MYTH 1. CHOLESTEROL
'You must not eat any food containing cholesterol if you have high cholesterol' Heard this before?.
Let me inform you about cholesterol.
The liver naturally makes it in our bodies (about 90% of it in fact). It is a necessary building block for hormones and serves as an indicator of levels of inflammation in your body. If you have high cholesterol, your liver has been running on over drive producing lots of cholesterol to serve as a protector of your arteries.
It has been shown in autopsies of people who have died from heart disease, that their arteries were clogged with cholesterol. Not surprising. They had huge levels of inflammation in their bodies. It is not the cholesterol that caused the heart disease, it is the oxidation and degradation of the fats in their arteries, caused by lifestyle factors (smoking, excessive alcohol, trans fat intake, no exercise) and a lack of antioxidants in their diet that damaged the cholesterol and the arteries, leading to heart disease.
C-reactive Protein (CrP) is a much more accurate finding from a blood test that measures the risk of heart attack.
People claim they have no control, high cholesterol runs in their family, and take statin drugs as recommended by their Doctor. Statins are scientifically known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. They bascially inhibit the enzyme necessary to produce cholesterol in the liver. Do they decrease cholesterol? Yes. Do they have side effects? YES.
Unfortunately, statins also block the production of CoQ10. One of our body's most powerful antioxidants. Ironically, low levels of CoQ10 have been linked to heart disease. All muscles in the body (including the heart) require CoQ10 for energy production. It essentially delivers oxygen to working muscles. Without CoQ10, you may feel particularly tired and achy on a physical level, and on a molecular level, your antioxidant status is decreasing over time. As I outlined above, oxidation leads to inflammation, & poor health status.
What can you do to normalise your cholesterol naturally?
Exercise.
You've probably heard of good cholesterol and bad cholesterol (HDL vs LDL). Exercise encourages your body to transport the LDL (bad) cholesterol back to the liver to form more HDL (good) cholesterol.
Eat more fibre.
Excess cholesterol tends to accumulate in the bowel and can recirculate into the body, causing an increase in total cholesterol. By eating more fibre, you can reduce cholesterol in two ways. 1) Fibre can bind the cholesterol, rendering it unavailable to recirculate; 2) Fibre regulates the bowels so you move your bowels more frequently, and eliminate the cholesterol. Try eating fibre from a variety of sources such as fresh fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, nuts and seeds. This way, you also benefit from increasing the nutrient value of your fibre filled meals.
Avoid trans fats.
These are the absolute bad guys when it comes to causing damage to your body. Trans fats are a product of unstable fats that have been heated, and/or hydrogenated to make a solid fat spreadable at room temperature or when refrigerated. There is no 'safe' daily amount of trans fats. The best thing to do is avoid them altogether!
Found in packaged biscuits, chips, pastries, margarine, unstable vegetable oil (canola, soy, sunflower, cottonseed, sesame, peanut), cakes, take-away foods.
Eat more 'good' fats.
Coconut products (oil, cream, milk, flesh) are all high in medium chained fatty acids. Your liver tends to prefer these fats and processes them quickly for energy. The liver becomes very efficient at metabolising fats (the opposite to low-fat diets) and studies on coconut oil have shown HDL (good cholesterol) to rise, total cholesterol to decrease, and LDL (bad cholesterol) to decrease. The great benefits of coconuts really do deserve their own post, so I will follow that one up later.
Avocadoes and deep sea oily fish such as cod, mackerel and sardines provide an array of healthy fats (omegas 3, 6 & 9) that the body requires several times per week.
Eat a variety of antioxidants- daily!
Rainbow coloured food, in it's whole form such as blueberries, acai, maqui, leafy greens, broccoli, spirulina, pineapple, ginger, tomatoes,strawberries, cherries, capsicum, carrots, oranges, sweet potato.
A little bit of each colour is the key. You can't overdose on natural antioxidants. They are nature's treatment to so many different ailments, and help to protect the body from oxidation (cellular ageing and degradation). Fresh is best, but if your favourite berry is out of season, you can keep some high quality supplements in the house to keep you boosted (see acai, maqui and spirulina).
There are many herbs and nutrients that are commonly prescribed by Naturopaths such as Turmeric, Globe Artichoke, Milk Thistle, Fenugreek, Gymnema, Activated Vitamin B3, Vitamin C, & high dose antioxidant supplements.
Please contact your Naturopath for correct dosage instructions, so you can gain the optimum treatment for your specific condition.
Much of the information posted here on cholesterol is from a book I read many moons ago. Click here to check it out for yourself!
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