Cholesterol: Not Really a Bad Guy - Part 1 |
By Dr. Tom Wnorowski
First published at www.MohrResults.com, August 2007
Aahh, the much maligned fat that helps to keep us alive. You knew that, didn’t you? Cholesterol is most often associated with bad things, such as heart attacks, yet it is an integral part of the very cells from which we are made. Animals have cell membranes, not cell walls. Cell walls are reserved for plants, which have no structural support of their own. Animals have skeletons, either exo- or endo-. If you had a cell wall, you’d be all crispy and crunchy when your grandma hugged you. The cell membrane, on the other hand, allows food and waste to pass in and out of the cell body. That membrane is made from, you guessed it, cholesterol and protein.
Cholesterol also is responsible for the production of certain hormones, particularly those that control the reproductive system. Without it there would be delayed development of secondary sexual characteristics. Skin oils and the myelin sheaths rely upon cholesterol for their integrity. Believe it or not, cholesterol is actually a steroid, the most abundant one in animal tissue. It is manufactured by the liver regardless of whether or not it is ingested, and is found only in animal products, never in plants. Cholesterol itself is not a fat because its structure is different from that of the triglycerides. Generally, it travels in the bloodstream attached to long-chain fatty acids, thus forming cholesterol esters. A cholesterol compound in the skin, named 7-dehydrocholesterol, is activated by ultraviolet light from the sun to manufacture vitamin D3, needed to prevent rickets, and, according to some researchers, certain cancers and diseases of the central nervous system.
The carriers of cholesterol in the bloodstream are the lipoproteins, themselves hydrophobic. Conjugation with protein facilitates their transport in the aqueous medium of the plasma. As the proportion of the lipid in the lipoprotein increases, its density decreases. It is general knowledge that the concentrations of certain serum lipoproteins correlate closely with the risk of atherosclerosis. Dietary factors are important in some persons, but basal levels of lipoprotein, cholesterol, and triglycerides may depend largely on heredity. Several genotypes of familial hyperlipoproteinemia associated with high risk of premature cardiovascular disease have been identified.
The task of lipid absorption is not an easy one because lipids are not soluble in water, and blood is mostly water. The body actually requires three stages of operation to metabolize them. It is beyond the scope of this article to elaborate.
Health requires lipids. This truism is evidenced by the number of functions they perform in nutrition, both dietarily and metabolically. Hedonically, they give flavor to food and the mouth feel that leads to gustatory satiety. Artificial substitutes cannot supply the same satisfaction. Fats leave the gastric arena more slowly than other nutrients, thus contributing to feelings of fullness.
If you have a problem with cholesterol balance, there are several things you can do. Dietary cholesterol is not likely to become a part of serum cholesterol. Saturated fat, on the other hand, encourages the liver to make more cholesterol. Therefore, eating those eggs for breakfast might just be less harmful than previously was suspected.
To many researchers and allopathic physicians, the ratio between cholesterol and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) is more important than the amount of serum cholesterol floating around. If this ratio is less than five it is deemed satisfactory. Therefore, if your cholesterol is three hundred, but your HDLs are seventy, giving a ratio of 4.28, you are in little danger of cardiovascular disease. Personally, I would like to see a patient’s total cholesterol less than two hundred, with HDLs above forty. The numbers, by the way, refer to milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl).
Dietary approaches to control of cholesterol are preferable to taking medication, primarily because food has no side effects. Some of the statin drugs may compromise muscle and liver function in certain persons. All of them reduce the amount of the enzyme CoQ10 that is found in muscle fibers, especially in the heart. This powerful antioxidant is held to be essential for the production of energy. However, for some folks there is little option to the drugs. On the bright side, there are two alternative approaches to controlling cholesterol that show much promise. Many patients have opted to try these treatments--with their physicians’ knowledge --before accepting drugs. I will keep you in suspense until you read part 2 of this article.
Meanwhile, try to eat pure food, that which is untouched and unprocessed by man. Increase fiber, eat at least five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day, cut back on red meat, eat fish twice a week, eliminate white flour and excess sugar, and exercise often.
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For more information about healthy eating and incorporating a variety of nutrients in the diet, check out Mohr Results - Grocery Shopping Made Easy DVD! |
