Effects of diet, physical fitness and hormones on high density lipoprotein (part II: Physical fitness and hormones)

Dietary influence (except alcohol) on high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration was less significant than on the low density lipoprotein (LDL). However, physical fitness and sex hormones may exert more influences on HDL-C level than dietary factors. We discuss the relationships between HDL-C and physical fitness in three areas. First, obesity index such as body mass index (BMI) is negatively correlated with HDL-C level. Second, body fat distribution, represented by waist hip ratio (WHR), is also negatively correlated with HDL-C independent from BMI. Third, various forms of exercise increase HDL-C significantly with a benefit of losing body fatness. Even though females tend to have higher HDL-C than males by an average of 25 percent, the metabolic roles of sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone affecting on blood lipids are still unknown. Whether the postmenopausal women have lower or higher HDL-C levels than the premenopausal women remains controversial. Improve physical fitness to increase HDL-C is the best lifestyle recommendation until today.