The Cholesterol Myth: Is Lowering Cholesterol a Good Thing?

Cholesterol and Heart Disease-A Phony Issue - By Mary Enig, PhD

The official advice to lower serum cholesterol levels has brought about numerous supplements with the attached claim that consuming them will lower cholesterol. In fact, the body uses cholesterol to repair and to protect. When improvement to the health of the body brought about by good changes in lifestyle or diet results in a lowering of serum cholesterol, it can be counted as an example of the body no longer needing the extra circulating cholesterol. The repair has been accomplished.

Bad Cholesterol: A Myth and a Fraud! - By F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.

In truth, the so-called “bad” cholesterol is actually far more beneficial than is appreciated. Cholesterol is an element from which many of our hormones are made. Vitamin D is made by the body from cholesterol in our skin that is exposed to sunlight. Cholesterol is used in the insulating membranes that cover our nerve systems. There is no such a thing as bad cholesterol.

The Cholesterol Myth

Having low cholesterol is well established in may studies as a factor present in some cancers, and liver disease. It is also associated with age related decline…There is much evidence for the role of cholesterol as an antioxidant…people with low blood cholesterol tend to be ones who have immune system problems and are prone to serious infections, possibly due to the fact that cholesterol is used as a sponge for bacterial toxins which would otherwise cause damage to cells.

Second Opinion - The Cholesterol Myth

Cholesterol may be ingested in animal products, but less than twenty percent of your body’s cholesterol needs will be supplied in this way. Your body then makes up the difference. If you eat less cholesterol, your body merely compensates by making more…It has also long been known that simple events, such as putting a cuff around the arm prior to taking a blood sample, or fear of the needle, can result in raised cholesterol values. Read more

Natural Ways to Lower Cholesterol

Pterostilbene, a berry compound found in blueberries and grapes, can help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease. It was found that pterostilbene was similar in activity to ciprofibrate, a commercial drug that lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

Agricultural Research Service Chemist Agnes Rimando said: “But ciprofibrate can have side effects such as muscle pain and nausea. Pterostilbene targets the same specific receptor as ciprofibrate, but it’s likely to have fewer side effects.”

The announcements generated a wave of attention for pterostilbene, not only in the United States but in other countries as well. At least two news organizations in Great Britain directly attributed a boom in British blueberry sales to Rimando’s findings. And the Oxford lab’s results have since been cited by companies marketing products ranging from blueberry extract to juice concentrate to commercially available pterostilbene itself. Read more

DHA Supplements Affect Triglycerides and Cholesterol

DHA is often promoted as a dietary supplement to improve cardiovascular health. The polyunsaturated fatty acid DHA, short for docosahexaenoic acid, is found naturally in oil-rich fish, such as salmon and mackerel, along with another natural fatty acid, EPA (eicosapentanoic acid).

So researchers recently ran a study with high-triglyceride male volunteers, aged 39 to 66, to see the effect of DHA on both fasting and postmeal triglycerides and on the quantities and sizes of HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and VLDL cholesterol particles.

High trigylcerides, high total cholesterol, and a high number of small particles of LDL cholesterol in the blood increase risk of cardiovascular disease.

For 90 days, half of the 34 volunteers consumed about one-half teaspoon of DHA daily, in addition to regular meals, while the other half consumed the same amount of olive oil.

Blood samples showed that DHA reduced by 22 percent the number of small LDL cholesterol particles—the size most harmful to the cardiovascular system. It also lowered triglyceride levels by 24 percent in both fasting and postmeal samples, while increasing the number of large LDL cholesterol particles by 127 percent.

Conducted by federal and university co-investigators, this is one of only about a dozen studies that have been done in humans to assess the effects of DHA by itself.

Reference:
Science Update July 2008 USDA, Agricultural Research Service.

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Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs and Alzheimer’s Disease

It has been widely reported that drugs that lower cholesterol may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The role of cholesterol in Alzheimer’s disease is attracting increasing attention from researchers and there are conflicting messages coming form a great deal of reports.

