What does the body make cholesterol from?
How does the body know how much cholesterol to make?
How can we stop the liver from making excess cholesterol? The role of anti-oxidants
What does the body make cholesterol from?
In "
All About Cholesterol" we learn that cholesterol is made in the liver from saturated fat and transfats. Saturated fat and transfats increase LDL (bad cholesterol) but transfats also lower HDL (good cholesterol).
TRANSFATS ARE WORSE FOR THE HEART THAN SATURATED FAT.
TRANSFATS, BEING MOSTLY MAN-MADE, PROVIDE NO NUTRITION TO THE BODY OTHER THAN CALORIES.
The liver manufactures the cholesterol then attaches it to a transport mechanism, (HDL,LDL, see "All About Cholestrerol).
How does the body know how much cholesterol to make?
Most processes in the body have a feedback mechanism that controls that particular process. Cholesterol control has one too.
Examples: The pancreas puts out insulin when the blood sugar rises, pushes sugar out of the blood and into cells, the blood sugar falls, the pancreas stops releasing insulin and the blood sugar stabilizes. When the insulin system fails we get diabetes: when it works too efficiently we get hypoglycemia.
Thyroid hormone is the "accellerator pedal" for most processes in thebody. When the body slows down, the thyroid puts out more thyroid hormone. When it reaches a pre-set level, it stops releasing thyroid hormone and the body settles to a "normal" rate. When the thyroid system under-acts we become hypothyroid with everything in the body slowing down: constipation, sluggish thinking, slow pulse, slower use of calories causing obesity etc. Whe the thyroid overacts everthing goes too fast: diarrhoea, "hyper" brain activity even psychosis, fast pulse which may become damaging to the heart, faster use of calories causing weight loss.
The liver has a feedback mechanism for cholesterol too. It makes cholesterol until the blood cholesterol reaches a certain level then it cuts back.
The level at which the liver stops making cholesterol is inherited. It is genetically set.
Some families have congenitally high cholesterol. Their cholesterol thermostat is set too high. In order to lower their cholesterol they have to diet more strictly than other people.
HDL - LDL is also genetically set.
The author had an Irish family in his practice with this problem. The oldest living male member was 40 years old. Women's hormones raise HDL so they were protected until menopause. No medication or degree of exercise raised their HDL until the invention of statins. Statins saved their lives.
Some families have a double detriment: genetically high cholesterol and congenitally low HDL. The Irish family mentioned above fell in this category.
How can we encourage the body to make less cholesterol?
Certain chemicals in foods encourage the liver to make less cholesterol. These chemicals are mostly of plant or fish origin.
Red and green vegetables.
Vegetables containing carotenoids, beta carotene and lycopene lower LDL-cholesterol and stop the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol into its dangerous form.
Tomatoes: they release more lycopene when cooked. They are one of the few vegetables that increase in food value with processing.
Green vegetables: chard, kale, spinach, turnip greens, dandelion greens, beet greens, mustard greens, collard, watercress, romaine lettuce
Herbs: cilantro, fresh thyme, parsley.
Root vegetables: sweet potatoes, carrots, cassava
Squash family: winter squash, pumpkin.
Fruits: goji berries (highest source of anti-oxidants of all fruit/veg.), cantaloupe, melon, mango, apricots, rose hips.
Crucifers: broccoli.
Vitamin C
Statins are in a class of drug called "HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors". Vitamin C is a natural HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor.
Vitamin B3 (niacin) reduces cholesterol. Prior to the introduction of statins niacin was commonly prescribed. However the dosage level that lowers cholesterol also causes uncomfortable flushing.
Vitamin B6 also lowers LDL-cholesterol.
Vitamin B3, B6, B12 and Folic Acid are all needed for good liver function. As most of our cholesterol is made in the liver, maintaining a healthy liver is vital in cholesterol control.
Sprouted grains may decrease production of cholesterol.
Artichoke leaf also reduces choplesterol production.
Soya products
Eating soya products has shown a consistent decrease in death rates from heart disease over many studies, including the Portfolio Study. The question is how does it help the patient?
Soya products lower LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol by a small but significant amount. Soya with increased isoflavones increase this effect. However this is not enough to explain the dramatic decrease in death rates. These products also decrease sudden death from arrhthmia causing sudden death, which is a contributing factor. The substitution of soy products for meat or dairy sources of protein probably acounts for the major change in cholesterol levels.
Resveratrol - Red Wine
Resveratrol is found in grape skins and red wine. Red wine drinkers experience protection from cardiovascular disease. Resveratrol lowers total cholesterol, decreases LDL cholesterol and increases HDL cholesterol. It has an added benefit in being an antiinflammatory. Resveratrol decreases the speed at which cholesterol is laid down in the early formation of "plaque", the waxy lesion that starts hardening of the arteries. Cholesterol is laid down faster in inflamed arteries, slower in non-inflamed arteries.
Blueberries
Blueberries are one of the best sources of antioxidant. In addition they contain pterostilbene, a chemical that reduces the amount of LDL-cholesterol that the body makes. Blueberries also contain resveratrol. Blueberry concentrate or extract may be more effective in reducing LDL-cholesterol than the raw berries because of the concentrating effect. More studies are needed.
Vitamin E
Oxidation makes LDL-cholesterol more dangerous. Vitamin E being an antioxidant helps decrease oxidized LDL-cholesterol. Large amounts of Vitamin E have bad health effects. It would be prudent to take supplements of Vitamin E at less than 1000 mg. per day.
Apples: tomatoes: Quercitin
Quercetin is a flavinoid found in many foods of plant origin including apples, crucifers (cabbage, cauliflower), nuts and berries. Organic tomatoes have significantly more quercitin than non-organic. Quercitin is primarily an antoi-oxidant so it acts like Vitamin E and other phytochemicals : it reduces the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol that makes it dangerous. However a Japanese study showed a lowering of LDL-cholesterol in women who had higher blood levels of quercitin.
Spices: Cinnamon, Turmeric, Sesame seeds, Fenugreek, Curry powder, Garam Masala
Cinnamon was shown to lower blood sugar and LDL-cholesterol in a Pakistani study.
Turmeric contains curcumin which prevent absorption of cholesterol from the bowel.
Sesame seeds contain fibre and phytosterols which slow down absorption of cholesterol from the bowel.
Fenugreek has been shown to lower LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides. It contains saponins which may account for this effect. Wine, grape skins and blueberries also contain saponins. Many curry powder and garam masala powders used in Indian and Pakistani cooking contain these ingredients as well as other spices such a cumin.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral found in many vegetable-based diets but lacking in urban diets. Magnesium is needed for the synthesis of hormones from cholesterol and in other cholesterol biochemical processes. People with low magnesium, when given supplements, experienced alowering of LDL-cholesterol and a rise in HDL. ACE inhibitors concentrate magnesium: do not take a supplement if you take ACE inhibitors. Magnesium is absorbed through the intestine along the same transport mechanism as calcium. The body absorbs calcium first, so take magnesium separate from calcium.
Omega 3 oil.
Fish oils raise HDL. Omega 3 fatty acids found in cold water fish reduce cardiac deaths dramatically, mostly by preventing sudden death from arrhythmia. When a patient has a heart attack, there is a danger of going into an arrhthmia, ventricular fibrillation. This is the cause of sudden death in heart attacks, and explains the rising use of community defibrillators. In addition to helping prevent these abnormal rhythms omega 3 oils reduce LDL and raise HDL to a small but significant degree.
Shiitake mushrooms contain an amino acid eritadenine which lowers cholesterol production in the liver.
