What is a good LDL to HDL ratio? Included in this cholesterol chart is the recommended cholesterol levels in the blood, along with borderline and high risk cholesterol measurements. Cholesterol Level in Blood: Recommended. Overall cholesterol. For example, in the U.S. High cholesterol is defined as a total reading of 240 mg/dl, but in Canada we talk about high cholesterol as a total reading of 7 or 8. How does one compare these readings.
Most people know that high cholesterol levels present real dangers to a person’s health. However, many people just aren’t sure of what counts as good cholesterol numbers. Learning some guideline numbers can help a person to have a realistic goal for which to aim.
The first thing to know about good cholesterol numbers is that they are expressed as different units of measurement in different countries. The United States uses milligrams as the standard for measuring cholesterol, and levels in the blood are expressed as milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl). In Canada, millimoles per liter (mmol/L) are used in measuring cholesterol numbers, and the same goes for many parts of Europe.
In the United States, good cholesterol numbers for the average, healthy person are less than 200 mg per deciliter of blood. Once a person gets to 200 mg, he is considered to have borderline-high levels of cholesterol. Once levels reach 240 mg or more, the person is considered to have high cholesterol.
In Canada and many European countries, good cholesterol numbers are those under 5.2 mmol per liter of blood. In such places 5.2 mmol up to 6.2 mmol is considered borderline high. Once a person’s levels move above 6.2 mmol per liter of blood, his levels of cholesterol are considered high.