Should We Worry about High Cholesterol?
Attempting to unravel the confusion around the association between fat, cholesterol, and heart disease.
Saturated fat does raise cholesterol levels, but is it the saturated fat and cholesterol per se that are the problems, or is something else going on?
My friend Victor texted me recently and told me he has high cholesterol and asked for some recommendations. Do I need to give up my bacon? he wants to know. In my lay-person-but-informed opinion it’s important to do all that you can with diet before, if ever, turning to medication. His doctor is adamant that he needs to go on a statin unless he lowers his cholesterol very soon. Statins are known to have negative side effects and they probably do more harm than good.
Since my last blood test I’ve wondered why some people with high cholesterol end up with heart disease and others do not. My mother has had high levels since her middle age and yet she’s never had any trace of heart disease, even now as she’s older. It’s important to note however, that her HDL cholesterol is high and that’s a sign that she’s been doing something right as HDL is the shuttle that carries cholesterol out of the arteries to the liver and is considered very healthy.
Saturated fat is found in plant sources as well as animal sources but cholesterol is only found in animal foods. Dietary cholesterol from meats does not appear to end up in the bloodstream, but the saturated fat from meat will contribute to raising LDL cholesterol. LDL is harmful if the levels are too high and inflammation causes a plaque to form.
The crucial point is what accompanies saturated fat from plant sources versus saturated fat from animal sources: antioxidants accompany saturated fat from plants and they help to prevent inflammation. Plant foods also contain fiber which absorbs some of the cholesterol from the bloodstream.
According to Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D., quoted from a recent Joe Rogan podcast: “Saturated fat, which does increase LDL cholesterol, isn’t such a bad thing, UNLESS you are under chronic inflammation.”
To say there’s a lot of confusion around this topic is an understatement, but in looking at the studies and reading the latest information I’ve concluded that cholesterol in itself has gotten a bad rap. Cholesterol is crucial for the formation of cell structure. It not only creates the structure but it makes the cell permeable and allows nutrients to go in and out of the cell. It protects the nervous system. Without cholesterol the myelin sheath around our nerve cells becomes damaged. Central nervous system ailments such as MS and Parkinson’s disease are related to a damaged myelin sheath.
Since my last blood test I’ve wondered why some people with high cholesterol end up with heart disease and others do not.
The biggest problem with cholesterol is when it forms plaques in response to some sort of immune system attack, like a chronically stressed body. This is called chronic inflammation: when your body’s immune system regularly responds in order to stay in balance.
The body is all about balance. When we are stressing our system with lack of sleep, smoking, bad food that it doesn’t recognize, and lack of exercise, it thinks it’s under attack and immune cells are released to heal the situation. This also happens when there’s an actual injury in the body, such as a cut or bruise. When it is chronic however, the immune cells don’t see an outright injury and they don’t know where to go so they can end up damaging tissues.
Back to cholesterol: Cholesterol performs all of the above vital functions and another one of them is to accompany these immune cells to heal injury. The rogue immune cells cause injury and cholesterol now rushes to the rescue and it forms a plaque against the blood vessel, like a bandage. Now there’s a plaque, or clot (like a scab), along the lining of the blood vessel, and if it becomes dislodged, it will cause heart attack or stroke. The original purpose of the cholesterol and the immune cells was to repair, not to harm but as I said above, we’ve confused the body with chronic inflammation.
If there had been plenty of antioxidants circulating, could the inflammation have been prevented in the first place? The latest science says Yes: A crucial factor in preventing disease is to prevent inflammation.
The role of oxidative stress in cardiovascular disease is supported by evidence from studies that have found associations between antioxidant intake, oxidative stress and cardiovascular outcomes.
So what prevents oxidative stress? The more anti-inflammatory plant foods you include in your diet, the less likely you are to be affected poorly by high cholesterol. Plant foods are full of antioxidants and phytochemicals which prevent inflammation. Study after study concludes the protective effects of a diet such as the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in leafy greens, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. The plant foods protect the cells from oxidation and inflammation which reduces the chance of a buildup of plaque or a clot. The nuts and seeds and fatty fish are also rich in Omega 3 fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory and thin the blood. (The richest source of Omega 3s for vegans is ground flaxseed.)
Plant foods are full of antioxidants and phytochemicals which prevent inflammation.
Bottom Line: Saturated fat can raise cholesterol levels but there’s a difference between eating saturated fat from plants versus saturated fat from animal sources. When you eat an olive, you get the saturated fat but you also get the phytochemicals and healthy fatty acids which prevent inflammation. Get your saturated fat from vegetable sources because it is accompanied by a rich variety of antioxidants. Saturated fat from animal sources generally has no antioxidants and is in fact often grilled or browned which adds even more harm from the carcinogens created by browning the meat.
Bottom-line Recommendations to prevent heart disease from high cholesterol:
- Keep your belly fat down, avoid processed meats, burned meats, and anything that has hormones or antibiotics because these are inflammatory.
- Manage your stress, exercise regularly, and don’t smoke.
- Include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in order to provide your body with a constant flow of antioxidants to prevent damage to the arteries. This will keep your cholesterol relatively low but not so low that it deprives your tissues of what it needs.
As it turns out, mom loves her fruits and vegetables and has always been health conscious so this has been, in my opinion, the reason she is living a long and healthy life despite her high cholesterol levels. I will tell my friend Victor that if he still chooses to eat that bacon, have some blueberries on the side. I’ll also tell him that if he loves animals, just forgo the bacon altogether.
Full Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. These are my opinions based on the latest research I could find. Please follow your doctor’s instructions before making any changes.
Originally published at https://suchgoodskin.com on March 17, 2020.
