Know Your Cholesterol
The idea that high
cholesterol causes heart disease is based on the premise that cholesterol is
found in the plaque of people with coronary artery disease.
But does that
automatically mean that cholesterol itself is the root cause, and must be kept
at a minimum to prevent plaque formation?
The answer is “NOooo..”
Missing from this
hypothesis is the holistic understanding of how cholesterol operates inside
your body, and why arterial plaques form in the first place.
Cholesterol is actually
a critical part of your body’s foundational building materials and is
absolutely essential for optimal health. It’s so important that your body
produces it both in your liver and in your brain. Cholesterol is also the
raw material for all of your steroid hormones and vitamin D. There’s no doubt
that you need it.
“Think about this for a second. Your neurons
are making it for a reason,”……… Right !
So what’s the
connection between cholesterol and heart disease?
If your body needs so
much of it, what causes it to clog your arteries?
The devil is in the
details, and this is definitely true when it comes to cholesterol, because, the
cholesterol found in arterial plaque is not just any cholesterol, but oxidized, damaged cholesterol.
“There is an excellent
research on animals where they fed animals plenty of cholesterol in their diet
and they did just fine. But when they gave them even small amounts of tainted
cholesterol, meaning oxidized cholesterol, within weeks it showed up in fatty
streaks in their arteries,”
“ We know why now. There
are receptors in the endothelial cells that are the lining of your arteries.
There are receptors there for oxidized cholesterol. It picks it up, and it goes
into the endothelial cells. The problem is that oxidized cholesterol does not
look native to your macrophages, your immune system. It actually looks like
bacteria. The macrophages move in to try and clean up what it thinks is
bacteria, which is nothing more than oxidized cholesterol, and it creates a
whole bunch of inflammation inside your arterial wall. The real culprit is oxidized cholesterol ”
Where Does Oxidized Cholesterol Come From?
Oxidized cholesterol is
introduced into your system every time you eat something cooked in vegetable
oil. As soon as the oil is heated and mixes with oxygen, it goes rancid. Rancid
oil is oxidized oil, and should not be consumed. This is why organic coconut
oil, which remains stable and does not oxidize at higher temperatures is
preferable.
“It is always advisable to eat more raw uncooked foods, because heat is
damaging the oils, which in turn is going to damage the cholesterol and lead to
vascular disease problem”
Why Statins Do NOT
Promote Good Health
According to conventional medicine, there are
two types of cholesterol:
- High-density
lipoprotein, or HDL: This
is the "GOOD" cholesterol that helps to keep cholesterol away from
your arteries and remove any excess from arterial plaque, which may help
to prevent heart disease.
- Low-density
lipoprotein, or LDL: This
"BAD"
cholesterol circulates in your blood and is more prone to oxidation.
According to conventional thinking, it can build up in your arteries and
form plaque that makes your arteries narrow and less flexible (a condition
called atherosclerosis). If a clot forms in one of these narrowed arteries
leading to your heart or brain, a heart attack or stroke may result.
The American Heart
Association (AHA) recommends keeping your total cholesterol below 200 mg/dL,
but what they do not tell you is that total cholesterol level is just
about worthless for determining your risk for heart disease,
unless it is above 330. Additionally, the AHA updated their guidelines in 2004,
lowering the recommended level of LDL cholesterol from 130 to less than 100, or
even less than 70 for patients at very high risk. To achieve these outrageously
low targets, you typically need to take multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Statin drugs are very
effective for lowering your cholesterol across the board. However, as mentioned
earlier, they shut down your body’s innate capability to create the cholesterol
it needs for proper cellular- and brain function. Statins also
prevent your body from generating sufficient levels of vitamin D from exposure
to the sun, because the UVB rays in sunlight interact with the cholesterol in
your skin and convert it to vitamin D. While statin drugs effectively reduce
cholesterol values, they typically do not.
Markers for Heart Disease
Always look at the
ratios between so-called good and bad cholesterol—the HDL and LDL—as well as
your triglycerides. These are far more potent markers for heart disease. There
are number of people with total cholesterol levels over 250 who actually were
at low heart disease risk due to their HDL levels. Conversely, there are even
more who had cholesterol levels under 200 that were at a very high risk of
heart disease based on the following additional tests:
- HDL/Cholesterol ratio:
Divide your HDL level by your total cholesterol. This percentage should ideally
be above 24 percent.
- Triglyceride/HDL ratio:
Divide your triglycerides by your HDL level. This percentage should be below 2
As per experiments, high
triglycerides specifically, and elevated cholesterol in general, is typically
related to excessive consumption of grains and sugars. A high-fructose, high
grain-carb diet contributes to insulin resistance, which will cause your liver
to produce more cholesterol and more inflammatory LDL particles, raise your
triglycerides, and increase your risk of metabolic syndrome.
Tips for Optimizing Your Cholesterol Without
Drugs
Your body NEEDS
cholesterol—it’s important in the production of cell membranes, hormones,
vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps
your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function.
“Please don’t live in fear of your raw
cholesterol number, Unless it’s around 300 or higher, it’s not going to be
indicative [of heart disease risk].”
The goal of the
guidelines below is not to lower your cholesterol as low as it can go,
but rather to optimize your levels so they're working in the
proper balance with your body. Seventy-five percent of your cholesterol is
produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels. Therefore, if you optimize your insulin
level, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol. This is why my primary recommendations for
safely regulating your cholesterol have to do with modifying your diet and
lifestyle as follows:
- Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars
in your diet. It is especially important to eliminate dangerous sugars
such as fructose.
- Consume a good portion
of your food raw.
- Make sure you are getting
plenty of high quality, animal-based omega 3 fats, such as
krill oil. New research suggests that as little as 500 mg of omega 3 fats
per day may lower your total cholesterol and triglycerides and will likely
increase your HDL cholesterol.
- Replace harmful vegetable oils
and trans fats with healthful fats, such as olive oil and coconut oil (remember
olive oil should be used cold only. Use coconut oil for cooking and
baking)
- Include fermented foods in your daily
diet. This will not only optimize your intestinal microflora, which will
boost your overall immunity, it will also introduce beneficial bacteria
into your mouth. Poor oral health is another indicator of increased heart
disease risk.
- Optimize your vitamin D levels, ideally through appropriate sun exposure as this will
allow your body to also create vitamin D sulfate—another factor that may
play a crucial role in preventing the formation of arterial plaque.
- Exercise regularly. Make sure
you incorporate high intensity interval exercises,
which also optimize your human growth hormone (HGH) production.
·
Avoid smoking or
drinking alcohol excessively.
·
Be sure to get plenty of
high-quality, restorative sleep.
Final Thoughts
“The simplest thing you can do, and the most
powerful, is to clean up your diet first”
“Eat
more raw, uncooked, living foods organic, grown around you, ripe when in season
– ancient Chinese wisdom...
"Get exercise. Exercise can overcome – I’m not
going to say anything – but a lot"
We know that people have eaten toxic diets for
years, including a lot of cooked foods. When they get exercise, it can overcome
a lot of that. These are things that cost absolutely nothing for you to do. Go
for concept of eating fermented foods, keeping your mouth clean. The so-called
antioxidants, particularly vitamin E or the natural vitamin E’s, are good.
Especially if you can get it in your food, these don’t cost anything.
These are the things that you can do that don’t
cost a penny, and can alter your health dramatically.”- Dr. Robert Rowen
Regards,
Er. Yashi Shrivastava
Food Technologist
yashi.shrivastava@gmail.com
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