What Cholesterol Is Good For You

Whats The Distinction Between Fats And Ldl Cholesterol

Ldl cholesterol is product of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, similar to fats is, however it isnt fatty its a exhausting, waxy substance that comprises no fats. A molecule of fats seems like this:

whereas a molecule of ldl cholesterol seems like this:

As you might be able to admire simply by them, theyre very completely different from one another.

Fats is an easy lengthy chain, whereas ldl cholesterol is especially a sophisticated mixture of rings3 hexagons plus a pentagon in medical faculty we affectionately known as it three rooms and a shower. Fats is comparatively straightforward to construct , whereas ldl cholesterol is tough to assemblegreater than 30 chemical steps are required to construct one molecule of ldl cholesterol . The physique wouldnt go to the difficulty of constructing it for no motive. Particularly since, because it seems, as soon as its constructed, its unattainable for the physique to interrupt it downwe do not need any method to take aside its complicated ringed construction.

Is Dietary Cholesterol Harmful

Research has shown that dietary cholesterol does not significantly impact cholesterol levels in your body, and data from population studies does not support an association between dietary cholesterol and heart disease in the general population .

Though dietary cholesterol can slightly impact cholesterol levels, this isnt an issue for most people.

In fact, two-thirds of the worlds population experience little or no increase in cholesterol levels after eating cholesterol-rich foods even in large amounts .

A small number of people are considered cholesterol non-compensators or hyper-responders and appear to be more vulnerable to high-cholesterol foods.

However, hyper-responders are thought to recycle extra cholesterol back to the liver for excretion .

Dietary cholesterol has also been shown to beneficially affect the LDL-to-HDL ratio, which is considered the best indicator of heart disease risk .

While research shows that its unnecessary for most people to avoid dietary cholesterol, keep in mind that not all cholesterol-containing foods are healthy.

Here are 7 healthy high-cholesterol foods and 4 to avoid.

Here are 7 high-cholesterol foods that are incredibly nutritious.

What Affects Cholesterol Levels

There are a variety of factors that can affect cholesterol levels. Some risk factors are within your control, while others are not:

• Genetics: These factors include familial hypercholesterolemia and a family history of heart disease.
• Sex: Males often have higher levels of LDL. After menopause, a woman’s LDL levels can also increase.
• Weight: People who are overweight or obese are at increased risk of having high cholesterol.
• Sedentary lifestyle: Lack of physical activity can increase the risk of overweight and obesity and, in turn, increase cholesterol levels.
• Diet: Overall diet quality can affect cholesterol in a negative way, including eating too many saturated and trans fats and not enough fiber.
• Age: Your body’s ability to clear cholesterol can be impacted as you age.
• Race and ethnicity: There are different rates of high cholesterol based on race/ethnicity and sex, with the highest rates among males in Hispanics and the highest rates among females in non-Hispanic Whites.
• Smoking: Smoking can increase your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol.
• Other medical conditions: Having a previous history of high cholesterol, heart disease, or diabetes can increase your risk of developing high cholesterol.

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Why Cholesterol Is Important

As mentioned earlier, your body needs cholesterol to support and maintain good health. According to Natural News, cholesterol is essential to protect your body against heart disease and cancer. Reasons why your body needs cholesterol:

• Cholesterol gives structure to your cells
• It operates as an antioxidant, helping to protect against the damage from free radicals
• The brain needs cholesterol! The serotonin receptors in the brain need cholesterol to function properly
• Cholesterol helps to heal damage in the arteries

Its also suggested that cholesterol thats damaged causes plaque to accumulate in the arteries. Cholesterol becomes damaged through exposure to heat and oxygen. For example, this happens when meat is fried .

What Are The Different Types Of Cholesterol

There are two types: high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein . As a general rule, HDL is considered good cholesterol, while LDL is considered bad. This is because HDL carries cholesterol to your liver, where it can be removed from your bloodstream before it builds up in your arteries. LDL, on the other hand, takes cholesterol directly to your arteries. This can result in atherosclerosis, a plaque buildup that can even cause heart attack and stroke.

Read Also: Does Canned Tuna Have Cholesterol

Wish To Study Extra About Ldl Cholesterol

If you would like to study extra about ldl cholesterol and coronary heart illness, I like to recommend Eat Wealthy, Reside Lengthy by engineer Ivor Cummins and skilled low-carb household observe doctor Dr. Jeff Gerber. This e book explains how and why consuming a low-carbohydrate eating regimen wealthy in ldl cholesterol and saturated fats is wholesome for the center and the waistline, and why you neednt fear about excessive LDL levels of cholesterol. The e book is cleverly divided into two halvesthe primary half is written as a user-friendly information and the second half goes extra deeply into the science for many who are curious to study extra.

If you wish to really perceive ldl cholesterol, I extremely advocate engineer Dave Feldmans pioneering work, which he shares on his web site Ldl cholesterol Code. Daves mission is to resolve the ldl cholesterol story by explaining how ldl cholesterol works within the physique, why some folks on low-carb diets develop extraordinarily excessive LDL ranges , and whether or not these folks want to fret about these excessive ranges. He has spearheaded quite a few public experiments demonstrating how you can increase and decrease levels of cholesterol shortly, difficult standard beliefs about what excessive and low ldl cholesterol and triglyceride ranges truly imply.

