Cholesterol – The Good, The Bad, The Awesome?

March The Month of Myth Busting – Is Cholesterol Bad?

By Megan Barefoot

This month No Shoes Nutrition is exploring dietary myths and the first myth we want to debunk is the worry around  dietary cholesterol. We were told for years that dietary cholesterol is something you need to avoid. In my house that meant we were only allowed to eat eggs once a week as a treat on the weekends for breakfast! Let’s talk about cholesterol - why we have it, what it’s good for and when we should worry about cholesterol levels.

First, cholesterol is a type of fat or lipid that is found in your blood. It is produced in the liver and must be returned to the liver to be removed from the body. It is found in every cell wall of your body and is necessary to make vitamin D and certain hormones. Your body needs cholesterol to function properly but having high levels of the wrong type of cholesterol in your blood is an indication that something is imbalanced.

There are two main types of cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein or HDL and low-density lipoprotein LDL. HDL is referred to as good cholesterol because it helps remove excess cholesterol from your body. We want to have more HDL than LDL. Remember, cholesterol is a fatty waxy substance so it must travel on a protein to get through your water-based blood as we know oils and water don’t mix. We like higher levels of HDL cholesterol because that means the cholesterol is being recycled and removed from the body through the liver, into the gallbladder where it is used in the bile and dumped into the small intestine to be removed with bodily waste.

LDL is often referred to as bad cholesterol because when it is high that means the liver is making lots of cholesterol which indicates there is a high level of inflammation in the body especially in the cardiovascular system where cholesterol is used to protect the blood vessels and is laid down as plaque.  When LDL cholesterol builds up in the walls of your arteries it can narrow the arteries and restrict blood flow.

So, do we need to avoid dietary cholesterol to lower our cholesterol levels in our blood?  While it is true that cholesterol is found in certain foods such as eggs and fatty meats it's only a small portion of the overall picture when it comes to our health. In fact, dietary cholesterol has much smaller effect on blood cholesterol levels compared to the amount of saturated and trans fats as well as highly sugar laden foods and refined carbohydrates which can lead to the inflammation we talked about earlier.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to cholesterol and you food choices:

1.      Focus on Healthy Fats - Instead of avoiding foods high in cholesterol focus on choosing healthy fats such as monosaturated and polysaturated fats which can help lower LDL cholesterol levels. Good sources of healthy fats include olive oil avocados nuts and seeds.

2.     Limit saturated and Trans-fats - Saturated and trans fats are types of unhealthy fats that can increase LDL cholesterol and lead to high levels of systemic inflammation. These types of fats are often found in fried foods, processed snack foods and baked goods.

3.     Eat a Balanced Diet - A healthy diet should include a variety of nutrient dense foods including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats. One really important factor to not forget is fiber! The fruits and vegetables that you eat should be high in fiber as fiber binds to cholesterol in the intestinal system and removes it from the body. Overall, it's important to focus on the overall quality of your diet rather than specific nutrients or food groups when it comes to maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and put less emphasis on avoiding foods that may be high in dietary cholesterol.

Are you looking to get even healthier? Are you worried about your cholesterol levels and aren’t sure where to start? Could you use some support figuring out what foods you may need to add or cut out? Curious about how nutritional health coaching can help you make healthy changes? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with us today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about! Visit www.noshoesnutrition.com and sign up for a FREE consultation.  We work with people from all over the world individually or in groups so don’t let anything hold you back!