T2 - Fat - P3

Topic 2 - Fat - Part 3
Cholesterol – the good the bad and the ugly! (sorry this is a lengthy one!)

As was mentioned in the last fat installment, Part 2, we as humans, that we are now, have evolved at least over the past 400, 000 years, through survival of the fittest and natural selection, so its a little unbelievable to me that our body’s have come to the point where they naturally produce a substance that’s bad for us and basically sets some of us on a course of self destruction. That is the pharmaceutical industry labeled “bad” cholesterol, also known as LDL Cholesterol, (Low Density Lipoprotein).

So what is cholesterol?

Well it’s an organic substance that is essential for the structural component of mammal (that includes us humans) cell membranes, and is required to establish proper cell membrane permeability (that’s how easy and “fluid” the cell walls are to allow nutrients in and waste products out). Cholesterol is also an important substance for the production of bile acids (vital in digestion and actually helps move waste cholesterol out of the body), steroid hormones (vital for metabolism and the immune system), and Vitamin D (vital for bone health and re-growth).

So as we can see, pretty vital to human health and mammalian life.

So what about the “good and the “bad”, and maybe the “ugly”?

Well, HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) is what has been labeled as “good” cholesterol, the LDL or even now the newly labeled VLDL (Very Low Density Lipoprotein) is what has been named the “bad” cholesterol. The “ugly” is what we are being told by the pharmaceutical companies and what might be becoming general knowledge might not be the whole truth in terms of our optimal health and what the cholesterol is doing to us.

So let’s look into this….

The actual cholesterol on HDL, LDL or VLDL is all the same, the HDL is actually the smallest of the particles and has the ability to pick-up cholesterol from the cells, (muscle cells, nerve cells, blood vessel cells, etc.). Almost like dump-trucks taking waste old cholesterol away from the building sites of cells. This is why they have been labeled “good”.

So what about the other “bad” stuff, LDL and VLDL, what do these actually do?
Well, LDL is more of a cholesterol transporter to the cell. When a cell needs cholesterol for its health, it sets up receptors (like a port for a ship) and the LDL “pulls or parks up” and unloads cholesterol for the cell to use for its structural health. Not so “bad” right?

So what’s the problem?
Well the problem with LDL is that if the cell keeps asking for more of it, more of it keeps being made by the body and more keeps “parking” up at the cell. This is apparent in blood vessels, as the cells lining the blood vessels become damaged or deteriorated they ask for more cholesterol to re-build their structure to be healthy. Well as they keep asking for more cholesterol more and more LDL builds up forming a plaque on the inner wall of the vessels. Not “good”, “BAD”, as this causes narrowing of the arteries and vessels which can obviously lead to cardiovascular disease and the risk of heart attacks and/or strokes.

But is this the fault of the LDL cholesterol that’s just doing what the cell is asking it to do, or is it the fault of the cell that keeps asking for more cholesterol to try and fix its own health.

The reason why this is such a big question is because if we just lower LDL cholesterol, say through drugs like statins, but don’t actually do anything to improve the cells health or change what is damaging the cells to begin with, then the cells are continually just going to keep asking for more LDL cholesterol.

So rather than blaming the VLDL or LDL “bad” cholesterol, maybe we should stop doing or prevent what ever it is damaging the cells, then these, for example blood vessel cells will stop asking for cholesterol, so maybe the body will stop sending it. Just a thought….

Going off the topic of “fat” a little, but an important area that’s related none-the-less, and pretty interesting in the realm of Human Health.

So what damages cells, specifically blood vessel cells, in the first place?
- The cells of the inner lining of the blood vessels are called the, ‘endothelium’.
- When cells become damaged the term often used is ‘inflamed’.
- The inflammation of a cell is a vital response, a protective response by our cells to an injury, pathogen or infection.
- The problem occurs when we have chronic inflammation, such as we talked about in the last fat topic, Part 2.
- There we discovered that one of the essential fats, Omega-6 which many of us consume too much of and out of balance with Omega-3, causes inflammation. Again remember inflammation is a crucial response of the body to injury, illness and disease, but chronic inflammation is the problem we find.
- Omega-6 fatty acids, in general, lead to the production of more inflammatory chemicals in the body, so more chemicals that cause the cells to inflame.
- Another major inflammatory agent for the body comes from Arachidonic acid which is found in foods from animal products. We can reduce this by reducing meat and dairy intake, except cold water fish where we can get our Omega-3.
- If we remember from Part 2, Omega-6 also increases blood clotting, constricts blood vessels, so enabling an environment for cholesterol to easier bind to the vessel walls and also increase blood pressure which itself could damage the blood vessel cells. Where as Omega-3 is an anti-blood coagulate enabling the blood to move more fluid, reducing the ability of cholesterol to build up as easily, but also reducing blood pressure and so reducing possible vessel damage.

