What is Total Cholesterol?

The sum counts cholesterol heading out to the tissues in LDL and VLDL and cholesterol heading back to the liver in HDL as the same thing, so two people with the same total can have very different mixes behind it. This was the measurement early population studies of heart disease relied on, before separate LDL and HDL measures became routine.

LDL Cholesterol and HDL Cholesterol are the two largest components measured separately. The VLDL particles carrying Triglycerides make up part of the sum as well, so eating can nudge Total Cholesterol slightly while LDL and HDL stay where they are.

Diet contributes saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, with body weight and physical activity acting alongside them. Inherited differences work on both sides, in how much cholesterol the body makes and how fast it clears it. Age moves the total as well, through hormonal changes that follow a different course in men and women.

Total Cholesterol moves over weeks to months. HDL Cholesterol, one of its two main parts, is already measured three times a year, so that part is followed more closely than the sum is. A yearly figure adds the LDL side, which moves more slowly, so a change in the total that the three HDL readings cannot account for must have come from LDL. This is Do Health's monitoring schedule, not a general recommendation for everyone.