Cholesterol is defined as:
the most common type of steroid in the physical body. Cholesterol has a reputation for being associated with an increased risk for blood vessel and heart disease. But, cholesterol is essential to the formation of bile acids, vitamin D, progesterone, estrogens (estradiol, estrone, estriol), androgens (androsterone, testosterone), mineralocorticoid hormones (aldosterone, corticosterone), and glucocorticoid hormones (cortisol). Cholesterol is also necessary to the normal function and permeability of the membranes that surround cells. (Medicine.Net, 2012).
Therefore, without cholesterol we would not be able to sustain life.
As I have discussed previously, the lipid hypothesis/diet-heart hypothesis/cholesterol hypothesis has never been proven. Yet it is touted as fact by almost every government and government affiliated association. This is made abundantly clear through the recommendation of avoiding saturated fat and keeping our cholesterol intake to below 300mg per day. The low fat/diet industry is now worth billions of dollars so it is understandable why the government keeps pushing this message. As consumers though, we need to start being more discerning about what advice we take. For me, all I have to do is look at the rising numbers of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, depression etc. to know that something is not right about what we are being told.
Did you know that:
1. The cholesterol industry is worth billions of dollars every year (i.e. drugs taken to lower cholesterol)
2. The recommendations for the cholesterol healthy ranges come from the Australian Heart Association who receive millions of dollars every year from their pharmaceutical sponsors
3. In women especially, the higher the cholesterol, the better the full life expectancy
4. In a recent study, those with lower cholesterol died an average of 4.4 years before those with higher cholesterol
5. The testing for cholesterol can often be very inaccurate and was one of the first blood tests developedThe cause of oxidation is still being investigated but a number of things are known:
- Polyunsaturated oils tend to oxidise far more than saturated fats
- Sugar (particularly fructose) increases blood triglyceride (fat) levels and LDL levels
- Free radicals promote oxidation (smoking is a major free radial producer)
- Antioxidants combat the effects of free radicals
- The amount of oxidised LDL in your blood correlates strongly to your risk of a CVD
- Oxidised LDL cause epithelial injury resulting in an inflammatory response.
There is no relationship between LDL-C levels and coronary artery disease. But there is a STRONG linear relationship between oxidised LDL-C and coronary heart disease.
Finally, the ratio of real concern is the oxidised LDL-C to HDL-C ratio. (McNamara, 2013)
Of importance, is that you can have high levels of LDL-C and low levels of oxidised LDL-C and conversely low levels of LDL-C and high levels of oxidised LDL-C. Getting a reading of your LDL-C levels is not enough. The real issue is how much of your LDL-C is oxidised! You might now be wondering why doctors do not get this reading checked and why people are being told to take cholesterol lowering medications. Well as I said initially, the cholesterol industry is booming and research is indicating that the medications used to lower cholesterol (particularly statins) do not do much to the oxidised LDL levels and also have some pretty nasty side effects. A book that is well worth a read at this point is The Great Cholesterol Myth by Dr Johnny Bowden and Dr Stephen Sinatra. This book covers everything you need to know about saturated fat, high carb diets and of course cholesterol.
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