Understanding Cholesterol "good or bad"
Cholesterol Good or bad
Understanding Cholesterol
Good or bad cholesterol, so many “saturated” fats and fatty acids and triglycerides yikes. Many of us don’t want all the science behind bringing down our fat impact cholesterol levels. We just want to do it because it’s good for us. But fat metabolism is pretty fundamental: high cholesterol levels in the blood are a risk factor for heart disease because it can clog arteries and be fertile soil for a stroke or a heart attack, period.
The American obsession with eliminating cholesterol has yielded results: a twenty percent reduction in the amount we consume as a nation today, compared to levels in the 1970s will this alone eliminate risks for heart attacks? Of course not, because other types of fat can affect cholesterol levels and they, like cholesterol itself, require some dietary monitoring. In short, the most culpable party is saturated fat.
A Brief Description of Cholesterol
Cholesterol is known as a lipid. You can find it throughout the body’s tissues and it is an integral aspect of cell membranes. It gets converted by the body into hormones. It is derived from two sources, one’s own body (chiefly produced in the liver) and in the foods we eat, including meat, chicken, seafood, eggs and other dairy products. Consequently this soft substance is good for you in moderation.
The Good & Bad Debate
Let’s begin by following cholesterol through the body. In order to wander through the body it relies on cells in the blood, like any other nutrient. But cholesterol is not water soluble, so it needs specialized carriers, called lipoproteins in order to travel to different organs. Now, lipoproteins come in various kinds, but we are only concerned with two:
1. High density lipoprotein (HDL)
2. Low density lipoprotein (LDL)
Reader,
meet good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol.
High density lipoproteins, the ‘good’, carry approximately one third or more of blood cholesterol, and the reason it’s good is because it takes cholesterol away from one’s arteries and returns it to the liver, which then gets rid of it from the body.
Low density lipoproteins, the ‘bad’, are the body’s primary cholesterol carriers. It gets its reputation from the ability to slowly accumulate in the arterial walls. In conjunction with other substances in the blood, it can create plaque in the arteries, which can over time shut down blood flow and lead to a heart attack or stroke. Dietary cholesterol is not the monster it is portrayed to be; in fact its effect on our blood cholesterol levels is fairly mild. When systems are firing on all cylinders, the liver works to make sure LDL isn’t gathering in the arteries.
Additionally, eating foods high in cholesterol results in our small intestine actually absorbing less than it might while the liver cuts down on making cholesterol. Blood levels are very high in people known as "cholesterol responders" whose body does not monitor cholesterol properly, but this condition is not common.
Why all the hoopla then? Because, as mentioned earlier, LDL works with other substances in order to build up in the arteries, and here is where we find all the kinds of fat we eat: saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.
High density lipoproteins, the ‘good’, carry approximately one third or more of blood cholesterol, and the reason it’s good is because it takes cholesterol away from one’s arteries and returns it to the liver, which then gets rid of it from the body.
Low density lipoproteins, the ‘bad’, are the body’s primary cholesterol carriers. It gets its reputation from the ability to slowly accumulate in the arterial walls. In conjunction with other substances in the blood, it can create plaque in the arteries, which can over time shut down blood flow and lead to a heart attack or stroke. Dietary cholesterol is not the monster it is portrayed to be; in fact its effect on our blood cholesterol levels is fairly mild. When systems are firing on all cylinders, the liver works to make sure LDL isn’t gathering in the arteries.
Additionally, eating foods high in cholesterol results in our small intestine actually absorbing less than it might while the liver cuts down on making cholesterol. Blood levels are very high in people known as "cholesterol responders" whose body does not monitor cholesterol properly, but this condition is not common.
Why all the hoopla then? Because, as mentioned earlier, LDL works with other substances in order to build up in the arteries, and here is where we find all the kinds of fat we eat: saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.
Monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated fats
Monounsaturated fats can be found in lots and lots of foods that come from plant sources, such as peanut, canola and olive oil. Monounsaturated fats, especially when they take the place of saturated fats in food, can bring your LDL number down without hurting your HDL number.
Polyunsaturated fats, like the monos are found in foods that come from plant sources such as corn, soybean, safflower and sunflower oils. Like the monos, when substituted for saturated fats, polys lower your LDL number but unlike the monos, they also hurt your HDL number.
Saturated fats
Saturated fats can be found primarily in foods whose source is animals, including meat, chicken, and whole milk dairy products such as cream, milk and cheese, as wall as lard, coconut, and palm oils and the likes of butter.
More than anything else we put in our bodies; saturated fats can raise your blood cholesterol level to dangerous heights. If you are using your diet to lower cholesterol levels with weight loss, start by cutting out as much saturated fats as possible.
Trans fat
When liquid vegetable oils get processed into hard or semisoft table spreads and cooking fats, they create trans fat, which may do more damage to your heart and arteries than saturated fats.
According to one study involving 80,000 subjects, scientists have discovered that heart attacks occurred with twice the frequency in subjects who ingested the highest amounts of trans fats over those who ingested the least. However, those subjects getting the highest percentage of calories from total fat (46%) were found to run no greater risk of having a heart attack than the subjects with the lowest percentage of total fat (29%). This is introductory research only.
Dietary cholesterol
Foods rich in cholesterol are typically steeped in dietary fat—especially saturated fat. If you have high blood cholesterol levels, you should consider eating foods that have plenty of cholesterol but not much saturated fat. To this end, your new diet might either skip or cut down on egg yolks, shellfish, shrimp, squid, liver and organ meats. Current public health recommendations urge people to eat between 2-4 egg yolks per week at most, and a reasonable amount of other animal foods.
