What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word cholesterol? What is the visual that you get? Do you picture artery clogging gook? heart attacks? strokes?
Your not alone. Most people do (including medical professionals).You also may have heard of HDL being the "good cholesterol" and LDL being the "bad cholesterol". Both of the statements are not only false, but both of these 3 letter acronyms are not even cholesterol !!
I want to take the time to clear up this very misunderstood compound that is essential to your wellbeing.
Cholesterol is so important to the human body that it produces it. It does not rely on you to try to hunt for it because it would die without it.
So what is cholesterol? It is the most fundamental building compound in all of human and animal biology.
* Every cell in your body requires cholesterol to form part of their cell membranes.
* The liver creates a fat processing substance called bile from cholesterol.
* It is also a building block for every sex hormone in the body (testosterone, estrogen,
progesterone, pregnenolone)
* The stress hormone cortisol is also made by this vital substance.
* The brain is largely made up of cholesterol and so is the myelin sheath (a fatty substance
that insulates your nerves to ensure that they are communicating effectively)
* Cholesterol turns into Vitamin D when the skin absorbs sunlight.
Are you starting to see how important this stuff is? What health problems do you think would arise if someone was to shutdown the body's cholesterol manufacturing center?
Cell communication, mental health, hormone production, digestive health, memory, immune system, bones, growth and repair would all be compromised.
Why would any one want to suppress and turn off the body's ability to make this mega important compound?
Medical professionals (including myself) were taught (and are still taught) that "high cholesterol levels will cause heart disease. This is highly inaccurate and unfortunate because the real culprits of heart disease are not focused on. Ever since the idiotic idea that high cholesterol is the cause of heart disease was put to clinical practice (over 60 years ago) , heart disease has risen to the number one cause of death in the world, even though cholesterol lowering medications are being utilized at an all time high and while people have been instructed to reduce the amount of cholesterol in their diet !!
So why do the majority of medical professionals believe that high cholesterol levels in the blood cause heart disease?
A) They have been
convinced by faulty studies and misinformation.
B) They do not have a good understanding of biochemistry.
C) They have been deceived by medical textbooks and pharmaceutical propaganda.
Read about the faulty studies in this excellent Wall Street Journal article:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303678404579533760760481486
Statin Drugs Are Not The Solution
The most widely used cholesterol lowering medications are a class of drugs called Statins. Statin drugs work by inhibiting an enzyme (HMG-CoA reductase) in the liver that is responsible for producing cholesterol. As I mentioned a few paragraphs back, shutting down your body' ability to produce cholesterol can have serious detrimental effects on your health.
Statin drugs are so toxic that the FDA had to
update it's advise on the risks associated with them.
Liver damage, memory loss, diabetes, and muscle damage are all possible side effects of these nasty drugs. (of course the FDA is calling some of these possible side effects "rare")
Low cholesterol levels have also been associated with
depression and suicide !!
Eating Cholesterol Does Not Raise Your Cholesterol
Dietary cholesterol does
NOT raise blood cholesterol levels. So telling a person who has high cholesterol to reduce their intake of cholesterol containing foods is biochemically ignorant.
The Real Causes Of Heart Disease
So what are the real causes of heart disease? Excess Sugar consumption, inflammation, oxidative damage, and stress are the major causes of heart disease.
1-High concentrations of sugar can create sticky thick blood that can get stuck in blood vessels and lead to blockages that can prevent oxygen and nutrients from getting to tissues and organs which can lead to strokes and heart attacks. (This is also the main reason why diabetics get their limbs amputated)
2-Inflammation-inflammation in the body (which mainly comes from inflammatory foods) can cause cell starvation (of nutrients), suffocation (lack of oxygen delivery), and cell toxification.
3-Oxidative damage-free radicals can destroy your cells including those in your circulatory system.
4- Stress- Both physiological and psychological stress produce fight or flight hormones that can cause serious damage to your body. Stress hormones can increase your blood pressure, make your blood clot, make you gain weight, and release large amounts of sugar into your bloodstream.
Non Toxic Solutions
1-Identify foods that are inflammatory to you and remove them from your diet. Everyone is different and reacts to foods differently. How do you know if a food is causing inflammation? A food that gives you any digestive discomfort (gas, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, or makes you feel bloated), joint pain, or skin issues should be eliminated. Make sure that you are taking a good quality balanced essential fatty acid supplement and that you are including ginger, turmeric, and cayenne peppers into your diet for their anti-inflammatory properties.
2-Reduce your intake of refined carbohydrates, sugars, and grains. Load up on vegetables instead.
Eat more protein and good fats like butter, virgin coconut oil, avocado's, and nuts.
3- The only oils you should cook with are organic butter or virgin coconut oil. Never heat any other vegetable oil. Vegetable oils are unsaturated which means that they are unstable and are more susceptible to oxidation and free radical damage. Oxidized oils pose a risk to our cardiovascular systems. Always refrigerate your oils. NEVER USE MARGARINE. Only use vegetable oils like extra virgin olive oil unheated and in salads.
4- If you are a smoker stop smoking !! If your a drinker stop drinking (or at least reduce it)
5- Remember to relax. Take deep breaths throughout the day, stretch, take dead sea salt baths, and hot baths. Play soft music and take advantage of relaxing scents like lavender essential oil. Yoga, massage, and reiki, are all therapeutic.
6- Laugh. Watch a comedy and hang out with good friends.
Supplements
Multivitamin powder- Look for a good multivitamin powder. I like powders because you can put them in water and sip them throughout the day instead of taking them all at once. I highly recommend beyond tangy tangerine 2.0 because it is loaded with b-vitamins and power packed with electrolytes and nutrients.
Vitamin C- many people know of vitamin c's immune supporting benefits, but it also has blood pressure lowering properties and is a key factor in strengthening blood vessels.
Magnesium- Magnesium is found in a high concentration in leafy green vegetables. Magnesium glycinate 200mg 2-3x/ day has heart relaxing properties.
Omega 3-I like udo's oil blend which is a well balanced omega 3-6-9 oil. You can also try fish oil or flax oil.
Selenium-200mcg is recommended. Brazil nuts have the most selenium that I know of. Eat 2-3 per day. Make sure not to eat more than that because selenium is toxic over
Vitamin E- 400 IU mixed tocopherols (make sure not derived from soy),
Coenzyme Q10- try 100-200mg of the oil soluble form.
Vitamin D-get it from the sun or a full spectrum light
Disclaimer
This blog is for educational purposes only. Nothing written here is meant to cure, treat, or prevent any disease. These statements have not been approved by the FDA
