A misguided fallacy that persists to this day is the belief that dietary cholesterol from saturated fats increases your risk of heart attacks. The anti-saturated fat propaganda was started in the late 1950s by the American vegetable oil industry, in competition with the traditional fats like butter, lard (pork fat), and beef tallow (rendered beef fat).

As partially hydrogenated vegetable oils became more and more widely used and traditional fats shunned, we began to see an epidemic of heart attacks. The medical community initially blamed dietary cholesterol from saturated fats as the cause of the problem.

It was not until the late 1980s when the Canadian government first reported on the adverse effects of trans fat (product of partially hydrogentated vegetable oils) on blood cholesterol. Then finally in 1992, the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) acknowledged that heart disease, breast and prostate cancers are related to increased intakes of trans fat.

Dietary cholesterol is not associated with high blood cholesterol and risk of heart attacks. High blood cholesterol is the result of eating too much trans fat and having too much inflammation in your body.

Role Of Cholesterol In Our Body

The saturated fats from animal sources like meat, eggs, dairy products, and seafood contain cholesterol. For decades we have been avoiding dietary cholesterol for fear of high blood cholesterol and heart attacks. The truth is that our body actually requires a great deal of cholesterol for proper functioning. It is not even possible for us to eat enough cholesterol-containing foods every day to supply the amount that is needed for proper functioning.

First, the intestinal cells absorb less than half of the cholesterol that we eat.

Second, cholesterol from food sources only makes up about 20% of our body’s daily cholesterol needs, our liver has to produce the other 80%. When there is no cholesterol in the diet, as in the case for strict vegetarians, the body’s cholesterol synthesis becomes very active.

Cholesterol is vital for many body functions. We cannot survive without cholesterol.

Cholesterol plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of all our cells. It helps the cell membranes keep their proper shape.

Cholesterol in the skin is used in the process of vitamin D production.

Cholesterol helps the liver produce bile acids. These acids are essential for digestion of fats.

Cholesterol ensures that our brain (made of mainly saturated fats and cholesterol) functions properly by aiding the route of electrical impulses. Without it, we would have difficulty focusing and we might lose memory.

Cholesterol plays an important role in the formation of sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress.

Cholesterol acts as an antioxidant against free radical attack.

Cholesterol is used by the body as a raw material for the healing process. This is the reason the injured areas in the arteries (as in atherosclerosis) have cholesterol along with several other components such as calcium and collagen in the scar tissue.

We now know that coronary heart disease is caused by damage to the lining of our arteries. When damage occurs, chemicals are released to initiate the process of inflammation. Our liver manufactures cholesterol, then transports it through the bloodstream to repair the damaged tissue. If the damage is excessive, extra cholesterol will be distributed. Ultimately, scars, which we call plague, form inside our arteries.

Understanding Blood Cholesterol

Cholesterol is sometimes called a fat, but in reality it is a special kind of alcohol. Cholesterol is insoluble in blood; therefore, it is transported in the circulatory system within carriers called lipoproteins (packages of fat and protein). There are many different types of lipoproteins within the blood; the two most abundant types are the high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and the low-density lipoproteins (LDL). The cholesterol within all the various lipoproteins is identical.

Many call HDL the “good” cholesterol because it takes old cholesterol that has been discarded by cells from the arteries back to the liver for recycling or excretion. Having large numbers of HDL particles correlates with good health. LDL, on the other hand, is usually called the “bad” cholesterol because it transports cholesterol from the liver to the damaged tissues. Having large numbers of LDL particles is an indication of inflammation and is strongly associated with accumulation of plague in the arteries.

Preventing Chronic Inflammation

Since inflammation is the cause of high blood cholesterol, having your blood tested for C-reactive protein (CRP) is an outstanding way to screen for hidden inflammation.

There are many nutritional and lifestyle approaches to reducing inflammation:

Avoid all trans fat. A process called “partial hydrogenation” converts liquid vegetable oils into a man-made fat that has better functional characteristics for cooking, frying, and baking. Trans fat is detrimental because it lowers HDL (good) cholesterol and raises blood levels of Lp(a). It has become the mainstream of processed foods due to its lower cost and longer shelf life.

Avoid using margarine and hydrogenated vegetable oils made from canola, corn, safflower, soybean, and sunflower. Trans fat is also found in many baked goods such as cookies, crackers, cakes, pastries, snack chips and deep fried foods such as doughnuts, fried chicken, and French fries.

Increase intake of omega-3 fats and reduce intake of omega-6 fats. Omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory and omega-6 fats are pro-inflammatory but both are essential fatty acids required by the body. In our modern day diet, we just consume too much of the omega-6s (mostly from processed foods) and not enough of the omega-3s.

Best sources of omega-3 fats are fatty, cold-water fish or a high-quality, mercury and toxin-free fish oil. Flaxseed oil which contains alpha linolenic acid (ALA), the precursor of omega-3 fats, is not as preferable since many people are not effective in the conversion of ALA to omega-3s.

Omega-6 fats are found in vegetable oils such as corn, evening primrose, hemp, safflower, sesame, soybean, and sunflower. If you choose to use vegetable oils, only buy the cold-pressed version (all cold-pressed oils are expeller-pressed, but expeller-pressed oils are not necessarily cold-pressed) as high temperature processing always results in the formation of free radicals which depletes your body’s antioxidant storage.

Avoid foods cooked at high temperatures and charred meats.

Optimize your insulin levels by eliminating sugars (especially high fructose corn syrup) and refined carbohydrates. Stick to low-glycemic, high-fiber carbohydrates.

Optimize your vitamin D levels. A simple blood test called “25(OH) vitamin D” will give you a good indication. If necessary, take an oral supplement of D3 (cholecalciferol).

Start exercising at least 30 minutes on most days of the week. When you exercise, you increase your blood circulation throughout the body and your immune system gets strengthened.

Don’t stress. If you cannot reduce it, find ways to cope with it.

If you drink, limit to one alcoholic drink a day for women and two for men.

Do not smoke.

The Bottom Line

The amount of cholesterol that we eat is not associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease.

Our body requires much cholesterol for many vital functions.

Our body has very active cholesterol synthesis capability to supplement whatever shortfall in our diet.

If you are not allergic to eggs, it is okay to eat one whole egg every day.

Trans fat is the worse of all fats. Do not use margarine; use a traditional fat such as butter instead. Avoid foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Stay away from deep fried foods and commercial baked goods. Be aware of the type of oil used in your favorite restaurants.

Accumulation of plague in arteries is an indication of chronic inflammation in your body.

Increase intake of omega-3s from fatty, cold water fish.

Reduce intake of omega-6s by consuming less vegetable oils and processed foods.

Exercise, reduce stress, drink moderately, and do not smoke.

Author: Carol Chuang
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The first thought that comes to a person’s mind when buying something with high cholesterol level would be “NO! I don’t want to end my life with a heart attack!!” They are probably right but CAN THEY POSSIBLY LIVE WITH NO CHOLESTEROL AT ALL? Cholesterol is the cause of number of diseases related to heart but on the other side it is an essential sterol that gets converted to other steroid hormones. Not to mention that the cholesterol intake level of a person is proportional inversely to the cholesterol synthesized by the body itself. So is cholesterol really a nightmare or is this just another misconception?

Cholesterol is a lipid found in the tissues of all the animals, associated with other sterols. It is the best known member of the biological group – sterol, a combination of steroid and an alcohol. Most of the cholesterol is produced inside the body and only a minute quantity has dietary origin.

Almost of 20-25% of the total daily production occurs in the liver. The other sites include the intestines, suprarenal glands and reproductive organs. This cholesterol is either converted to other hormones, transported to cell that require cholesterol or secreted via bile into the intestines. Of the cholesterol poured into the intestines, 92-97% is reabsorbed in the intestines and recycled via the enterohepatic circulation. The cholesterol, insoluble in blood, of the diet is transported to the liver from the intestines, where it is absorbed, within the lipoproteins – chilomicrons, Very Low Density Proteins (VLDL), Intermediate Density Lipoproteins (IDL), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) & High Density Lipoproteins (HDL).

