Jimmy Moore - Cholesterol Clarity: What The HDL Is Wrong With My Numbers?

Chapter 1

What Is Cholesterol and Why Do You Need It?

For decades, well-meaning health professionals have told us that we dont need cholesterol or that having a lot of it is bad. Drug therapies have been developed specifically to combat this problem. It might therefore strike you as funny that in this chapter Im going to tell you why you do need it. But heres the simple truth: Your body could not survive without cholesterol.

Cholesterol is essential for our bodies to function and without cholesterol you would die. In fact, the majority of the cholesterol in our blood comes from our own bodies making it. I dont think a lot of people understand that concept. People mistakenly think they get most of their cholesterol from their food and thats not true. Cholesterol is used to make hormones like estrogen and testosterone, is transported into the adrenal gland to aid in hormone synthesis, repair nerves, and make bile for fat digestion, its a structural component of our cells, it synthesizes vitamin Dit plays such a critical role in our body that we genuinely need it. If our levels of cholesterol are too low, that can play a negative role in our health, too, as a telltale sign of autoimmune disease or even cancer.

-Cassie Bjork

Cholesterol is one of the most important molecules in the human body: we would die very quickly without it. Its involved in the creation of vitamin D and in the formation of many important sex hormones, its an integral part of cell membranes, and its necessary for the production of bile, which is critical to our ability to emulsify and digest fats.

Mark Sisson

Cholesterol is a waxy, fatlike substance produced primarily in the liver. It is absolutely essential to the life of humans and animals; without it, our cells could not repair themselves, we could not maintain proper hormone levels, we could not properly absorb vitamin D from the sun, we could not regulate our salt and water balance, and we could not digest fats. And, oh yes, it also improves memory and boosts levels of serotoninthe chemical that makes us happy. Cholesterol sounds like its pretty important, dont you think? But wait, theres more.

Chemically, the cholesterol in your blood and the cholesterol in the foods you eat are the same thing, since there is only one molecule that would be identified as cholesterol. But that doesnt mean that most of the cholesterol inside your body is coming from your food. The reason for this is that we have a certain need for cholesterol and we regulate that need for cholesterol fairly tightly. So if we eat a lot of cholesterol, our bodies make less of it; if we eat less cholesterol, our bodies make more of it. In most people, the majority of cholesterol that is circulating in their blood is made by their own bodies. The amount of cholesterol-containing foods they eat isnt going to have a big impact on their blood cholesterol levels. It can vary from person to person, but in general the cholesterol in your diet is never the major determinant of cholesterol levels in the blood or in the body.

Dr. Chris Masterjohn

In April 2013, I attended a medical conference of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians in San Diego. One of the speakers, Peter Attia, MD, gave a talk called The Straight Dope on Cholesterol (google that phrase to read his ten-part blog series on the subject), and he made a fascinating point: Only 15 percent of the cholesterol that you consume through diet is absorbed and used by the body; the other 85 percent is excreted. His natural conclusion? The cholesterol we consume has very little to do with the cholesterol levels in our bloodstream. That salient point really stuck with me in light of all the hysteria about eliminating cholesterol-rich foods from our diet.

Did you know that cholesterol has some amazing antioxidant properties that can actually help guard you against heart disease? Ironic, isnt it? There are many reasons why your cholesterol levels might go up: It could be your bodys response to inflammation (a critical concept well discuss in ), or it could be a sign that part of your body is malfunctioningmaybe, for example, your thyroid function is low. Well get into these and the other possible reasons for elevated cholesterol levels later on in the book. For now, all you need to know is that cholesterol is a major line of defense when your immune system comes under attack. So lowering cholesterol levels artificially with drugs could make you more susceptible to germs or bacteria wreaking havoc on your health. Are you getting more excited about cholesterol? Maybe just a little?