What is cholesterol
Chances are you've been encouraged to reduce dietary fat because you've been told that fat is bad for you. While there are certainly some fats that are not good choices, corn oil, soybean oil, and canola oil among them, it turns out that what you eat doesn't have as much of an impact on your cholesterol as previously believed.
Cholesterol is a waxy steroid. For years we have been inundated by the message that we need to avoid cholesterol. But what this message doesn't tell you is that cholesterol can actually be beneficial for your body. While you want to be aware of how what you eat affects your cholesterol, you really need to understand the numbers that truly matter.
Cholesterol is produced by the liver. It is very important for overall body health. Measured in low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides, cholesterol can accumulate in the body. This is what has so many of us scared of higher levels. You've been told that HDL is good, LDL is bad, and your overall cholesterol number is critical. However, this is not the entire picture and you may have been looking at information that's not complete.
Why we need cholesterol
Cholesterol is critical for good health. It's responsible for healthy cell membranes, insulating nerve tissue, and for the production of a wide variety of hormones (sex hormones, cortisol, corticosterone, and others).
It's important to ensure that your body has enough cholesterol for what it needs. Too little is not healthy; without hormones, the body does not function well. Cholesterol is also used by the body to convert sunshine to vitamin D and it helps to metabolize fat-soluble vitamins A, E, and K. Without these fat-soluble vitamins you may experience a wide variety of health issues including bone pain, muscle weakness, fatigue, and foggy thinking.
Studies show that higher levels of cholesterol may be beneficial for women. And one study published in The American Journal of Medicine concluded, “Among older hospitalized adults, low serum cholesterol levels appear to be an independent predictor of short-term mortality.” In other words, lower cholesterol was not better. Furthermore, it appears that having higher levels of cholesterol as an older adult may be linked to a reduced risk for Alzheimer's and dementia.
Food-based sources
After years of being told to avoid low-fat foods and to not eat things like eggs, seafood, and organ meats, studies now show that whole food sources of cholesterol do not have much of an impact on blood levels. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “Don’t worry about the percentage of calories from fat. Focus on choosing foods with healthy fats.” Furthermore, these are all very healthy nutrient-dense foods. You should be including healthy fats in your diet, not avoiding them.
It turns out that low-fat foods are the real problem. Without good sources of healthy fat, you reduce your body's ability to metabolize fat-soluble vitamins. And often low-fat foods are highly manipulated with chemicals, sugars, or simple carbohydrates to make up for the loss of the taste and mouth-feel of fat. These are non-nutritive ingredients that do nothing to help support your body.
Foods that impact cholesterol
The foods which do have a major impact on cholesterol include trans-fats (anything marked hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated), high-fat poor quality carbohydrates such as pastries and cookies, and high levels of alcohol consumption. Obesity and smoking can also negatively affect cholesterol levels.
Reducing cholesterol
It is important to note that new studies show that simply reducing your cholesterol level is not sufficient to reduce your risk of heart disease. Indeed your overall cholesterol level may not be the indicator we've been taught to believe it is. It turns out that when it comes to cholesterol it's more important to look at inflammatory markers such as Homocysteine and C Reactive Protein as well as Lipoprotein (a).
And the risk factor for cardiovascular disease can vary greatly; even those with “healthy” cholesterol levels (i.e., under 200) can still have an elevated risk of heart disease.
While we have all heard that a cholesterol level higher than 200 is unhealthy, the truth is that just looking at your cholesterol level does not reveal the entire picture.
In the video below Drs. Stephen Sinatra and Jonny Bowden cholesterol.
This information is covered in more detail in their book The Great Cholesterol Myth.
In summary
The important things to know about cholesterol:
- Don't rely on just one number, total cholesterol
- Don't look only at the traditional cholesterol panel (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides)
- Be sure to also test for inflammatory markers and lipoprotein particles
- Include more high-quality, healthy fats in your diet
- Remove all poor-quality fats
Be sure to check out the rest of this series. Part Two – heart healthy foods, and Part Three – delicious recipes
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Sources:
Texas A&M University. “‘Bad' cholesterol not as bad as people think, study shows.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 May 2011.
Thank you for the excellent tips Mira. I found that my cholesterol dropped significantly when I took up running. Also, been great to avoid the processed foods you mention.
My daughter and I have been on the Whole30 Plan over the summer.
We agree!
I just went to a seminar on this. It seems nutritionists are up to speed on this, now we have to get the DRs on board!
Great article, Mira. I think for most people, their cholesterol wouldn’t even be an issue if they just focused on eating real food and cutting out junk like processed foods.
Great article on cholesterol! I agree, good fats are not the bad guys, carbs are!
There is also a connection between low cholesterol and mental health – research shows cholesterol below 150 puts you at a higher risk of suicide and stroke.
I also find that many of my clients with low cholesterol have sex hormone issues like PMS, low libido, menopausal symptoms, and when we address the low cholesterol their hormone imbalances come right
I have not heard of LPPs, Thanks for bring this up.
Good to know that not all cholesterol is bad. Your article explains in much more detail what is really important to look at health-wise.