Cholesterol is mainly obtained from food having saturated fatty acids and is also synthesized from acetate inside the body. Normally the total amount of cholesterol from these two sources remains constant because the rate of cholesterol synthesis in the liver is under feedback control. When the dietary intake is high, liver synthesis is low; when intake is low, synthesis increases.

LDL is the major transport protein for cholesterol, supplying both free and esterified cholesterol to body tissues. High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) is involved in the transport of cholesterol to the liver to be broken down and excreted, and in removing some LDL cholesterol from artery walls. The esterified cholesterol is essential for a cell to maintain the fluidity of membrane over a wide range of temperature, so the cells use this esterified cholesterol for its maintenance. If the cholesterol is not esterified, the cells pushes it and the free cholesterol comes in the cholesterol, which sometimes along with Ca++ accumulates in the capillaries causing embolus formation and coronary obstruction.

The significance of cholesterol cannot be neglected. Some researched indicate that cholesterol might be used as an anti-oxidant. Besides that it also maintains the fluidity of the cell membranes. The cholesterol content of a membrane varies with the tissue and with specific membrane function. The ratio of cholesterol to polar lipids affects the stability, permeability, and protein mobility of a membrane. Membranes with high ratios have high stability and relatively low permeability; their major function is a protective barrier.

They serve primarily in synthetic and degradative reactions and energy production. It also reduces the permeability of hydrogen and sodium ions. In addition to its role in membrane structure cholesterol has other important functions. Cholesterol is stored in the adrenals, testes, and ovaries, chiefly as the fatty acid ester, and converted to steroid hormones. These hormones include the male and female sex hormones (androgens and estrogens) as well as the adrenal corticoids (cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone, and others). In the liver cholesterol is the precursor of the bile acids, 24 steroid carboxylic acids that aid in the digestion of foods, especially lipids, and, when linked with the amino acids glycine or taurine, form the bile salts. Recently it has been suggested that cholesterol assists in the formation of lipid rafts in the membrane.

Besides the numerous functions of cholesterol, high free cholesterol level in the blood can cause life threatening problems as well. As mentioned above LDL is involved in the transportation of cholesterol. But high levels of LDL or free cholesterol in the blood causes the cholesterol to deposit in the blood capillaries hence narrowing the lumen of the vessels. The narrowed vessels increase the blood pressure and may lead to its rupture and ultimately causing an embolus. In the brain, it causes cerebro-vascular accidents and in heart it causes Ischemic Heart Disease. High LDL level are major cause for the arthrosclerosis of the arteries, leading to coronary heart disease and other forms of cardiovascular disease. However increase levels of HDL not only transport cholesterol to the liver to be broken down and excreted but also remove LDL cholesterol from the artery walls.

It has been suggested that abnormally low levels of cholesterol might cause depression, cancer and cerebral hemorrhage but it unclear whether cholesterol itself is responsible for it or something else associated with low levels of cholesterol. Esterified cholesterol when crystallizes in the gall bladder, is the major cause of formation of gall stones which leads to severe pain in near the liver region.

Cholesterol is present in many dietary components that we consume daily. This cholesterol is called the dietary cholesterol. Its percentage is significantly higher in animal fats (saturated fats), eggs, yolks, beef, poultry, liver, kidneys, and shrimps. Besides these, plants and fungi also contain trace amounts of cholesterol so even a vegetarian’s diet has cholesterol in it but in trace amounts.

Although the intake level of cholesterol must be kept low but not so low so as to lead to its deficiency which would the affect the normal anatomical and physiological state of the body. Since the total cholesterol level in the body almost always remains same so people with higher cholesterol intake maybe at the same risk of having a heart attack as those with lower cholesterol intake. An effective way to keep the cholesterol balance healthful and beneficial to the body is by exercising regularly whether walking, sprinting, or working out in the gym. With this, the benefits of cholesterol would dominate its harms and the body would function normally at its optimum performance.

Author: Umar Majeed
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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