There’s a battle going on, and it's about cholesterol. I have been reading loads of articles, health sites, blogs, and medical information sites to find the truth to cholesterol.
It has become common knowledge that fats and cholesterol are bad for us. Anything low-fat and low-cholesterol is better for us. Eat too many eggs and your chances of experiencing heart disease and/or a heart attack will sky rocket. There is no need to eat saturated fats because the liver will produce ALL the cholesterol that the body needs.
We’ve all heard these statements. But you know what? They are all wrong.
We are accustomed to being told that in order to lower your sky-high cholesterol, you need to take medications. You need to reduce your intake of high cholesterol foods and saturated fats. Eat more oatmeal, low-fat yogurt, more whole grains breads, pastas, and rice. It is east to believe that if you have too much cholesterol in your blood it is because your food sources are high in cholesterol. By eating more grains and limiting your meats, you will lower your risk of heart disease.
Again. Wrong.
I’ll explain why, but first…. can you answer this question? …
What is cholesterol?
Really, ask yourself... do you know what cholesterol is??
First, something to know is that cholesterol and fat are not the same things. Cholesterol is found in fat, and it is a waxy substance that is produced by the liver and it is needed for your overall health and body functions.
- · Production and maintenance of cell membranes
- · Production of hormones
- o Particularly estrogen in women and testosterone in men
- · Production of bile in intestines to aid in digestion
- o Aids in digestion of fat-soluble vitamins (ie, A, D, E, K)
- · Brain functions and neurotransmitter function
- o Necessary for synapses to occur and transmission of electrical impulses
- · Production and maintenance of brain and nerve tissues
- · Precursor for Vitamin D
- o Vit D is best known for it’s role in calcium metabolism and bone health
- o Sunlight is required to turn cholesterol into Vit D
And last BUT not least!
- · Cholesterol is vital in repairing damages within our body
- It will concentrate on a part of the body that has inflammation, infection, or a wound.
Real Quick:
- · When we eat large amounts of cholesterol, the body’s production decreases.
- · When you eat smaller amounts of cholesterol, the body will go into protection mode and the liver will increase its production.
- In addition to this, when the body detects an increase in inflammation, free radicals, and infection it will produce more cholesterol to combat the problem.
So… Is Cholesterol a Villian? Or a Knight in Shining Armor?
The average person, who doesn’t watch what they eat, will have tons of inflammation and free radicals floating through their body. This comes from eating junk foods, sugars, refined grains, processed foods, chemically altered foods, drinking too much alcohol, tons of corn-made-somethings (cornmeal, corn syrup, corn starch, etc) and other toxins that aren’t natural to the human body.
These free radicals, this uncontrolled blood sugar, along with other inflammation causing activities cause microscopic tears in your arteries. That’s when the Knight in Shining Armor (Chooo-leees-ter-ooool!!) comes to the rescue to repair the damages. This waxy substance acts like spackle on a wall, repairing the tear and hoping that will do the trick of resolving the problem.
Well, if the cause of the issue is not addressed and free radicals and inflammation continue to occur, the Knight will continue to comeback, setting more plaster into the wound.
So what would happen if you kept putting spackle onto the same hole in a wall? It gets thicker, naturally. As the plaque builds up in your arteries, the plaque hardens, then the artery hardens and you are on your way to Heart Attack-ville.
Is it fair to say that cholesterol is the problem or the answer to damages arties? I’d say that cholesterol is just doing its job. But in order to lower your cholesterol you need to stop eating the inflammation inducing foods. The high cholesterol is a red-flag for other problems that are going on in your body.
I think this ideology can be linked to many doctors wanting to fix the symptoms, not the problems. If you have high cholesterol, rethink the idea that it’s the fats doing the damage rather than the other foods you are eating.
My philosophy is that if the food is readily accessible, easy to open, easy to eat, and has to advertise a single “health benefit” on the package, it’s probably not good for you. If the food is from nature and takes effort to prepare, than it’s more likely to be natural to your body and will not cause the inflammation and health problems that Americans face.
Check out these sources, and rethink everything you’ve been told about fats and cholesterols.
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