If you remember last month’s article it discussed why total cholesterol numbers are meaningless for heart health and that you should be looking at your triglyceride to HDL ratio. Remember you want your ratio to be 2.0 or lower.
Total cholesterol has been shown however to be important as it relates to cancer and stroke risk. In fact, low cholesterol has been shown to increase your risk of the above two health issues. In 1986 Japan recommended raising cholesterol because levels less than 160 have shown an increased risk of death by stroke. The MRFIT study during the 1980’s showed the same thing. Levels below 150 have shown a seven-fold increase in cancer risk.
I want to make one thing clear once and for all. Eating cholesterol does not raise your cholesterol levels. That’s like saying eating fat makes you fat, which it doesn’t. In fact, if you remember from Part 1, LDLb is the type of cholesterol that can cause issues, and saturated fat actually lowers LDLb. Our bodies produce cholesterol, so although it sounds backwards, eat less and it will produce more. Eat more and it produces less. Recommendations to limit cholesterol intake just further add to the fear of eating foods that are great for us like eggs and the yolk.
We do need to be cautious of plaque build-up in the arteries, but eating cholesterol is not the danger. It has become evident in recent years that inflammation (remember this key word later near the end of the article) within the body is what causes plaque build-up and eventually heart disease. Inflammation can be caused by stress, smoking, viruses, trans-fats (partially hydrogenated oils), an imbalance of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in the diet and excess refined carbohydrates.
So, if inflammation causes plaque build-up, how do we measure it? You will want to have your doctor measure your C-reactive protein and homocysteine levels.
Why are these important? Basically, if you have high inflammation levels plaque will be deposited along artery walls to help heal damage from the inflammation, regardless if you have high or low cholesterol. But if you have low inflammation levels, cholesterol keeps circulating without getting deposited on artery walls.
Well then what do you do to lower inflammation levels and decrease triglycerides? Start by limiting foods that contain sugar, dextrose, agave, corn syrup or other forms of sugar. Not smoking and exercise are no-brainers as well. And don’t forget your fish oil (a natural anti-inflammatory), which will also lower triglyceride levels.
If you want more info on why eating cholesterol and saturated fat is not bad for you, and how to really improve your health, then come to my Healthy Lifestyles lecture on Friday, July 29th at 10am.