We always hear about cholesterol and how you want to avoid high levels.
But what does it mean? According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, “cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in all body cells.”
It doesn’t exactly sound good, to begin with, but it’s in all cells, so what’s the big deal? In this article, we’ll explain how cholesterol and cholesterol levels work in your body and why they’re important for maintaining your health.
Cholesterol Comes in Food and Your Body
Your body manifests cholesterol naturally. The liver produces cholesterol to help make the outer layers of cells and complete the makeup of bile acids that aid in digestion. Cholesterol also helps the body perform other functions, which we’ll cover later.
The point here is that cholesterol is not just obtained from your diet. Your body creates it as well, meaning that even if you never eat any food with cholesterol in it, you’ll still have it in you. It would be best if you had it to live.
Having said that, you should still avoid eating huge amounts of cholesterol. Everything in life requires balance, and this applies to all forms of nutrition, even cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol Only Comes from Animal Foods
Cholesterol is not found in a Vegan diet. It only comes from animal products, so if you eat red meat, chicken, eggs, fish, organs, or dairy products that contain fat, you’re probably eating cholesterol.
Any animal product with animal fat you can guarantee has cholesterol in it. You’ll find this because animals, like us, produce cholesterol in their body naturally.
Unlike Fats, You Can’t Burn Off Cholesterol
Exercise has always been the best way to combat excess fat or counteract the amount of fat in your diet. That’s why so many athletes can eat such high-calorie diets that are still high in fat and stay in good shape.
Unfortunately, unlike fats, cholesterol doesn’t burn off. But this doesn’t mean it can’t help. Even if you don’t burn off the cholesterol, regular exercise helps push your body to eliminate lousy cholesterol further, teaching it to produce less of it and make more of the good kinds of cholesterol. That’s the other good news—not all cholesterol hurts you. Some cholesterol helps your body function better.
There Are Two Types: One Good and One Bad
Your body produces two types of cholesterol. Each gets carried through the bloodstream by different water-soluble “bubbles” of protein. One of these types, called low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), helps carry cholesterol to your body’s tissues. We call this type the “bad” cholesterol because doctors have found links between high LDL levels and heart disease.
The other type of cholesterol gets carried by high-density lipoproteins. These proteins help carry excess cholesterol back to the liver to be processed and excreted. This cholesterol is “good” because higher levels are associated with better health.
You can see how cholesterol can get confusing quickly. That’s why it’s good to know all the facts. HDLs and LDLs only exist in your body; you won’t find them in your food. So don’t go looking for foods high in HDLs and low in LDL; you won’t find anything helpful.
Eating Fat Can Help You Or Hurt You
So, how do you balance out your LDLs and HDLs? First of all, notice that the more saturated fats you eat, the higher your overall cholesterol levels will be. Overall high cholesterol levels, even if HDLs increase at all, still show a high correlation with heart disease. So, do your best to avoid eating too much saturated fat. On the other hand, eating no saturated fat might not do you well either. You don’t want to have deficient cholesterol levels.
Unsaturated fats can help, but not always. Polyunsaturated fats can lower your overall cholesterol level, but they also lower HDL levels. If you want to lower cholesterol levels but keep up your HDLs, the best fat or oil to eat comes from olives. Fish has also been known to help with this, but there is no evidence that it lowers overall cholesterol levels without affecting HDLs more than olive oil.
Keep this in mind: Olive oils don’t actually increase HDLs, so don’t just eat olive oil as your only fat. Make sure you have a healthy level of HDLs, and then use olive oil to help lower bad cholesterol.
Paying Attention to Your Body Can Save You
Going to the doctor for regular checkups can save you a lot of trouble. Doctors know what your cholesterol levels should look like. They can also help determine if you’re already at risk for heart disease and help you decide whether to change your diet.
If you want to know what the doctor looks for when checking your cholesterol levels, they measure them in mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter). Cholesterol levels should never exceed 200mg/dL, which means no more than .2 grams for every 1/10 of a litre. LDLs appear more frequently, and a healthy person wants to have them lower than 130 mg/dL. HDL levels should sit at least at 40 mg/dL, but hopefully higher.
Fibre Helps
If you already eat lots of olive oil and don’t want to cut out any more animal products, fibre is another great way to help your body eliminate cholesterol.
Oats, beans, okra, and barley are rich in soluble fibres. Oats for breakfast have consistently shown a range of benefits, and the argument still stands in the case of cholesterol. If you care about your health and diet, consider changing your breakfast to an oat-based cereal. But, if you’re doing it to lower cholesterol, try not to mix in any dairy.
Hopefully, this guide will help you better understand how cholesterol works and will help you make more informed decisions about your health in the future.