Cholesterol is responsible for several functions in the body. Here are some of them:
1. It is used to make vitamin D. Vitamin D is synthesized using sunlight and cholesterol. This process takes place under the human skin.
2. It absorbs the fat and fatty acids from the human intestines.
3. The body produces steroid hormones using cholesterol.
There are two kinds of cholesterol that exists in the body. These are the LDL, and the HDL forms of cholesterol. LDL is used by the body to perform the above-mentioned functions. HDL, on the other hand, is used by the body to clean up the excess cholesterol in the bloodstream and tissues so that it can be disposed of.
You might wonder now, if cholesterol is actually an important part of the body, why is it linked to heart complications and disease? In the Quaker Oats commercial, it is touted to contribute to a healthy heart by removing the cholesterol in our bloodstream so it will not clog and cause heart diseases. Why is there a need to do so when cholesterol is actually needed for some bodily functions?
Causes of High LDL
In reality, LDL does not directly contribute to heart disease as we are sometimes led to believe because of misleading advertisements. The problem can only arise if the LDL levels in our blood go way beyond the norm. An excess of LDL can cause a condition known as atherosclerosis, in which cholesterol as well as other dangerous substances in the body start to build up inside the arteries. When this happens, you are mostly likely going to suffer a heart attack or a stroke.
LDL build-up in the blood can be caused by a high saturated fat diet. This happens when you consume too much butter, cream, cheese and other full-fat dairy products. Some meats and many baked, fried and snack foods also high amounts of saturated fat. It can also be found from palm or coconut oil, so it is important to note that having vegetable oil as one of the ingredients in a product does not necessarily mean it is a low fat product.
High LDL levels can also be hereditary, which means you inherit it from your family. There is nothing you can do about this, except to watch your saturated fat diet so the LDL in your body does not have to rise higher than it already is.
Ways to Lower or Maintain a Low LDL in the Blood
Obviously, we have to lower our saturated fat diet in order to maintain a low or optimal level of LDL in the body. How can we do this?
First, it would be helpful to switch to reduced-fat or low-fat diets rather than full-fat dairy foods. You should also replace solid cooking fats with unsaturated cooking oils like sunflower, soybean or olive. When eating snacks, avoid as much as possible biscuits, cakes, pastries and fried snack foods.
Let's talk about cholesterol first, and then we'll get into the effects of a high cholesterol diet. What is cholesterol? Cholesterol is a fatlike substance that is synthesized by the body. That's right! We make it in our bodies. Only animal products contain cholesterol. If it didn't have a liver, it doesn't have cholesterol! As a matter of fact, I get a kick out of food labels that tout "No Cholesterol" as a marketing tool when the food item never had a chance of having cholesterol in the first place. I know what you're thinking. Some items have cholesterol and it doesn't appear to be an animal product. This is simply because they used animal fat to produce the product.
Cholesterol is used in the body as a structural component of cell membranes and in the synthesis of some hormones as well as Vitamin D. Doesn't seem so bad, right? Wrong. The problem is that when cholesterol is being transported in the blood stream, it tends to stick to the walls of arteries which of course, isn't a good thing. When there's a high amount of cholesterol in the body, this is far more prevalent. So, does a high cholesterol diet raise the level of cholesterol in the body?
Yes and no. There, how's that for fence-sitting! Seriously, the actual cholesterol component in a high cholesterol diet doesn't necessarily raise blood levels of cholesterol. More importantly is the fat that is usually in the high cholesterol items. Remember how I told you that cholesterol is only in animal products? Well, animal products such as steak contain a lot of fat. In addition, foods that are not even high in cholesterol and are high in fat are generally what need to be eliminated when trying to lower high cholesterol levels.
The fat that we're talking about here is that nasty old saturated fat. It has been well documented that high levels of saturated fat in a person's diet raise total cholesterol levels and more importantly, LDL (the bad one). Saturated fat is found in fatty meats, greasy, salty snacks and most baked goods as well as other high fat foods. A high cholesterol diet may or may not contain high saturated fatty acids.
In addition, diets high in fat are often consumed by people who are overweight. People who are overweight tend to not exercise (not that all overweight people don't exercise). Carrying extra weight and not exercising contribute to increased blood cholesterol. So, you can see there are a lot of contributing factors to high cholesterol than simply a high cholesterol diet.
More importantly than worrying about a high cholesterol diet, your diet will be lower in cholesterol naturally if you lower your fat intake. Keep your fat intake less than 30% of your daily intake. If you've been diagnosed with high cholesterol, go for less than 25% of total calories. Watch saturated fat intake closely. Work towards getting your fat intake from healthier sources such as fish and oils like canola oil.
There's also a significant portion of people with high cholesterol that don't follow a high cholesterol diet, do not consume high amounts of fat and do exercise regularly. These people are merely genetically predisposed to having high cholesterol. Though they may achieve some lowering of cholesterol through increasing their efforts at exercise and adding foods known for lowering cholesterol, they will probably still need a medication.
Look closely at a high cholesterol diet and re-evaluate it based on the amount of fat it contains. Lower your fat intake overall and you'll probably notice you are not eating foods high in cholesterol, either. This is the best way to avoid letting your diet affect your blood cholesterol.
Both Mikael Andersohn & Darlene Nicholson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mikael Andersohn has sinced written about articles on various topics from Network Marketing, Internet Marketing and Travel and Leisure. Are you tired of being single? Do you wish to find that person with whom you can engage in a serious relationship? Come and visit . Who knows, maybe your life-long. Mikael Andersohn's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.
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