Cholesterol: Everything You Need to Know

In the world Controversial And Totally confused Health Topics-Cholesterol is at the top of the list. Until recently, it was basically considered a demon when it comes to heart health. But now it turns out that cholesterol itself is not the enemy. What we have to worry about is LDL cholesterol, also known as the “bad” cholesterol level in the blood.

For clarity-cholesterol is a loosely used term, but it can mean either dietary cholesterol in food or cholesterol in your body-but the two are the same Not a thing.

Over the years, there was a general belief that high cholesterol can cause heart disease, so foods with high cholesterol, such as egg yolk, should be avoided. But in 2018 Research shifted In a new direction, eating dietary cholesterol has shown not to cause heart disease, but trans fats or saturated fats (both found in foods containing cholesterol) are likely part of the problem. Stated.

“Cholesterol is a waxy, whitish-yellow fat made by all animal cells. Cholesterol is an important component of cell membranes and is needed by the body to effectively produce hormones and vitamin D.” Founder of Levity health Tell CNET.

Read more about how cholesterol works, including the science behind dietary cholesterol and links to heart disease.

Why is cholesterol important?

Despite its bad reputation, cholesterol is important to your health and serves many purposes in the body.

Cholesterol helps your body make hormones

Cholesterol is needed for your body Make important steroid hormones These fall into five major groups.

• Progestogen: Also called progesterone, it is an important hormone for female reproductive health and pregnancy.
• Glucocorticoid: Like cortisol, it plays a role in how the body responds to stress and temporarily reduces inflammation when the body feels a threat.
• Mineralocorticoids: Aldosterone It is a steroid hormone that regulates blood pressure and plays an important role in heart health.
• Androgen: Androgens are male hormones. The first is testosterone.
• estrogen: There is only one estrogen Types of female sex hormones..

Cholesterol helps make bile acids that digest and absorb fat

It may sound terrible, but your bile plays an important role in your health. Specifically, there are certain bile acids that are needed to help you digest and absorb fat well. cholesterol Helps your body produce these acids it needs.

Bile acids are important to help your body create bile flow, which is also important for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. Research also shows Bile acids are important for homeostasis of lipids (fats), glucose (sugars) and energy.

Cholesterol helps make vitamin D

Cholesterol is also important for Vitamin D Manufacturing. Vitamin D It is essential for immune health and bone health, and plays a role in reducing inflammation. Vitamin D is one of the only two vitamins the body can produce (the other is vitamin K). It can also be taken from other sources such as foods and supplements.

Technically, it is also a hormone that regulates the amount of calcium in the blood. Research suggests that vitamin D can help Prevent respiratory infections Or Reduce their severity, Especially if you are missing.

“Good” and “bad” cholesterol, explained

You probably heard your doctor talk about “good” and “bad” cholesterol, but what exactly does this mean?

High density lipoprotein is known as “good” cholesterol. HDL is “a friendly scavenger that circulates in the bloodstream and removes harmful LDL or bad cholesterol, escorts it to the liver to break it down and excrete it,” Davey said.

Low-density lipoprotein is “bad” cholesterol. If doctors and other experts say they are worried about “high cholesterol” or bad cholesterol levels, they may mention that this number is high. LDL “accumulates in plaques on blood vessels and blocks blood and oxygen from reaching the heart and brain, causing heart attacks and strokes,” Davy said.

HDL cholesterol plays an important role in repairing vascular damage. “Smoking, hypertension, chronic hypertension damages the inner wall Blood sugarIs the first step in the disease process Atherosclerosis (Accumulation of plaque on the arterial wall). Damaged blood vessels serve as a collection spot for LDL cholesterol that forms plaques. HDL cholesterol is used to patch and heal damaged blood vessels.

If you ask your doctor to check your cholesterol, Three numbers You can see it in the lab report. Initially total cholesterol, less than 200 is considered healthy. LDL should ideally be less than 100However, if it is approaching 129, there may be concern depending on other risk factors. HDL must be greater than 60 and less than 40 is considered a significant risk of heart disease.

What Causes High Level LDL?

So how high is the LDL in the first place? Often, diet is the main culprit, specifically according to diets rich in saturated fat, trans fat, simple or processed carbohydrates Harvard health. Some people may also have a genetic predisposition to have high LDL cholesterol, and also some types of drugs can play a role.

“Foods high in dietary cholesterol have little effect on blood cholesterol Level of most people“Said Davey. So, based on recent research, other factors, such as eating or smoking with processed carbohydrates, may contribute to higher LDL levels than the fact that someone is eating egg yolk. It will be high.

Davis says if you Obesity or overweight, you are likely to have high LDL cholesterol..

“When you are overweight or obese, your liver increases the amount of LDL cholesterol that it makes. It also reduces the clearance of LDL cholesterol from your blood. Inflammation of the whole body is a common complication of obesity, “A healthy body that stimulates the liver to increase LDL cholesterol unnecessarily,” says Davy.

In addition to obesity Some illness Diabetes mellitus, liver and kidney disease, PCOS, hypothyroidism are more likely to cause high cholesterol. “The current belief is that the inflammation caused by these disease states stimulates the liver to produce more LDL cholesterol than is necessary,” Davey said.

How to improve cholesterol levels

“If cholesterol isn’t balanced, lifestyle interventions are the first line of treatment,” Davy says. Of course, see your doctor first and follow the instructions. But if you’re looking for more information about what you can do, the following are the main lifestyle factors you can try to find out that scientific evidence can improve your cholesterol levels.

Dietary changes

• Eat more monounsaturated fats: “A diet high in monounsaturated fats like olive oil, nuts, and avocado reduces harmful LDL and increases healthy HDL cholesterol,” Davy says.
• Add Omega 3 fats to your diet. “Studies have shown that consuming omega-3 fats from fatty fish and dietary supplements such as salmon and tuna can lower LDL cholesterol,” Davey said.
• Cut out the partially hardened oil containing trans fat: “Study show Trans fats are thought to be responsible for up to 8% of heart disease deaths worldwide,” says Davey.
• Eat more fiber: “Fiber is a favorite food for healthy gut bacteria. Well-nourished and highly functioning gut bacteria lower LDL cholesterol in the blood. Whole grains. Fibers such as psyllium Supplements are also safe and inexpensive.

Other lifestyle changes:

• motion: “Exercise not only improves physical fitness and helps fight obesity, it also reduces harmful LDL and increases beneficial HDL. Study show To improve your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease, five days a week for 30 minutes of moderate physical activity is enough,” Davey said.
• If you are overweight or obese, lose weight: “Weight loss has a dual benefit on cholesterol by increasing beneficial HDL and decreasing harmful LDL,” Davy says.
• Quit smoking: “The lesser known reason to avoid smoking is Immune cells of cigarette smokers Cholesterol cannot be returned to the blood from the walls of blood vessels and transported to the liver for excretion. This means that LDL cholesterol stays in blood vessels, forming plaques, hardening blood vessels, and impeding the transport of blood and oxygen to the heart and brain,” Davey said.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only, not for health or medical advice. If you have any questions about your medical condition or health goals, always consult your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider.