Fats: the good, the bad and the ugly! pt 2 - Cholesterol

Grateful to be here today. I hope this finds all of you well. Today I will be taking a closer look at Cholesterol. Is it bad?

So, what is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy steroid metabolite found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes, where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. So it is essentially found in all animal life.

In addition, cholesterol is an important component for the manufacture of bile acids, steroid hormones, and Vitamin D. Cholesterol is the principal sterol synthesized by animals, but small quantities are synthesized in other eukaryotes, such as plants and fungi. It is almost completely absent among prokaryotes, which include bacteria.

Although cholesterol is an important and necessary molecule for animals, a high level of serum cholesterol is an indicator for diseases such as heart disease.

Since cholesterol is essential for all animal life, it is primarily synthesized from simpler substances within the body. However, high levels in blood circulation, depending on how it is transported within lipoproteins, are strongly associated with progression of atherosclerosis.

The body compensates for cholesterol intake by reducing the amount synthesized. So the more cholesterol taken into the body, the less cholesterol the body makes or synthesizes.

Cholesterol is recycled. It is excreted by the liver via the bile into the digestive tract. Typically about 50% of the excreted cholesterol is reabsorbed by the small bowel back into the bloodstream. Phytosterols can compete with cholesterol reabsorption in the intestinal tract, thus reducing cholesterol reabsorption. (see more on Phytosterols and vascular disease)

Where do we get Cholesterol from?

Animal fats are complex mixtures of triglycerides, with lesser amounts of phospholipids and cholesterol. As a consequence, all foods containing animal fat contain cholesterol to varying extents. Major dietary sources of cholesterol include cheese, egg yolks, beef, pork, poultry, and shrimp. (Cholesterol content of selected foods per common measure)

Total fat intake, especially saturated fat and trans fat, (Train Off the Track: Trans Fatty Acids vs. Other Fats) plays a larger role in blood cholesterol than intake of cholesterol itself. Saturated fat is present in full fat dairy products, animal fats, several types of oil and chocolate. Trans fats are typically derived from the partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fats, and do not occur in significant amounts in nature. Trans fat is most often encountered in margarine and hydrogenated vegetable fat, and consequently in many fast foods, snack foods, and fried or baked goods.

Types of cholesterol

There are several kinds, but the most important are Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL or ‘bad’) and High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL or ‘good’).

LDL (Bad) Cholesterol
When too much LDL (bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, heart attack or stroke can result.

HDL (Good) Cholesterol
About one-fourth to one-third of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL cholesterol is known as "good" cholesterol, because high levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack. Low levels of HDL (less than 40 mg/dL) also increase the risk of heart disease. Medical experts think that HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it's passed from the body. Some experts believe that HDL removes excess cholesterol from arterial plaque, slowing its buildup. (Good vs Bad cholesterol)



How do you reduce "bad" cholesterol?

The amount of cholesterol present in plant-based food sources is generally much lower than animal based sources. In addition, plant products such as flax seeds and peanuts contain cholesterol-like compounds called phytosterols, which are suggested to help lower serum cholesterol levels.(See more here)

A change in diet in addition to other lifestyle modifications may help reduce blood cholesterol. Avoiding animal products may decrease the cholesterol levels in the body not only by reducing the quantity of cholesterol consumed but also by reducing the quantity of cholesterol synthesized. Those wishing to reduce their cholesterol through a change in diet should aim to consume less than 7% of their daily calories from saturated fat and fewer than 200 mg of cholesterol per day.(Dietary guidelines for Americans)


So lifestyle change is crucial in lowering risks involved with High choelsterol. Exercising and making it a regular part of life is an important lifestyle in addition to modifying the diet. the ideal diet is a vegetarian diet in combination with exercise. This lifestyle eliminates the intake of cholesterol from animal sources primarily meat but also the active lifestyle helps in lowering excess cholesterol in circulation.

