as possible. A high level of triglecerides makes clots more likely to occur. The normal range is between 7 and 177 mg/L.

Finally lipoprotein (a) which is another major risk factor for heart disease should be less than 30 mg/L.

Note: Outside the US, cholesterol levels are expressed in Milli Moles per litre. To convert mg/dl (milligrams/deciliter) of HDL or LDL cholesterol to mmol/l (millimoles/liter), divide by 39. To convert triglycerides to mmol/L, divide by 89.

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