What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a waxy kind of fat that the body makes out of saturated fat in the diet. A small amount is absorbed from the bowel but most we make ourselves. So the chicken that put cholesterol in an egg which we ate is not responsible for our cholesterol: it is our liver that is to blame. The liver made cholesterol out of the butter that we put on our egg sandwich: the cholesterol in the yolk added very little.
Why do we have cholesterol? If cholesterol is so bad why did evolution give us the ability to make cholesterol?
Cholesterol is good! (In small quantities.) Amongst other things our body makes hormones including sex hormones from cholesterol. And the structures that hold our brain cells together contain cholesterol. If you value your brain and your sex hormones you will be thankful to your liver for making cholesterol.
What is HDL - LDL - VLDL? High
density
lipoprotein
, low
density
lipoprotein
, very
low
density
lipoprotein
.
Cholesterol is a wax. It does not dissolve in blood. It needs a transport mechanism. Cholesterol in the blood is wrapped up in a soluble protein called
lipoprotein - (lipo = fat, protein = protein) which carries the cholesterol around the body. If the adrenal glands need of some cholesterol to make hormones, they offload it from the lipoprotein-cholesterol complex, and the empty liporotein goes back to the depot to pick up more.
We categorize lipoprotein by its size. High density = big, low density = small, very low density = very small.
Why does this matter?
Cholesterol wrapped in HDL is not good at sticking in your arteries. Cholesterol wrapped in LDL and VLDL sticks easily in your arteries. HDL-cholesterol is GOOD: LDL - VLDL cholesterol is BAD.
How do we increase HDL and decrease LDL - VLDL?
Pick your parents well! The tendency to low HDL and high LDL is largely inherited. This is not a facetious remark. Knowing your heredy allows you to take action
before you have hardening of the arteries. If all the men in your family have heart attacks before the age of 40 (as reported in one Irish study) then all teenagers in that family need to have their cholesterol checked and get treated appropriately.
Exercise. Long steady aerobic exercise increases HDL. This includes fast walking, jogging, cycling etc. Any exercise that gets your heart rate up to the aerobic range and keeps it here for 20+ minutes will gradually raise your HDL.
take appropriate meds if diet and exercise does not work.