References

Brownlee M. The pathobiology of diabetic issues: a unifying mechanism. Diabetes. 2005 54:1615-1625.

Starches Grains And Legumes

Make half of your grains whole grains. The amount you need each day depends on your age, gender and calorie needs.

• Choose low-fat baked goods , brown rice, whole-grain pasta, corn, baked potatoes, dried peas and beans, whole-grain breads and cereals.
• Limit pies, cakes, pastries, muffins, doughnuts, croissants, quick breads, cookies, crackers, granola, chips, fried foods.

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How Does The Physique Make Ldl Cholesterol

All cells could make their very own ldl cholesterol, however liver cells are particularly good at it. Solely liver cells are able to making greater than they want for themselvesand transport it out to different elements of the physique.

Bear in mind the way it takes greater than 30 chemical reactions to construct one molecule of ldl cholesterol? An important of all of those steps is step #3. On this step, a crucial enzyme known as HMG-CoA reductase converts a molecule known as HMG-CoA into one other molecule known as mevalonate. As soon as this step happens, theres no turning again, so its a giant dedication. This response is the one which determines whether or not or not ldl cholesterol will get made. Subsequently, the enzyme that runs this response, HMG-CoA reductase, is essentialits just like the foreman in command of the ldl cholesterol meeting line. This enzyme must be rigorously managed, as a result of we dont need cells losing their time and power constructing costly ldl cholesterol molecules willy-nilly.

The exercise of this crucial enzyme HMG-CoA reductase is managed primarily by two issues:

levels of cholesterol contained in the cellinsulin ranges within the blood.

Eat To Lower Your Cholesterol

Cholesterol isnt all bad news. Follow these tips to lower your cholesterol, the natural way.

Chances are, youve heard a thing or two about cholesterol. Having high blood cholesterol is a risk factor for developing heart disease.

But did you know that you can reduce your cholesterol level by making smart food choices? Its true!

Cholesterol clarified

Before we get to the details, lets be clear on what were talking about. For years, cholesterol has had a bad rep that it doesnt really deserve. The truth is, we need cholesterol to function. Your body makes most of the cholesterol it needs. The rest comes from foods you eat.

Heres the important thing: Dietary cholesterol found in meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products has less impact on increasing your blood cholesterol level. Foods that contain lots of saturated fat are the true culprits.

Now heres how to make nutritious choices to lower your blood cholesterol.

Keep eating simple

In the last 20 years, the rules on healthy eating have shifted. Super restrictive diets arent sustainable or the healthiest choice. Rather than zeroing in on a single nutrient, nutrition research shows the quality of your diet matters more. A diet filled with the right portions of whole, unprocessed foods can help decrease heart disease and stroke. What does that look like? For a healthy, balanced eating plan:

Cook at home

Choose more fibre

Each of these options will provide you with two grams:

• ½ ripe avocado

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Who Should Eat And Avoid Spelt

Spelt is a very healthy food, but whether its the right choice for you depends on many factors.

Here are some people who should eat spelt:

• People with certain digestive disorders, such as IBS
• Diabetics
• People suffering from obesity, heart disease, or high cholesterol
• People who want to improve their overall health
• Athletes or other people who are performing strenuous physical activities
• People who want to get more nutrients into their diets

Here are some people who should avoid spelt:

• People with celiac disease
• People with wheat allergies, if spelt is a trigger

What Is The Difference Between Fat And Cholesterol

Cholesterol is made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, just like fat is, but it is not fatty it is a hard, waxy substance that contains no fat. A molecule of fat looks like this:

whereas a molecule of cholesterol looks like this:

As you may be able to appreciate just by looking at them, they are very different from each other.

Fat is a simple long chain, whereas cholesterol is mainly a complicated combination of rings3 hexagons plus a pentagon in medical school we affectionately called it three rooms and a bath. Fat is relatively easy to build , whereas cholesterol is hard to constructmore than 30 chemical steps are required to build one molecule of cholesterol . The body would not go to the trouble of making it for no reason. Especially since, as it turns out, once its built, its impossible for the body to break it downwe do not have any way to take apart its complex ringed structure.

