High cholesterol is not a laughing matter. Since it can cause you to experience heart disease, which can be life threatening, high cholesterol should not be taken lightly. A very important key to lowering cholesterol levels is having an understanding of your cholesterol ratio. Here are a few of the different things that you should know about your total ratio and your HDL LDL ratio.

The most important thing that you should know about your total cholesterol ratio is that it is a determining factor of your risk of developing heart disease, which can ultimately, and at worst case, lead to death.

The way that it works is by dividing your HDL cholesterol into your overall cholesterol. Keep in mind that cholesterol is measured in milligrams and deciliters, or mg's and dl's. Let's pretend, for example, that your total cholesterol was 200 mg/dl, while your HDL was 50 mg/dl. In this case, your cholesterol ratio would be 4-1. Having cholesterol ratio that is any higher than 5-1 is a sign that you may be at risk for heart disease.

Keep in mind that there is also something called the HDL LDL ratio, which needs to be taken into consideration as well. As you can probably guess, this ratio measures the ratio between your HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. This ratio is a larger determining factor of the risk of heart disease.

The reason is because it shows the ratio between your good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, which is the largest factor that determines your risk of heart disease. The formula to determine HDL LDL ratio is much more complicated and, thus, it tends to be very pricey.

Overall, however, your HDL to LDL cholesterol ratio should not be any higher than 4.4 and you should strive to keep it at or below 3.3. Any HDL to LDL ratio level above 7 to 11 indicates a high risk of heart disease.

Keep in mind that there are several things that you can do in order to lower your cholesterol. Making healthier food choices and following an exercise routine are just two of the many different things that you can do to keep both your HDL to LDL ratio and your total cholesterol ratio down.