The Holistic Look at Cholesterol - It is not all bad

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There is so many negative vibes being bantered around about cholesterol that people may be misinformed about the importance of cholesterol to the function of your body. Other individuals may not know that there are actually two types of cholesterol, blood cholesterol and dietary cholesterol. Cholesterol is precursor to the sex hormone production; regulate your mood and a defense to stress.

Not many people know that our liver produces cholesterol. And cholesterol can be either beneficial to us or expose us to the risk of heart disease and stroke. We have heard of the bad cholesterol that plaque our vein and artery and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke and the good cholesterol that keep our vascular system healthy. It is important to understand both the "good" and "bad" cholesterol so we can tackle high cholesterol problem via informed lifestyle, diet and exercise changes.

The difference between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol is that dietary cholesterol is ingested from our food, absorbed into our bloodstream through our digestive system. Blood cholesterol is produce from our very own liver, circulate within our vascular system.

Family history of high cholesterol, presence of diabetes, thyroid or kidney dysfunctions has higher impact then dietary cholesterol on our cholesterol level. Same for lifestyle choices such as smoking or our exercise regime, and body weight which has more influence in our total cholesterol level then just dietary cholesterol.

However, there is a strong link between the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) and the saturated fats and trans fats we consume. When abundant amount of meat, egg yolks and foods that contain hydrogenated fats is consume, the level of bad cholesterol will increase. We do want our HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol, to be high instead of LDL cholesterol to keep our vascular system healthy. It is advisable to limit the intake of deep fried foods like breaded or fried chicken, crackers, french fries, doughnuts. Baking products like cakes and cookies are also source of high trans fat that that need to be avoided.

Lowering bad (LDL) cholesterol level is important, but it is equally important to take enough amounts of calcium, protein, zinc, iron and B-vitamins etc. Do not avoid the lean meat, fish and eggs in order to lower the cholesterol level, rather, it is more important to lower the bad cholesterol by avoiding or lower the amount of trans fat and saturated fat.

Because good cholesterol helps in the breakdown of bad cholesterol in our system and reduces the fatty plaque in our artery, heart and brain, it will be beneficial if we increase the level of the good cholesterol in our body.

Now that you know cholesterol is not all bad but rather essential in our bodily function and the good cholesterol is pivotal in keeping our heart and brain healthy.

About the Author

I used to have a cholesterol level above 300. See how I lower it by 15% in 60 days at How to lower cholesterol naturally I've done it without any medication.