Dietary Fat & Cholostrol: What to Look For

Is Fat Good or Bad?

Cholesterol is vital for all the body cell functioning, cell membranes formation, metabolism, and hormone synthesis. Cholesterol is such a vital element that if body detects insufficient amount, manufactures it internally through liver and other internal mechanisms.

Correlation between Cholesterol and Heart Disease:

The misconception for this correlation is rooted in our dietery habits from decades ago. It is important to know that: Not all fats are equal. Saturated fat that is mostly presents in animal products and red meat IS NOT the source of heart disease but high carb and industrialized PUFA (Polyunsaturated fatty acids: such as sunflower oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, etc) are. These oils are unfortunately present in most packaged food and snacks (even “healthy” protein bars, etc.)

*** always read the nutrition labels and ingredients ***

LDL as know “bad cholesterol” is divided to two main categories, large & fluffy LDL (harmless) and small & dense LDL (bad).

High carb intake impacts the insulin level as well as the level of small and dense LDL and triglyceride level in the blood flow, while the dietary saturated fat present in animal product impact mostly the “large LDL” as well as HDL (good cholesterol) count. Right exercise routine also elevates the HDL level in the blood.

The heart disease and stroke process start with damaging the artery wall/endothelium (interior lines of blood vessel) due to high blood pressure, smoking, high blood sugar, etc. Small and dense LDL become trapped and lodge the damaged endothelium and further oxidize and trigger the body immune system and form foam cells (plaques). The plaque rupture over the time causes heart attack/ stroke.

Although, standard blood tests only identify the total number of LDL, this wrong approach is often very misleading. High consumption of animal products could lead to high “large LDL” numbers which is not the issue. To fully understand the heart disease risk factors, one need to obtain more data including LDL particle size, HDL, Apo B, triglyceride, blood pressure, chronic inflammatory markers (such as IL-6, C-reactive protein, homocysteine, CPK), HbA1C, fasting insulin and glucose, vitamin D, etc. This could be obtained through ordering a complete lipid panel by your doctor or through direct to consumer labs.

Statin (cholesterol medication) that is widely prescribed to many individuals with high cholesterol; has many negative side effects and not useful for heart health as it reduces all cholesterol types including HDL and need to be used with caution and re-considered.

In summary, no single blood marker is a good indicator of heart disease. Heart disease causes are due to oxidative stress and inflammation due to smoking, poor stress management, poor sleep hygiene, chronic and stressful exercise patterns, and high consumption of carbs and unhealthy fats.