Despite the fact that wide-spread opinion about high levels of cholesterol still remains negative, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting its beneficial role in the brain. Read more

Lowering Cholesterol With Dietary Plant Stanols

Several clinical studies have shown that plant stanol esters are effective agents that lower cholesterol. The ability to lower cholesterol with dietary plant stanol ester has been shown to be sustained for periods up to 12 months, but how soon the full cholesterol lowering effect of plant stanol esters can be obtained, is still unclear.

Plant sterols (also known as phytosterols) are found naturally in a range of plant sources. The term phytosterols covers plant sterols and plant stanols.

Phytosterols are plant sterols structurally similar to cholesterol that act in the intestine to lower Cholesterol absorption. They have been shown to lower cholesterol in studies using fat-containing foods, such as margarine or mayonnaise.

Vegetarians, particularly vegans, generally have the highest intakes of dietary phytosterols.

The highest concentrations of phytosterols are found in unrefined plant oils, including vegetable, nut and olive oils. Nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes are also good dietary sources of phytosterols. Read more

Raise HDL Cholesterol Levels With Exercise

Several studies, including the present, demonstrate that exercise raises HDL cholesterol levels. Some researchers suggest that the way to avoid a decline in HDL cholesterol levels that occurs with dieting is to combine diet with exercise.

It has been shown that those who decrease their fat intake while dieting, but maintain an active exercise program, note an increase in HDL cholesterol levels. (Arteriosclerosis 1988, 8:737-741, Arch Intern Med 1995, 155:415-420).

Using the above example, one can easily realize the benefits of reducing cholesterol through dieting while HDL cholesterol levels are maintained. The result is that those who exercise regularly have a more favourable lipid profile (cholesterol, triglyceride etc) than those who do not exercise. Read more

Why Trans Fats Are Bad

Higher levels of dietary trans fats have been linked to higher blood levels of small, unhealthy particles of LDL cholesterol. Trans fats (trans fatty acids) are formed during hydrogenation, the process by which oil is transformed from a liquid state to a more versatile, solid fat for use in thousands of processed foods.

LDL cholesterol circulates in the bloodstream as constellations of small, medium, or large particles.

Since they carry around most of the cholesterol to parts of the body, they’re thought of as “bad.”

Smaller particles are likely to deliver more cholesterol to the blood vessel wall than larger ones, so even relatively small amounts of them can lead to problems, even in people with normal blood levels of LDL cholesterol.

In a 6-month study, 36 volunteers were provided with each of five different experimental diets with varying levels of trans fatty acids (trans fats) for 35-day periods.

The diets higher in trans fats led to increased levels of the small, dense LDL-cholesterol particles, the type of LDL more likely to produce plaque in arteries.

The findings of this study reinforce the importance of consuming a diet that is low in trans fats to avoid unfavorable affects on cholesterol levels.

Reference:
Science Update. Agricultural Research Service, USDA, ARS.

Related articles:
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Soy Protein Lowers Cholesterol

Study shows a diet high in soy protein lowers cholesterol. Soy protein can be an important addition to a diet to lower cholesterol, according to new findings from a study conducted at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas.

The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, may also explain why previous studies have produced conflicting evidence concerning the merits of soy protein. Read more

Vitamin C Raises HDL Cholesterol Levels

Researchers wanted to see if extra vitamin C would or would not raise HDL cholesterol levels. The higher your HDL cholesterol, the less bad cholesterol you’ll have in your blood. Many doctors are now beginning to pay more attention to HDL cholesterol.

HDL cholesterol takes up excess cholesterol from cells and returns it to the liver, making the cells more receptive to the LDL cholestorol particles. This prevents the LDL cholesterol particles from staying in the arteries and joining with bad company - the oxidizers. When that happens, an artery-clogging plaque may form. Read more