Knowing what is a good cholesterol levels is critical if you want to ensure that you maintain a healthy heart.
There are primarily two types of cholesterol we need to concern ourselves with, the first is LDL (bad) and the second is HDL (good).
What we are looking to achieve with these two types of cholesterol is high levels of HDL, and moderately low levels of LDL.
One thing to note though is that we do not want our LDL levels to be too low or totally eliminated, because LDL is critical to the body functioning properly and if there is not enough of it to then this too can cause health concerns.
When we come to measure cholesterol levels we need to know three things, the total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and of course the LDL cholesterol level.
In the USA these are measured in milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per deciliter (dl).
So what is a good cholesterol level? Following are the optimal ranges; -

• Total Cholesterol - 180-220mgdl
• LDL Cholesterol - Less than 100mgdl
• HDL Cholesterol - Over 50mgdl

So now that we know what is good cholesterol level how can we go about achieving it? One of the first things you could do is of course discuss it with your physician who may decide to recommend statins medication.
If this is the case it is something that you really want to think long and hard about because once you are on this medication then it is for life and it comes with some pretty serious side effects too.
The reason it has serious side effects is because the way that it works is to inhibit an enzyme in the liver which creates cholesterol, unfortunately at the same time it also inhibits another enzyme which is needed by every single cell in your body for energy.
Long-term deprivation of this other enzyme can have serious consequences which include heart failure.
However, an increasingly popular choice for many people as alternatives to statins is the use of supplements from natural nutrients.
In particular there are now blended supplements in the marketplace which have taken the best cholesterol controlling nutrients and put them all together in one single tablet.
If you do decide to go down this route then when choosing a supplement you want to ensure that it is able to help your body do the following actions: -

• Reduce cholesterol production
• Reduce the amount of cholesterol that is absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract
• Decrease the amount of blood fats circulating in the body
• Increase the amount of cholesterol that is removed from the body
• Reduce the amount of oxidized cholesterol the body contains

Although achieving this criteria make seem to be a tall order, it is possible with the right nutrients in the blended supplements.
The kind of ingredients you are looking at include but are not limited to ingredients such as policosanol, phytosterol's and lecithin.