Forget about the old-fashioned cholesterol readings that basically give you three figures — LDL (bad) cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, and triglycerides. "That's so out of date it's laughable," says nationally known nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of Smart Fat: Eat More Fat. Lose More Weight. Get Healthy Now, tells Newsmax Health.

"For decades, we've been taught that lower cholesterol numbers translate into a lower risk of heart disease," he says. "That's just not true. Half the people admitted to the hospital for heart attack or stroke have normal cholesterol levels.

"Lowering cholesterol has limited benefits," he says. "Cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease — the real cause is inflammation."

Cholesterol is much more complicated than just the three figures we've been given for years. "We now know there are at least five types of LDL and several kinds of HDL, and they behave differently," he says.

"LDL isn't a monolithic molecule that always acts the same.

LDL cholesterol molecules are defined by their size — pattern A particles are large and buoyant, and pattern B particles are small and dense.

"The most important of the subclasses of LDL are A and B," says Bowden. "Under a microscope, LDL-A looks like a big cotton ball. "What does a cotton ball do if you throw it at somebody? Nothing. It's innocuous.

"LDL-B, however, looks like a little BB gun pellet. It's a nasty little inflammatory product that's capable of doing a lot of damage," says Bowden.

"It's not enough to say you have high LDL, so you have a high risk for heart disease. If most of it is LDL-A, there's no problem.

"My own LDL level is what mainstream doctors would consider high. But 99 percent of it is LDL-A, not B. I'd rather have a higher LDL if it's mostly A than a lower LDL that's mostly B."

So, if you get your cholesterol levels checked and find out that although your LDL levels are high, if most of it is LDL pattern A, your risk is actually low, says Bowden.

There is a quick, do-it-yourself test that will indicate your cardiovascular risk using your HDL number as well as your triglyceride number. (High triglycerides are known to be a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease.)

"You can predict heart disease by figuring out the ratio of your triglycerides to your HDL," says Bowden. "Simply take your triglycerides and divide by your HDL."

"For instance, if your triglyceride is 100 and your HDL is 50, your ratio is 2 to 1. That is very good. Ratios of two or under are very low risk. Ratios of 5 or higher are very high risk.

"It's hard to raise your HDL, but if you can get your triglycerides to drop, the ratio drops even if the HDL stays the same. Anything that lowers triglycerides is a good thing."

"One reason I recommend that people take bergamot extract is that it lowers triglycerides and changes LDL-B to LDL-A.

"If we’re trying to reduce heart disease, lowering cholesterol is one of the least important things we can do," he says. "But lowering your triglyceride/HDL ratio will slash your risk of heart disease."