The cholesterol myth

A place to discuss health and fitness, healthy diets. A fit body makes for a fit mind.
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

The cholesterol myth

Post by Alex123 »

You have probably heard that "cholesterol is bad".

But did you know that:

-cholesterol is so important that your liver produces it.

-One has to take drugs to lower it because otherwise your liver would produce it.

-There is NO evidence that high cholesterol causes atherosclerosis or heart attacks. In fact high cholesterol may protect against atherosclerosis

-Statin drugs that lower cholesterol cause memory loss and lessen brain function

-"Even though the brain only makes up 2% of the body's weight, it contains 25% of its cholesterol" link
Memories and Learning are Directly Dependent on Cholesterol

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, research was pointing to an unknown compound made by glial cells that was responsible for the ability of neurons to form synapses, or connections between each other.

Thoughts, memories, learning, and all mental function is dependent on the formation of synapses, so the ability to form them will directly impact mental functioning and health.

In the absence of this-- as yet unknown-- "glial factor," neurons formed few synapses, and the synapses they formed were inefficient and poorly functioning. In the presence of glial cells, which secrete the unknown factor, neurons formed many, highly efficient synapses.

So what is this "glial factor"?

Research in 2001, by Mauch, et al., published in volume 294 of Science magazine, determined that the unknown glial factor is cholesterol, which is released by the glial cells in a carrier called "apolipoprotein E."5

Initially, the researchers thought that the apolipoprotein E (apoE) may have been the glial factor itself. But it turned out that when neurons were treated with apoE, the beneficial effects on synapse formation were not observed.

The researchers then reasoned that, since apoE fit the bill in some ways, but did not have the desired effect, some of the lipids it carried may have been the elusive glial factor.

As it turned out, treating the neurons with a 10 mcg/mL solution of cholesterol increased synapse formation by 12 times! Other lipids, carried by apoE, such as phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, did not have a significant effect, and were even toxic to the neurons at very high doses.

On the other hand, when low-cholesterol glial secretions were produced by using the cholesterol-lowering drug, mevastatin, the effect of the glial secretion on synapse formation was strongly diminished. When cholesterol was added back to the low-cholesterol secretion, the positive effect on synapse formation was fully restored.

The authors identified cholesterol as a limiting factor of synpase formation. In other words, the need for cholesterol in the brain is large enough relative to the supply of cholesterol that the availability of cholesterol can directly limit the ability to form synapses.
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/M ... terol.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes and is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity.

In addition to its importance within cells, cholesterol also serves as a precursor for the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D.[2] Cholesterol is the principal sterol synthesized by animals; in vertebrates it is formed predominantly in the liver. Small quantities are synthesized in other cellular organisms (eukaryotes) such as plants and fungi. It is almost completely absent among prokaryotes (i.e., bacteria).
...
Within cells, cholesterol is the precursor molecule in several biochemical pathways. In the liver, cholesterol is converted to bile, which is then stored in the gallbladder. Bile contains bile salts, which solubilize fats in the digestive tract and aid in the intestinal absorption of fat molecules as well as the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K. Cholesterol is an important precursor molecule for the synthesis of vitamin D and the steroid hormones, including the adrenal gland hormones cortisol and aldosterone, as well as the sex hormones progesterone, estrogens, and testosterone, and their derivatives.[2]

Some research indicates cholesterol may act as an antioxidant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholesterol" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(NaturalNews) Including high-cholesterol foods as part of a healthy diet may not be the poor dietary choice we have all been told it is, suggests a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine. It turns out that cholesterol actually helps increase production of an important component of the nervous system that facilitates proper nerve cell communication, and prevents the onset of brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease
http://www.naturalnews.com/036258_chole ... imers.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Here are the facts!

1 Cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals. There are no such things as good or bad cholesterol, but mental stress, physical activity and change of body weight may influence the level of blood cholesterol. A high cholesterol is not dangerous by itself, but may reflect an unhealthy condition, or it may be totally innocent.

2 A high blood cholesterol is said to promote atherosclerosis and thus also coronary heart disease. But many studies have shown that people whose blood cholesterol is low become just as atherosclerotic as people whose cholesterol is high.

3 Your body produces three to four times more cholesterol than you eat. The production of cholesterol increases when you eat little cholesterol and decreases when you eat much. This explains why the ”prudent” diet cannot lower cholesterol more than on average a few per cent.

4 There is no evidence that too much animal fat and cholesterol in the diet promotes atherosclerosis or heart attacks. For instance, more than twenty studies have shown that people who have had a heart attack haven't eaten more fat of any kind than other people, and degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy is unrelated with the diet.

5 The only effective way to lower cholesterol is with drugs, but neither heart mortality or total mortality have been improved with drugs the effect of which is cholesterol-lowering only. On the contrary, these drugs are dangerous to your health and may shorten your life.

6 The new cholesterol-lowering drugs, the statins, do prevent cardio-vascular disease, but this is due to other mechanisms than cholesterol-lowering. Unfortunately, they also stimulate cancer in rodents, disturb the functions of the muscles, the heart and the brain and pregnant women taking statins may give birth to children with malformations more severe than those seen after thalidomide.

