If you’ve ever had a blood test, it’s highly likely your doctor has checked your cholesterol level. Although I believe cholesterol is over rated, it is useful to know your blood level of this fat.

Cholesterol is a very important substance in your body. In fact, every cell of your body requires cholesterol to survive. Elevated cholesterol can be a risk factor for heart disease, but it is only one of many risk factors. Rather than rushing to take a drug or natural substance that lowers cholesterol, why not consider why your cholesterol is elevated in the first place?

If your cholesterol level is elevated, these are the most likely explanations:

Poor Diet

This is the most common reason why you may have elevated cholesterol levels.  This is good news because it can be easily corrected.  A high intake of fat and cholesterol in the diet is usually blamed for elevated blood cholesterol, but sugar and an excess intake of carbohydrate and trans fats are the real villains.  Any excess calories we consume can be converted into cholesterol and triglycerides in your liver, therefore if you eat too much and become overweight, you raise your risk of heart disease.  Changing what you eat is your most powerful weapon against heart disease.

Excess Carbohydrate

Today it is common for most people to eat a lot of carbohydrate.  This is found in foods such as grains, cereals, starches and sugar.  One reason for this is because we are constantly told to reduce our fat intake; we must eat something else to replace fat, and usually this means eating more carbohydrate.  Another reason is because many people are addicted to carbohydrate.  Sugar is addictive, and the more we eat it the more we crave it.  Carbohydrate rich foods are also quick and convenient.  A common diet may consist of toast or cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, pasta, rice or potatoes for dinner, and biscuits, crackers or other sweets as snacks – not forgetting sugar in tea or coffee throughout the day.

It is true that we need carbohydrate for energy, but most of us are not athletes, and our sedentary lives never allow us to burn off this carbohydrate.  Instead it is converted into body fat. Many people go on a low fat, high carbohydrate diet when trying to lower their cholesterol. When this doesn’t work, they conclude that “My body just makes too much cholesterol, therefore I need to take a drug to lower it”. Everybody’s body manufactures cholesterol if they eat too much carbohydrate, whether they are overweight or not. There is a low carbohydrate eating plan in the book "I Can't Lose Weight!...And I Don't Know Why.

The problem with vegetable oil

The vegetable oil you buy in the supermarket to cook with has usually been through a number of processes that have damaged the beneficial fats once present in the oils, and produced some toxic substances.  Most oils come from seeds, nuts or fruit.

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated vegetable oils are quite delicate and unstable.  This means that they are easily damaged and go rancid quickly.  This can make them quite harmful to our health.  Currently most vegetable oils are extracted in factories through the use of heat and chemical solvents.  They are exposed to light and oxygen during processing, which negatively affect the oil.

If you cook with these kinds of processed vegetable oils and heat them to high temperatures, you are further destroying them and adding to the quantity of trans fatty acids they already contain. If you eat a lot of damaged, oxidized oils, they will cause your LDL cholesterol molecules to be oxidized. This kind of cholesterol is more likely to accumulate in artery walls and block them. The inflammation generated in your body also raises cholesterol production.

Lack of Fiber

The main way our body gets rid of excess cholesterol is through our bowel movements.  The liver pumps excess cholesterol that is not needed into the bile, which is stored in the gallbladder.  Bile then enters our intestines through an opening called Vater’s ampulla and leaves our body in bowel movements.  If there is not much fiber in our diet, we don’t drink enough water and are constipated, cholesterol in bile can get reabsorbed back into our bloodstream and we end up with high cholesterol levels.  Therefore, one of the best ways to lower your cholesterol is to ensure that you have regular bowel movements.

The best kind of fiber for lowering cholesterol is soluble fiber.  This kind of fiber becomes a gel-like consistency in the intestines, and it is able to bind with cholesterol and other toxins in our intestines and carry them out of our body.  Good sources of soluble fiber include legumes such as kidney beans or chickpeas, rice, barley, apples, strawberries and citrus fruits.

Another benefit of fiber is that it slows the absorption of sugar into our bloodstream when we eat some in our meal.  This means that fiber lowers the glycemic index of a meal.  This is good for reducing your risk of Syndrome X or diabetes, both major risk factors for heart disease. If you don’t consume enough fiber in your diet, Fibertone can assist.

