Cholesterol is essential to health.

• It contributes to the formation of many essential compounds, including vitamin D, bile acid, estrogen, and testosterone.
• Cholesterol is manufactured in the liver of every animal. Including you.
• Your body has it’s own “natural” level of cholesterol, which is completely unrelated to your diet.
• Your diet can increase your cholesterol numbers if you eat lots of animal-based foods. Your diet can reduce your cholesterol numbers, too – eating a plant-based diet with little or no animal fat will bring your cholesterol numbers back to their “natural” (non-diet-related) level.
• Cholesterol is measured with a blood test. The total blood cholesterol is the amount of cholesterol circulating in your bloodstream. Total blood cholesterol consists of the HDL, LDL, and triglyceride measures. More on those in the next few days.
• Total blood cholesterol offers a direct correlation to how much plaque has been deposited in your arteries. Plaque is made up of cholesterol, fat, and other debris in the body. It sticks to artery walls, and the more that’s there, the more gets stuck to it.
• Nutrients that will help lower cholesterol include lecithin (from soybeans and other legumes), vitamin C (from citrus fruits, peppers, and cabbage), vitamin E (from unprocessed grains), and niacin (from unprocessed grains like rye, oats, and quinoa). Plant fiber (from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes) helps reduce the fat in the blood.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 11:35 am and is filed under Articles - Health, Good Fats - Bad Fats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.