Myths & Facts about Cholesterol

 About cholesterol

Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell membranes. Cholesterol also serves as precursor for the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, bile acids and vitamin D. 

 

Myths and facts

Myth related to cholesterol is abundant and one of them is formation of cholesterol via excess fats, butter, ghee and oils. However, none of vegetarian source is responsible for high cholesterol levels in body but milk, non-vegetarian foods are.

 

LDL is bad cholesterol as it forms plaque

High density lipoproteins HDL are good cholesterol and low density lipoproteins are even better cholesterol careers. LDL cholesterol are the only carriers which can transport cholesterol to the organ that need it most that is the brain, as HDL cannot cross the blood brain barrier. Glycolated LDL (damaged due to sugar attached to LDL) is what causes plaque via infiltration into the endothelial walls of arteries. Thus, healthy LDL is extremely beneficial to the body special in the brain. But sugar damaged LDL which then becomes a problem; again the real culprit is sugar and not lipids. 

 

Oil, butter and ghee increases TG’s

Triglycerides which is one of the few values is a lipid profile report that needs to be very low, is found to be very high amongst vegetarians that follow a high carb and very low fat diet this clearly indicates that it is sugar that causes the body to get flooded with triglycerides and not dietary fats. High triglycerides in the blood plunge down once a person is put on a very low carb diet.

Once liver glycogen gets filled which occurs generally after second meal of the day all the carbs you eat later on second meal finds no space to store as glycogen in liver and muscles, turns to triglycerides in body. As storage capacity of liver and muscles are limited, high carb, high starch diet can easily get converted to triglycerides if same kind of diet persists throughout the day,

 

0 cholesterol diet is healthy

Cholesterol is indigenously produced by the liver. A cholesterol free diet simply causes the liver to up regulate the production of cholesterol, since the body rightly so, perceive it as essential for life and hence produces more in a bid to compensate for the deficiency in the diet.

Cholesterol only increases chances of heart attack

Cholesterol serves as a precursor for the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, bile acids and vitamin D. Cholesterol is your body's strongest antioxidant and the human body up regulates cholesterol production as we age to naturally combat the increased reactive oxygen species (free radicals) that is part of the aging process and the prime reason behind age related degeneration.

Low cholesterol does not in any way protect you from heart attack as is evidenced by the statistics that actively shows that the maximum number of people that suffered from heart attacks had total cholesterol levels below 200.

 

Cholesterol lowering drugs are boon 

Low total cholesterol is a sign of compromised liver function. Cholesterol should never be lowered with drugs such as statins. These drugs apart from causing tremendous body ache and loss of memory also hamper proper liver function. Instead dietary modifications should be done to correct elevated total cholesterol levels.

At the very least, the above points about cholesterol have now been validated by the U- Turn that the dietary guidelines advisory committee DGAC under the US Department of Agriculture USDA has taken. They now agree that they made a mistake in warning people about dietary cholesterol. They termed as butter, cheese, animal days such as tallow and lard classified butter, whole eggs as completely safe. Guidelines also started that carbohydrates /sugars as the main culprit in all metabolic disorders. 

 The takeaways

Consumption of ghee, butter and other oils are good as far as taken in right amount in diet. People suffering from high cholesterol need to eliminate the meat, chicken, poultry, sausages, salami and non-vegetarian foods etc. from their diet. Maintaining good cholesterol levels are essential for normal functioning of body and for healthy life.