Fats: the good, the bad and the ugly! pt 1

There are all kinds of fats. Good, bad and ugly ones. We are going to look at them over the next few posts. Let's start by taking a look at the different types:

The bad fats

Saturated fat

Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atoms is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms. There are many kinds of naturally occurring saturated fatty acids, which mainly differ in number of carbon atoms, from 3 carbons (propionic acid) to 36 (hexatriacontanoic acid).

They raise LDL cholesterol as well as the total blood cholesterol. Examples of foods containing a high proportion of saturated fat include animal fats such as cream, cheese, butter and ghee; suet, tallow, lard and fatty meats; as well as certain vegetable products such as coconut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, chocolate, and many prepared foods.


Trans fats

Trans fat is the common name for unsaturated fat with trans-isomer (E-isomer) fatty acid(s). Because the term refers to the configuration of a double carbon-carbon bond, trans fats may be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated but never saturated.

Unsaturated fat is a fat molecule containing one or more double bonds between the carbon atoms. Since the carbons are double-bonded to each other, there are fewer bonds connected to hydrogen, so there are fewer hydrogen atoms, hence "unsaturated".

The process of hydrogenation adds hydrogen atoms to cis-unsaturated fats, eliminating double bonds and making them into partially or completely saturated fats. However, partial hydrogenation, if it is chemical rather than enzymatic, converts a part of cis-isomers into trans-unsaturated fats instead of hydrogenating them completely. Some occur naturally in trace amounts in meat and dairy products derived from ruminants.

No trans fats are essential fatty acids; indeed, the consumption of trans fats increases the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Health authorities worldwide recommend that consumption of trans fat be reduced to trace amounts. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are more harmful than naturally occurring oils.

Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).

Examples are doughnuts and pastry, deep fried foods such as fried chicken fish and french fried potatoes, and imitation cheese. Snack chips, cookies, and crackers often contains high amounts of trans fat as well. Trans fat can also be found in some natural sources including milk, sheep, goats, deer, buffalo, and marsupials. These sources have been found to have significantly lower levels of trans fatty acids than those which are a result of manual hydrogenation. For a more detailed look at this, follow this link: (The Phantom fat)


Good Fats

Monounsaturated fats

In biochemistry and nutrition, monounsaturated fats or MUFA (MonoUnsaturated Fatty Acid) are fatty acids that have a single double bond in the fatty acid chain and all of the remainder of the carbon atoms in the chain are single-bonded. By contrast, polyunsaturated fatty acids have more than one double bond.

Fatty acid viscosity (thickness) and melting temperature increases with decreasing number of double bonds. Therefore, monounsaturated fatty acids have a higher melting point than polyunsaturated fatty acids (more double bonds) and a lower melting point than saturated fatty acids (no double bonds). Monounsaturated fatty acids are liquids at room temperature and semisolid or solid when refrigerated.

Although polyunsaturated fats protect against cardiovascular disease by providing more membrane fluidity than monounsaturated fats, they are more vulnerable to lipid peroxidation (rancidity). On the other hand, some monounsaturated fatty acids (in the same way as saturated fats) promote insulin resistance, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids are protective against insulin resistance. See here: Role of Fatty Acid Composition in the Development of Metabolic Disorders in Sucrose-Induced Obese Rats and The influence of dietary fat on insulin resistance

Monounsaturated fats lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and increase the HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).

Monounsaturated fats are found along with saturated fat in natural foods such as red meat, whole milk products, nuts and high fat fruits such as olives and avocados. Olive oil is about 75% monounsaturated fat while tea seed oil is commonly over 80% monounsaturated fat and Canola oil is about 58% monounsaturated fat. Tallow (beef fat) is about 50% monounsaturated fat and lard is about 40% monounsaturated fat. Other sources include macadamia nut oil, grapeseed oil, groundnut oil (peanut oil), sesame oil, corn oil, popcorn, whole grain wheat, cereal, oatmeal, safflower oil, sunflower oil, tea-oil Camellia, and avocado oil.