Here is some more information about Om-3 and -6’s effects on the body:
http://inflammation911.com/omega-6-starts-inflammation-omega-3-stops-it/

Ok, all this said, if vessels do become damaged, what can we do to help them heel as fast as possible to reduce chronic inflammation and reduce the build up of vessel plaque?
- Flavonoids – these are a group of about 6000 substances found in fruits and vegetables, part of a group of nutrients collectively called ‘pytochemicals’ (plant chemicals).
- They have been found to help heal blood vessel cells, protecting them from rupture and leakage and ultimately inflammation.
- Virtually all plant foods contain flavonoids, the more variety of whole, unprocessed, organic plant based foods the better.
- Plants also contain what are named plant sterols, which have been shown in reduce cholesterol digestion and help with maintaining cell health, which in-turn reduces the response of the body to produce LDL cholesterol to fix damaged inflamed cells.
- Its great to take foods out or reduce foods that cause inflammation in our body, or foods that can increase cholesterol like processed foods, foods with additives and animal processed foods. But, if we don’t include in our nutrition intake foods that will help heal our cells, well they won’t heal well even if we take out inflammation foods.
- Include in our diet an intake rich in plant based foods, fruits, vegetables nuts and seeds, optimal is whole, unprocessed, raw, and organic sources.
- Probiotic’s have a possible beneficial affect on our body’s inflammation, and so possibly an effect of cholesterol production levels. We have Probiotic’s in our digestive tracts already, so eating foods that support these ‘friendly bacteria’ are vital, especially if you have a history of anti-biotic medication taking as these kill off the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria. Foods that help support our Probiotic’s are foods that are high in indigestible fiber; these foods are often called ‘prebioltic’s’. Fiber found in many plant based foods can be fermented into what are called, ‘short chain fatty acids’ that help to feed the beneficial bacteria in our digestive tract, (intestines).
- Actual direct probiotic sources are:
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/probiotic-foods/

Summary
The take away from this is:

-Both HDL and LDL cholesterol is vital to the health of the human body.
-HDL removes ‘waste’ cholesterol away from the cell
-LDL supplies ‘new’ cholesterol for the cell
-Chronic inflammation, cell damage, can cause the body to need more LDL         cholesterol to ‘fix’ the damaged cells.
-Chronic elevated LDL cholesterol trying to fixed the inflamed cells of the blood vessels does cause a build up of plaque on the inner wall of the vessels, leading to heart disease.
-This will continue as long as cell inflammation and cell damage remain.
-So the key is to reduce chronic inflammation.
-Rebalance Omega-3 and Omega-6 nutrition intake, 1:1 ratio is ideal.
-Reduce processed animal products, reducing Arachidonic acid which causes inflammation.
-Increase intake of plant foods, fruit, vegetable, nuts and seeds, whole, raw, unprocessed and organic that contains pytochemicals, flavonoids and plant sterols that reduce cell inflammation.
-Eat foods rich in fiber to support intestinal bacteria and eat probiotic’s to top up the good bacteria in our digestive tracts, helping to reduce inflammation.
-Remember, free range brown eggs do not raise cholesterol levels; the yolks actually contain Lecithin which has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood. It also helps to dissolve the plaque that has already been laid down in the blood vessels.
Remember good healthy chickens provide good healthy eggs.
I hope this was understandable as it is a contentious topic which is a major health concern in modern health and medicine.
This information is intended as being informative and in no way intended as a prescription as to how to handle high cholesterol levels and heart disease risk. It is intended as information to educate on healthy nutritious food intake from whole, unprocessed, non-additive, non-preservative, grass fed, free range, organic food sources to aid in the support of Human Health.

Thank you,
Until next time – Be Active, Eat Healthy.