Fish and fish oil capsules
In fish, we find lots of omega-3 fatty acids, which are a type of polyunsaturated fat and which contribute to lower triglycerides in the bloodstream as well as very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL). The American Heart Association (AHA) urges people to eat more fish regularly; however, it does not recommend replacing fish with fish oil or fish oil capsules—in fact it recommends not taking them at all—since the research indicating that these can protect against heart disease is inadequate.
A
condition called atherosclerosis causes most instances of heart disease.
Atherosclerosis is a condition in which cholesterol and other substances bulk
up within the arterial walls and deposit plaque, narrowing the arteries and
significantly slowing the flow of blood through the body. The most difficult
aspect of atherosclerosis is that it is an extremely slow disease that can
begin at a relatively young age and not show any symptoms for years and years.
Genetics, along with how much fat is in your diet, determine blood cholesterol levels. A doctor can order lab tests to check your blood for lipids in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl).
The AHA estimates that half of the adult population in America has borderline-high cholesterol levels in their blood and that one fifth of them are certifiably high. Now, a level of 240 mg/dl is regarded as high but any level over 200 increases the risk of developing heart disease; and the difference between 200 and 240 is that for the higher number, their heart disease risk is double that of the lower figure.
Keep in mind that twenty percent of heart attacks happen to people with blood cholesterol levels that are normal. In fact, heart disease risk is best assessed along with a lipid analysis to ascertain what your LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels are:
An HDL-cholesterol level of less than 35 also presents heart disease risk because such a low number indicates a shortage of the good cholesterol in your body, but a substantially better indicator of risk will be the LDL-cholesterol level. In short, your risk diminishes as that figure goes down.
Genetics, along with how much fat is in your diet, determine blood cholesterol levels. A doctor can order lab tests to check your blood for lipids in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl).
The AHA estimates that half of the adult population in America has borderline-high cholesterol levels in their blood and that one fifth of them are certifiably high. Now, a level of 240 mg/dl is regarded as high but any level over 200 increases the risk of developing heart disease; and the difference between 200 and 240 is that for the higher number, their heart disease risk is double that of the lower figure.
Keep in mind that twenty percent of heart attacks happen to people with blood cholesterol levels that are normal. In fact, heart disease risk is best assessed along with a lipid analysis to ascertain what your LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels are:
An HDL-cholesterol level of less than 35 also presents heart disease risk because such a low number indicates a shortage of the good cholesterol in your body, but a substantially better indicator of risk will be the LDL-cholesterol level. In short, your risk diminishes as that figure goes down.
Straight from the AHA
The following are recommendations
from the American Health Association:
A healthy adult over 20 should test his blood cholesterol levels at least once every five years.
Consume no more than 300 mg/day of cholesterol. One egg yolk has around 213 mg of cholesterol, while egg whites have no cholesterol or fat and are a great source of protein. You can substitute two egg whites for each egg yolk in many recipes that call for eggs.
Limit daily total fat intake to less than 30 % of all calories. Ten percent or less should be coming from saturated fats.
A healthy adult over 20 should test his blood cholesterol levels at least once every five years.
Consume no more than 300 mg/day of cholesterol. One egg yolk has around 213 mg of cholesterol, while egg whites have no cholesterol or fat and are a great source of protein. You can substitute two egg whites for each egg yolk in many recipes that call for eggs.
Limit daily total fat intake to less than 30 % of all calories. Ten percent or less should be coming from saturated fats.
Eating fish and chicken without skin
and lean meats versus of fatty ones. Drinking low-fat or skim milk dairy
products as opposed to whole milk dairy products.
Getting those numbers down
Getting those numbers down
In the event your blood cholesterol numbers are high, you can begin to bring them down by:
Exercising with regularity
Adopting a low-fat diet
Quitting smoking (if you smoke, of course)
Your physician may also suggest over-the-counter drugs or prescribe medications for you. A popular option is to take the vitamin niacin. Niacin can kill two proverbial birds because it can raise your HDL level while bringing down your LDL level, but this vitamin is not suited for every patient and should be discussed first with your doctor.
Prescription drug options include a class known as statins, which prevent the body from making cholesterol. Two well-known such drugs are Lipitor and Zocor. Some scientists believe statins can improve a patient’s chances of surviving a heart attack if the patient has normal cholesterol levels and no symptoms or signs of cardiovascular disease. Statins have their problems, however: they can be costly, they can cause problems in the liver, and they can induce fatigue.
Finally, studies suggest that people with extremely low cholesterol numbers are at risk for coronary heart disease and may be more vulnerable to other diseases. The point is that while you should take steps to bring down a high cholesterol number, you shouldn’t over-do it and try to bring it to zero. Rather, staying within normal range (160-200) is the very best way to go.
Tips to get accurate
test results
Unfortunately, getting precise numbers from cholesterol tests isn’t easy. Figures can sway as much as twenty percent depending on your last meal, the time of day, and whether or not you’ve been exercising.
Inquire whether the lab drawing and processing your blood conforms to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) standards. If not, go elsewhere.
Since many drugs can alter blood cholesterol levels, remind your doctor of anything you’re taking.
Posture and position matter; sit quietly and without excess movements for ten minutes before blood draw.
Finally, be certain that the tourniquet on your arm is removed after one minute. Amazingly, if it is left on any longer, it can cause test results to be as much as fifteen percent off.