Polyunsaturated fats

In nutrition, polyunsaturated fat, or polyunsaturated fatty acid, are fatty acids in which more than one double bond exists within the representative molecule. That is, the molecule has two or more points on its structure capable of supporting hydrogen atoms not currently part of the structure. Polyunsaturated fatty acids can assume a cis or trans conformation depending on the geometry of the double bond.

The lack of the extra hydrogen atoms on the molecule's surface typically reduces the strength of the compound's intermolecular forces, thus causing the melting point of the compound to be significantly lower. This property can be observed by comparing predominately unsaturated vegetable oils, which remain liquid even at relatively low temperatures, to much more saturated fats such as butter or lard[clarification needed] which are mainly solid at room temperature. Trans fats are more similar to saturated fat than are cis fats in many respects, including the fact that they solidify at a higher temperature than cis fats.

Polyunsaturated fat can be found mostly in nuts, seeds, fish, algae, leafy greens, and krill. Whole food sources are always best, as processing and heating may damage polyunsaturated fats. Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, fish and seafood have been shown to lower the risk of heart attacks.(Omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil, alpha-linolenic acid) Omega-6 fatty acids in sunflower oil and safflower oil may also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.(The role of dietary n-6 fatty acids in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.)

Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

I will stop here for now. We will look more at the types of cholesterol next time.

Basic Health Principles

Thank you for taking the time to visit this blog.

It is our hope to share with you information that will help you get closer to optimum health which is what the great Physician wishes for us, that:

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in good health, even as thy soul prospereth" 3 John 2.

So He hopes that we can have good health not only for the soul but also for the body, that we prosper in both, as is also written;

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" John 10:10.

I will start by sharing basic principles on health or on how to return to health in the case that we might have lost it. This info is purely educational and not intended to diagnose or treat anything. Best to consult your physician regarding diagnosis and that sort of thing.

We just share info which we have found helpful and hope that it might be of help to some.

With that said, here are some basic principles on health.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH
1 - Regularity in meals. Do not eat them early or late, but maintain a regular schedule. Your stomach is used to eating at certain times each day.

2 - Moderation. Only eat as much as you need. Never overeat. Only eat to satisfy hunger, and then stop.

3 - Take small bites. Only put a small amount in your mouth at a time. You will chew and salivate it better, and tend to eat less at that meal.

4 - Relax and eat slowly. If you are too rushed to eat, then do not eat. Do not be hurried, anxious, worried, fatigued, or angry.

5 - Chew your food well. You will derive far more energy out of less food, if you do this.

6 - Do not eat too many things at a meal. Three or four items (plus a little salt, oil, etc.) are all you need.

7 - Avoid complicated mixtures. Say no to the gravies, vegetable loaves, gluten foods, and all the rest. Keep your meal simple.

8 - Avoid peculiar additives, such as vinegar, monosodium glutamate, etc., which only upset your stomach and slow digestion.

9 - Vary your diet from meal to meal. If you ate oatmeal this morning, try rye or wheat tomorrow.

10 - The food should be palatable. But if it is good food, this should not be hard to do.

11 - Never eat anything prepared in aluminum. Never drink water or juice out of an aluminum container. Alzheimer's is worth avoiding.

12 - Aside from fresh, raw, juices or the green drink, drink all your liquids (water) between meals, not with your meals.

13 - As a rule, eat your fruits at one meal and vegetables at another. Acid fruits (such as citrus) can be eaten with either.

14 - Greens have more compacted vitamins and minerals than other type of food. They only lack vitamin D, which the body can get from sunlight. But they do not have adequate amounts of trace minerals.

15 - Nova Scotia dulse and Norwegian kelp (two types of seaweed) are the only rich source of trace minerals.

16 - Blackstrap molasses is the only very rich source of iron. It is also a very rich source of choline and inositol, the two B vitamins used in the largest quantities.

17 - The best pattern is to rest before the meal, and walk around after it, not vice versa.


We will endeavor to go into more detail on summarized principles like the above in future blog posts.

For now, we will stop here for now and continue next time.

God Bless