Cholesterol – the truth
Many people get concerned when they hear the word cholesterol.
So many people still think they get high cholesterol from eggs and bacon, but I’ve taken a section out of the wonderful book The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson to give a better understanding of exactly what cholesterol is and how it is important to your body.
Cholesterol is a little waxy lipid (fat) molecule that happens to be one of the most important substances in the human body.
Every cell membrane has cholesterol to make synapses (connections) with other brain cells.
Cholesterol is the precursor molecule for important hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, DHEA, cortisol and pregnenolone.
Cholesterol is needed for making the bile acids that allow us to digest and absorb fats.
Cholesterol interacts with sunlight to convert the all\important vitamin D.
The bottom line is that you can’t live without cholesterol, which is why your liver actually makes up to 1,400 milligrams a day, regardless of how much food-borne cholesterol you consume – or how much you avoid it like the plague – in your diet.
Dr Dean Ornish and other proponents of low-fat eating will tell you that reducing fat intake quickly reduces cholesterol and triglyceride levels. This is absolutely true, as confirmed by numerous best-selling books as well as newspaper and magazine feature stories touting quick and dramatic results (lowered cholesterol and triglyceride levels) from fat-restrictive diets. But the reason why this happens is this: your liver makes cholesterol as a raw material for the bile salts that help you digest fat, so if you aren’t eating much fat, your genes will be given the signal to down-regulate cholesterol production.
However, low fat eating requires you to consume excessive carbohydrates, by default, to obtain your daily energy requirements.
This leads to excessive insulin production and, as you recall, kick-starts the cycle that eventually leads to heart disease.
Like all topics on health, understanding the history, realizing the myths and discovering the truth is so important. It’s ok to question your doctor, it’s great to get opinions of other qualified health professionals.
There is updated research being published every day, it’s good to work with a team who like to stay on top of this, as some of our medical practitioners are working with older material and not being updated as to what studies have superseded the former information.
To your health
Kerrie
Professional health, fitness and wellbeing coach
