Should you worried about High Cholesterol?
Cholesterol has become a word that is synonymous with poor health. It is described as a sticky, oily substance that clogs our arteries and causes heart disease. We have been led to believe that our cholesterol needs to be as low as possible however, these low numbers could never be achieved without the use of prescription drugs.
Cholesterol-lowering medications have some of the worst side effects in the pharmaceutical world, including heart attacks and stroke!
Low fat diets have been suggested to keep cholesterol under control. Saturated fats like butter and animal fat have been replaced by refined oils and hydrogenated fats like margarine and other spreads. All this is happening while obesity and heart disease rates continue to rise.
Something is seriously wrong here and I truly don’t believe it’s cholesterol’s fault.
We Need Cholesterol
First of all, cholesterol is not our enemy. It is a very useful substance and it has many important jobs in our body.
Some of the many benefits of Cholesterol include:
- It helps to produce cell membranes.
- Acts as a precursor to the manufacturing of hormones.
- Is a precursor to the formation of vitamin D.
- It helps to formulate bile acids to digest fat.
- It is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain.
- It helps form memories in the brain.
- It is important in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall.
Good and Bad forms of Cholesterol?
The two forms of cholesterol, HDL and LDL, are now deemed as “Healthy Cholesterol” and “Bad Cholesterol.” The reality is neither is bad. They are both needed and have very important roles to play in the body. LDL cholesterol acts like a bandage and helps repair arterial damage & inflammation. HDL takes cholesterol from your body and arteries and shuttles it back to the liver where it can be reused.
Can your cholesterol be too high?
Yes, but the reason it’s high is because your body is trying to protect itself. Remember, cholesterol comes on the scene when there is damage. It is not the bad guy; it just repairs and bandages. Inflammation is what’s causing the damage and cholesterol shows up because it’s just doing its job. If you can get rid of the things causing the inflammation, your cholesterol will naturally normalize. So, essentially, the key to good cholesterol is lowering your body’s inflammation levels.
Keys to Lowering Inflammation
How to keep inflammation – and cholesterol – levels low:
- Do not smoke
- Avoid hydrogenated oils like margarine and shortening
- Greatly reduce your intake of sugar and refined ‘white’ carbohydrates
- Avoid refined oils like canola, corn, and soy oil
- Lower your stress levels
- Exercise regularly
- Consume foods rich in A, C, D and minerals, including iodine.
- Incorporate healthy saturated fats into your diet like extra virgin coconut oil
- Take a quality fish oil daily (omega 3) – at least 1200mg (DHA 1000mg, EPA 200mg)
Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist
