I first would like to just mention that most of us think cholesterol as being really bad for us and when we get news about the fact that our cholesterol is high, we get scared. However, it is important to realize that cholesterol is a very important compound in ones physiology and the body requires a lot of it. It is required to make sex hormones, helps our body make vitamin D, important in wound healing, major component of scar tissue, aids in the digestion of fats along with many others. In fact, the only negative thing about cholesterol is when one has excess amounts, it ends up being deposited in the walls of the blood vessels. This is what we have to be concerned about.
Here just a couple facts about cholesterol....
- Dietary sources of cholesterol have little effect on the patent's plasma (blood) cholesterol levels contributing about 20%
- The other 80% of cholesterol is made by primarily by your liver.
- The key to lowering cholesterol levels is not in the restriction of dietary cholesterol or fat but in the dietary manipulation of the internal cholesterol regulatory system.
- Carbohydrates will cause a surge of insulin (hormone that helps the sugar in your blood get into your cells) in individuals leading to cholesterol synthesis. Insulin directs the body to store fat.
- If you are on a low carbohydrate, moderate fat and protein diet (Ideal Protein), this will reduce insulin levels and therefore reduce cholesterol production.
- Because cholesterol is fat soluble it needs transporter "a bus line" to get through the blood stream. The bus lines are your LDL's and you HDL's
The take home message is this....if you eliminate carbohydrates from your diet, your supply of glucose (blood sugar) soon becomes depleted. Your body then, through many different processes, uses triglycerides as a source of energy. When this happens, your LDL's (bad cholesterol) are significantly reduced. When you increase your protein, vegetables and good fats, this will lead to an increase of HDL (good cholesterol). What we are striving for is having a high HDL/ low LDL ratio. LDL's carry cholesterol to your cells and either used for fuel or stored in fat. HDL carries cholesterol to the liver to be broken down and excreted in the feces. HDL's is good! (this is why fish oil is so great!!)
