Cholesterol... Protector of our Health

Did you know that the connection between fat, cholesterol and heart disease is a theory and has never been definitively proven in the research?  If you are like me, that idea is flabbergasting!  For decades we have been told to watch our saturated fat so that are cholesterol stays low and we don’t develop heart disease.  Over the last few years, research has shown that this connection is not so simple.  Research has uncovered that people with the highest cholesterol in the over 75 category, live the longest.  Women are another category of people who need higher cholesterol to be healthy.  Plus, we should be eating saturated fat. 

To understand why low cholesterol may not be healthy, we must first understand what it does in the body.  Cholesterol is part of every cell in the body and plays a role in keeping those cells healthy.  It rushes to sites of inflammation and infection to help in healing.  Cholesterol is a building block to every type of hormone including sex hormones and vitamin D.  Cholesterol is so important to our health; our body produces it so it is not dependant on the sources that we eat.

Cholesterol is important to our brain.  Our brain is 2% of our body weight but contains 25% of our cholesterol.  When we go to sleep at night our brain makes more cholesterol; another reason why sleep is good for us.  Cholesterol is the limiting factor in the formation of connections between neurons.  So the more cholesterol available the more synapses made that allow us to learn and remember things.  It also impacts serotonin.  Adverse mental side effects have been connected with low cholesterol levels, with people reporting bouts of intense unhappiness and an increased likelihood of suicidal behaviors.  This is why antidepressants tend to increase cholesterol levels.  Less cholesterol is not better when it comes to brain function.

Another important role of cholesterol is in digestion.  Bile acids are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver and sent to the small intestine or stored in the gall bladder for later use.  These bile acids are responsible for breaking down fat and emulsifying it with water.  This action makes it so our digestive enzymes can break down fat.  Without cholesterol, there would be no fat digestion and much indigestion!

Cholesterol helps the body heal.  Without proper amounts we can’t repair inflammation or battle infection.  When cholesterol falls below 200 mg/dl, our immune system is suppressed.  As your cholesterol drops, your risk of dying from cancer and infectious diseases increases dramatically.  Cholesterol is your body’s repair substance – similar to crazy glue but it can also act as potting soil to grow new healthy cells. 

If cholesterol is not to blame, what dietary changes should we make to improve our lipid panel?

 ·   Saturated fats found in grassfed and pastured meats, full fat dairy and coconut will improve your HDL number. 

·      Removing industrial seed oils, like vegetable oils, soy oil, canola oil and margarine, and trans fats will lower you LDL number. 

·      Plus removing processed foods that are full of refined carbohydrates will lower your triglycerides and improve your LDL. 

 Do not be afraid of eggs, even the yokes, because even if cholesterol was bad the cholesterol we eat does not affect our blood cholesterol.  It does, however, decrease the need for our body to make so much and therefore decreases it’s workload.  Cholesterol has very important functions in our body so eat your eggs, butter and liver.

 I talk about cholesterol this week, not to encourage you to stop your cholesterol medications but to encourage you to educate yourself on why you are taking it and what your lipid panel really means to your overall health.