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How Can I Lower My Cholesterol

There are two main ways to lower your cholesterol:

• Heart-healthy lifestyle changes, which include:
• Heart-healthy eating. A heart-healthy eating plan limits the amount of saturated and trans fats that you eat. Examples include the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet and the DASH Eating Plan.
• Weight Management. If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your LDL cholesterol.
• Physical Activity. Everyone should get regular physical activity .
• Managing stress. Research has shown that chronic stress can sometimes raise your LDL cholesterol and lower your HDL cholesterol.
• Quitting smoking.Quitting smoking can raise your HDL cholesterol. Since HDL helps to remove LDL cholesterol from your arteries, having more HDL can help to lower your LDL cholesterol.
• Drug Treatment. If lifestyle changes alone do not lower your cholesterol enough, you may also need to take medicines. There are several types of cholesterol medicines available, including statins. The medicines work in different ways and can have different side effects. Talk to your health care provider about which one is right for you. While you are taking medicines to lower your cholesterol, you should continue with the lifestyle changes.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Myth: I Dont Need Statins Or Other Medicines For My Cholesterol I Can Manage My Cholesterol With Diet And Exercise

Fact: Although many people can achieve good cholesterol levels by making healthy food choices and getting enough physical activity, some people may also need medicines called statins to lower their cholesterol levels. Guidelinesexternal icon also suggest that other medicines in addition to statins may be needed to help control cholesterol.2

People who may need statins or other medicines to manage cholesterol levels include the following:

• People with familial hypercholesterolemia or people with very high levels of bad cholesterol. FH is a genetic condition that causes very high LDL cholesterol levels beginning at a young age. If left untreated, cholesterol levels will continue to get worse. This greatly raises the risk for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke at a young age.
• People with cardiovascular disease . People with CVD may already have narrowed arteries because of too much plaque. Medicines that lower cholesterol may help reduce the risk for heart attack or stroke.
• People with diabetes.Type 2 diabetes lowers HDL or good cholesterol levels and raises bad cholesterol levels. This combination raises your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Other groups of people may also need medicines to manage their cholesterol, including people who have a high risk for CVD. Always talk to your health care provider about the best ways to manage your cholesterol.

Also Check: Shrimp High Cholesterol

What Is The Difference Between Good Cholesterol And Bad Cholesterol

Good cholesterol is known as high-density lipoprotein . It removes cholesterol from the bloodstream. Low-density lipoprotein is the bad cholesterol.

If your total cholesterol level is high because of a high LDL level, you may be at higher risk of heart disease or stroke. But, if your total cholesterol level is high only because of a high HDL level, youre probably not at higher risk.

Triglycerides are another type of fat in your blood. When you eat more calories than your body can use, it turns the extra calories into triglycerides.

Changing your lifestyle can improve your cholesterol levels, lower LDL and triglycerides, and raise HDL.

Your ideal cholesterol level will depend on your risk for heart disease.

• Total cholesterol level less than 200 is best, but it depends on your HDL and LDL levels.
• LDL cholesterol levels less than 130 is best, but this depends on your risk for heart disease.
• HDL cholesterol levels 60 or higher reduces your risk for heart disease.
• Triglycerides less than 150 milligrams per deciliter is best.

Good Fats Bad Fats And Lowering Your Cholesterol

Medically reviewed

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There has been a lot of debate in the media recently about what kinds of fats can be considered healthy, so it can be difficult to know what to include in your diet.

Firstly, it is important to note that our bodies need fats to function. They are a vital source of energy and are partially responsible for the development of our cells, lining our nerves, producing hormones, absorbing key vitamins and helping sustain body temperature.

Despite this, some fats can be bad for your health in the long-term. This is because certain fats are made by our bodies, while others are not. We should get the fats we dont make from our diets, but should avoid the fats we do make.

However, having too much fat of any kind can lead to weight gain and health problems in the future. The best thing you can do for your health is to eat less fat overall and replace any bad fats with good fats.

In this article, you will learn about the effect of bad fats on your cholesterol, the difference between bad fats, and good fats and tips for lowering your cholesterol levels.

Also Check: Cholesterol Lowering Diet Mayo Clinic

Is Spelt Good For You

One reason why spelt is considered healthier than wheat is that the nutrients in spelt are contained in the kernel and are not removed during milling, which often happens with wheat. Another reason why many people prefer spelt over wheat is that they have an easier time digesting it. There are many reasons for this.

One is that spelt has a high amount of soluble fiber, which helps with the functioning of your digestive tract and increases digestion of gluten. Furthermore, spelt is lower in calories compared to wheat, which is why many people find it to be a lighter grain. Since spelt isnt as heavy, people can have an easier time digesting it and arent left with that excessively full or bloated feeling they get after a big plate of pasta or several pieces of bread.

Why Is Ldl Bad

LDL is known as the bad cholesterol because too much of it can lead to hardening of the arteries.

According to the American Heart Association, LDL leads to plaque accumulation on the walls of your arteries. When this plaque builds up, it can cause two separate, and equally bad, issues.

First, it can narrow the blood vessels, straining the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Second, it can lead to blood clots, which can break loose and block the flow of blood, causing a heart attack or stroke.

When it comes to your cholesterol numbers, your LDL is the one you want to keep low ideally less than 100 milligrams per deciliter .

Read Also: Are Baked Potatoes High In Cholesterol

Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Mix the butter and sugar into a bowl, stirring it into a cream.2. Add the eggs and milk, beating them into the mixture.3. Sift in spelt flour and baking powder.4. Pour the mixture onto a tray and add chocolate chips.5. Roll the mix into a tube shape, wrap it in greaseproof paper, and stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes to one hour.6. Remove the spelt cookie dough from the fridge, cut it into cookie shapes on a baking tray, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 355 degrees Fahrenheit.