7 Many of these facts have been presented in scientific journals and books for decades but are rarely told to the public by the proponents of the diet-heart idea.

8 The reason why laymen, doctors and most scientists have been misled is because opposing and disagreeing results are systematically ignored or misquoted in the scientific press.

9 The Benefits Of High Cholesterol
http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
pilgrim
Posts: 1679
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:56 pm

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by pilgrim »

So what causes atherosclerosis or heart attacks?

User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by Alex123 »

pilgrim wrote:So what causes atherosclerosis or heart attacks?
Not cholesterol which is essential for health. If there is something wrong with arteries, then they or some other disease are at fault. Not cholesterol which is so important that it is produced by the liver and 25% of cholesterol is found in the brain. I would consider it insulting if someone would tell me that "you got low cholesterol".
  • "One of the most surprising facts about cholesterol is that there is no relationship between the blood cholesterol level and the degree of atherosclerosis in the vessels. If a high cholesterol really did promote atherosclerosis, then people with a high cholesterol should evidently be more atherosclerotic than people with a low. But it isn't so." link
User avatar
LonesomeYogurt
Posts: 900
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:24 pm
Location: America

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Alex123 wrote:Not cholesterol which is essential for health. If there is something wrong with arteries, then they or some other disease are at fault. Not cholesterol which is so important that it is produced by the liver and 25% of cholesterol is found in the brain. I would consider it insulting if someone would tell me that "you got low cholesterol".
The problem is that the cholesterol which is produced by your body is mainly high-density lipoprotein, whereas most processed, cooked, or otherwise ingested cholesterol is low-density lipoprotein, which is prone to oxidation by free radicals. HDL cholesterol is indeed important for the body; in fact, specifically it is important largely because of its role in preventing the buildup of LDLC.

Also, unless your doctor is doing something very wrong, your cholesterol levels are not going to be measured by sampling your brain. They're going to be measured by sampling your blood, which is filled with a general baseline of HDLC that rarely goes up or down (as it is produced, like you said, naturally by the liver) as well as an additional level of LDLC which comes from diet, or in some cases disease of the liver. The problem with high cholesterol is that it can only reach the levels considered "dangerous" by medical professionals if there is a substantial amount of LDLC at risk for oxidation. I myself have literally no cholesterol intake as I consume no animal products, and my cholesterol is still fine because I have healthy levels of HDLC produced naturally by my body.

I certainly haven't had any problems with brain function...at least I think. :?
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by Alex123 »

As for LDL cholesterol: IT IS GOOD.
The LDL submarines mainly transport cholesterol in the opposite direction. They carry it from the liver, where most of our body's cholesterol is produced, to the peripheral tissues, including the vascular walls. When cells need cholesterol, they call for the LDL submarines, which then deliver cholesterol into the interior of the cells. Most of the cholesterol in the blood, between 60 and 80 per cent, is transported by LDL and is called ”bad” cholesterol, for reasons that I shall explain soon. Only 15-20 percent is transported by HDL and called ”good” cholesterol.

You may ask why a natural substance in our blood, with important biologic functions, is called ”bad” when it is transported from the liver to the peripheral tissues by LDL, but ”good” when it is transported the other way by HDL.
http://www.ravnskov.nu/myth1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
What I am considering right now is to add more cholesterol containing food in my diet in few month or so. I've read a lot of good things about cholesterol.
tinhtan
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 1:32 pm

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by tinhtan »

Alex123 wrote:As for LDL cholesterol: IT IS GOOD.
...
What I am considering right now is to add more cholesterol containing food in my diet in few month or so. I've read a lot of good things about cholesterol.
Hi Alex ,
I think you know that :
- a little poison might be a medicine
- but too much medicine would became a poison !

All is about the balance, the correct level acceptable for the body. There's no really good or bad cholesterol but only the correct level that contributes to a healthy body.

So, too much LDL cholestorol may block inside your arteries.
Too low LDL cholestoreol may cause your artery rigid.

The problem is to define the level of LDLC/HDLC in the blood to be considered a healthy situation for a person with a certain weight .

I think that it's better for you to search for the reason why your body can not adjust the right percentage of the Cholesterol(LDL/HDL) in the blood.

Another type of fat present in the blood is triglycerides that also play a certain function. High levels of triglycerides may increase your risk for metabolic syndrome( diabetes, heart disease, ...). In general high cholesterol leads to high triglycerides.

I hope you to find and follow a balance regime.
Best wishes.
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by Ben »

pilgrim wrote:So what causes atherosclerosis or heart attacks?
Gremlins, obviously!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
BubbaBuddhist
Posts: 640
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:55 am
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Contact:

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by BubbaBuddhist »

Apparently the main cholesterol-based chemical which is beneficial for brain, liver and kidney function is choline, which occurs naturally in eggs and fatty meats. It is classified as an essential nutrient, and studies have shown most people do not get anywhere near enough oi it. Choline must be consumed through the diet in order for the body to remain healthy. It is used in the synthesis of the constructional components in the body's cell membranes. Despite the perceived benefits of choline, dietary recommendations have discouraged people from eating certain high choline foods, such as egg and fatty meats.