Syndrome X

Also known as metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance or pre-diabetes. People with syndrome X are twice as likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than the general population.  You can usually spot someone with Syndrome X by their round tummy.  People with syndrome X have elevated blood insulin levels and insulin stimulates the liver to make cholesterol. Find out if you have syndrome X here. Berberine is a natural plant extract that can help people with syndrome X to reduce their cholesterol. This is because it inhibits an enzyme in the body called PCSK9. This facilitates the removal of LDL cholesterol from your bloodstream. Berberine actually has the same mechanism of action as the newest cholesterol lowering drugs that have just been approved by the FDA but is significantly less expensive.

Genetic factors

Often heart disease runs in the family, and sometimes large numbers of family members die at a relatively young age of this condition.  Our genes affect how high our LDL cholesterol is because they determine how fast LDL is made and removed from the blood.  You are two to five times more likely to have a heart attack if a first degree relative has died of coronary heart disease before the age of 60.

There is a genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).  It is an autosomal dominant disorder that produces severe elevations in total and LDL cholesterol.  The DNA in our cells is packed into chromosomes, which occur in pairs.  Autosomal comes from the word “autosome” which means all chromosomes other than the sex chromosomes.  Dominant means that only one parent needs to contain the defective gene to pass it on to their offspring.

Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia occurs in approximately 1 in 500 people worldwide, and it causes an approximate doubling in LDL cholesterol levels.

Hypothyroidism

This is a condition whereby the thyroid gland is under active.  When the thyroid cannot produce enough T4 and T3 hormones, metabolism slows down; consequently the ability to process cholesterol is also impaired.  Studies have shown that subclinical, or hidden hypothyroidism may be responsible for elevated cholesterol levels.

Possible symptoms of hypothyroidism include:

  • Weight gain
  • Fatigue
  • Depression
  • Dry skin
  • Hair loss
  • Constipation
  • Sensitivity to cold
  • Muscle cramps, joint pain

If you suspect that you have an under active thyroid gland, ask your doctor for a blood test checking your levels of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH).  This is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland in the brain, and if elevated, your thyroid gland may not be able to produce enough hormones. For more information see our book 'Your Thyroid Problems Solved'.

Stress

Studies have shown that chronic stress raises the risk of heart disease.  One possible reason is that psychological and physical stress lead to the release of adrenaline; this causes the release of inflammatory cytokines such as IL6 and IL10.  These are a kind of immune system chemical released by white blood cells which promote inflammation in the body, and can promote the development of atherosclerosis.

The hormone cortisol is also released in response to stress.  Chronically elevated levels of cortisol are related to high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, abdominal obesity and glucose intolerance.  Glucose intolerance is a major risk factor for diabetes, and diabetics have higher rates of heart disease.  Cortisol is a steroid hormone made out of cholesterol, therefore the more stressed we get, the more cholesterol gets made in our body. Cortisol makes you lose magnesium in your urine, so being chronically stressed can cause magnesium deficiency. Being low in magnesium can raise your blood pressure.

Lack of exercise

Leading a sedentary lifestyle is a major risk factor for several diseases, including obesity, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.  Vigorous exercise that makes you huff and puff and break out into a sweat is one of the best ways to raise your levels of HDL “good” cholesterol and lower LDL “bad” cholesterol. Studies have shown that exercising for approximately 30 minutes, between three and five times a week elevates HDL cholesterol levels.

Smoking

Smoking is a well known major risk factor for heart disease, and several other diseases.  It is capable of raising LDL cholesterol  as well as blood pressure levels.  Nicotine stimulates the release of the stress hormone adrenaline, which in turn stimulates lipolysis (fat breakdown) and increases blood levels of free fatty acids. These then stimulate the liver to release VLDL and triglyceride into the bloodstream.  Smoking may lower levels of the protective HDL cholesterol, and chemicals in cigarettes cause damage to the artery walls, making it more likely for fat deposits to accumulate there.

Smokers have a 70 percent greater chance of dying from coronary heart disease than non-smokers.  Smoking doubles the risk of having a stroke, and women who take oral contraceptives and smoke have a ten times greater risk of having a heart attack.  However, there is hope because according to the World Health Organization, the risk of having a heart attack, stroke or peripheral artery disease drops significantly after the first two years of quitting.

As you can see, cholesterol is a complex subject. For more information see our book Cholesterol: The Real Truth.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.