Cholesterol: a fatty substance found in certain foods and also found in most organs and tissues of the body. Your body uses cholesterol to make cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and other substances. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs. Excess cholesterol in your blood comes from the food you eat or from a family history of unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Fiber: Fiber is a substance found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. There are two types of dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber helps block cholesterol and fats from being absorbed through the wall of the intestines into the blood stream. Increasing the amount of soluble fiber in your diet by eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains can help lower your cholesterol.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL): a type of cholesterol also known as good cholesterol. Good cholesterol removes bad cholesterol (LDL) from the walls of the arteries and delivers it to the liver for disposal. Having low good cholesterol (HDL) is a major risk factor for heart disease.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL): a type of cholesterol also known as bad cholesterol because it plays a major role in the build-up of plaque in your arteries. Having high bad cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease. The higher your LDL level, the greater your risk for developing heart disease.
Lipoprotein: a type of protein that carries cholesterol in the bloodstream. Lipoproteins are made of fat (lipid) on the inside and proteins on the outside. Good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) are types of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol throughout your body. It is important to have healthy levels of both.
National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP): a program of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.2 The goal of the NCEP is to contribute to reducing illness and death from coronary heart disease (CHD) in the United States by reducing the percentage of Americans with high blood cholesterol.
Niacin: a type of B vitamin. A prescription-only form of niacin is one of the active agents in SIMCOR. This formulation of niacin has been clinically proven to raise good cholesterol (HDL) and lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides.
Plaque: a combination of cholesterol and other substances that builds up in the walls of the arteries. Plaque build-up causes the arteries to narrow and lose elasticity, which causes problems with blood flow. High bad cholesterol (LDL) and low good cholesterol (HDL) can lead to plaque build up in the arteries.
Saturated Fat: a type of dietary fat that can increase bad cholesterol (LDL) levels in the blood. Saturated fat is found primarily in animal products, such as fatty cuts of meat, poultry with the skin, and whole-milk dairy products. It is also found in tropical oils like coconut and palm oils. A diet low in saturated fat can help improve cholesterol numbers.
Simvastatin: a type of cholesterol medicine and one of the clinically-proven medicines in SIMCOR. Simvastatin limits the activity of an enzyme in your liver that is used to make cholesterol, decreasing the amount of cholesterol your body makes.
Triglycerides: are a form of fat made in the body, sometimes referred to as the "other bad lipid". Triglycerides are carried in the blood to tissues where they are used for energy or stored in fat cells for future use.
Unsaturated Fat: There are two types of unsaturated fat—monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fat is found in greatest amounts in foods from plants, including olive, canola, sunflower, and peanut oils. Polyunsaturated fat is found in greatest amounts in foods from plants, including safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean, and cottonseed oils, and many kinds of nuts.
