In the past few years at my health assessments, I have been heavily praised for my HDL cholesterol, which is 96, and told in the next breath my total number, at 201, needs to be lowered.
The guidelines I've been given are:
Total Cholesterol: Less than 200 mg/dL
HDL Cholesterol: Greater than 40 mg/dL
I'm having a hard time understanding why I would need to lower my total cholesterol if the reason it's so high is healthy HDL, which lowers the risk of heart disease.
I'm an extremely health-conscious 29 year old female; I've been exercising several times a week for 10+ years and eat a healthy, balanced diet. I'm not quite sure what I could even do differently!
Any insight would be greatly appreciated, as I can never seem to remember ask this question at my appointments!
Healthy HDL = High Total Cholesterol? 