From the wiki:
Groups at risk for choline deficiency

Vegetarians, vegans, endurance athletes, and people who drink a lot of alcohol may be at risk for choline deficiency and may benefit from choline supplements.[citation needed] In general, people who do not eat many whole eggs may have to pay close attention to get enough choline in their diets.[12] Studies on a number of different populations have found that the average intake of choline was below the adequate intake (AI).[2][13]

The choline researcher Dr. Steven Zeisel wrote: "A recent analysis of data from NHANES 2003–2004 revealed that for [American] older children, men, women and pregnant women, mean choline intakes are far below the AI. Ten percent or fewer had usual choline intakes at or above the AI."[2]
Choline has been shown in numerous clinical trials to aid in cognition and memory improvement. Also memory loss, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer, and other disorders.

Since I'm a vegetarian, I take citicoline, a choline supplement along with my other supplements. I'm an ovo-lacto veggie (which makes me a monster in the eyes of the more militant vegans, but oh well) so I get the occasional egg, but I don't eat enough to get the daily recommended requirement. An adult male would have to eat five eggs a day to meet the recommended daily requirement of choline!

Hope all this helps,

BB
Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by Alex123 »

tinhtan wrote:Hi Alex ,
I think you know that :
- a little poison might be a medicine
- but too much medicine would became a poison !
Of course. Without water we will die. But if one jumps in a swimming pool and drowns......

But cholesterol is NOT the demon that it is made out to be.
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 17169
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:15 am
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by DNS »

Alex123 wrote: But cholesterol is NOT the demon that it is made out to be.
LDL is bad. HDL is good, which is why there are perhaps some conflicting studies. Cholesterol, i.e., good cholesterol is not bad in high numbers actually combats the bad cholesterol. The LDL in high numbers can be very bad for you. Good foods and exercise can raise the good cholesterol.
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by Alex123 »

David N. Snyder wrote:
Alex123 wrote: But cholesterol is NOT the demon that it is made out to be.
LDL is bad. HDL is good, which is why there are perhaps some conflicting studies. Cholesterol, i.e., good cholesterol is not bad in high numbers actually combats the bad cholesterol. The LDL in high numbers can be very bad for you. Good foods and exercise can raise the good cholesterol.
The only "bad" cholesterol is if, if it gets too high (which is questionable) like the water example that I've gave. Without water we will die. But if one jumps in a swimming pool and drowns from too much water......

Check my earlier post.
danieLion
Posts: 1947
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 4:49 am

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by danieLion »

Alex123 wrote:What I am considering right now is to add more cholesterol containing food in my diet in few month or so. I've read a lot of good things about cholesterol.
This is what I learned from my nutrition science professor: You just poop out any cholesterol you eat in foods. You make all your own cholesterol. Your body uses the protein and fat you eat to manufacture its own cholesterol.

So the real myth about cholesterol is that eating it effects your cholesterol levels. It's doesn't.

Without cholesterol (both kinds) you'd die. Blood levels are an imprecise yet pragmatic indicator of risk probabilities, not evidence pro or con for the validity of the metric.
User avatar
Mr Man
Posts: 4016
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:42 am

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by Mr Man »

So this is nonsense? http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/cond ... terol.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems that for every medical condition (and medication) we can find differing viewpoints. Our research normally takes us to views which match our own ideas/hopes/opinions.
User avatar
BubbaBuddhist
Posts: 640
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:55 am
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Contact:

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by BubbaBuddhist »

Peanut butter is bad for you, studies say.
Peanut butter is great for you, studies say.
Eggs are bad for you, studies say.
No, eggs are GOOD for you, studies say.
Soy gives you moobs, according to UK scientists.
No it doesn't, University of Sydney says.


In my lifetime I've heard so many conflicting dietary "studies" I've come to think the nutritional field is more voodoo than science.

BB
Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: The cholesterol myth

Post by Alex123 »

Mr Man wrote:So this is nonsense? http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/cond ... terol.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems that for every medical condition (and medication) we can find differing viewpoints. Our research normally takes us to views which match our own ideas/hopes/opinions.
Not every study is of equal validity. Not every conclusion is correct one. Correlation does NOT mean causation. When there is hurricane, trees bend. But trees bending does not cause the wind. Wind causes them. If there is some problem in the body (ex: leading to heart problems) and more cholesterol is produced, it doesn't mean that it is cholesterol, a naturally occurring substance produced by the liver, that is to blame.

That link recommends statins (rather than exercise, good diet, multivitamins, etc from which big Pharma cannot make money).
BubbaBuddhist wrote:In my lifetime I've heard so many conflicting dietary "studies" I've come to think the nutritional field is more voodoo than science.
That is very wise. The possible answer is that we have to do our own research because when big financial interests are involved, some studies can be biased toward certain expensive drugs such as statins.
Post Reply