Hi,
There is great cholesterol information that has been shared with us by a
Master’s Degree in Biochemistry and Three Degrees in Nutrition. We know
this is information we all want to have so we can truly understand what
Cholesterol is all about.
Because there is quite a bit of beneficial information, I will be splitting it
into several segments. Below is the first installment!
Everything has its purpose. Cholesterol helps regulate our health. A very
interesting phenomenon has led us to believe that cholesterol is the enemy
but when it is properly addressed and managed it is our friend.
Background: Cholesterol is a word that is broken down into three entities
Chol-means bile: related to bile function
Sterios-greek for “solid”
Ol-means alcohol
“A bile derived solid alcohol”
Gallstones were first discovered in 1774 in people. This is when the word
cholesterol was given. It was related to gallstones.
Cholesterol is synthesized in the liver of higher animals. That means all
mammals. Fish do not synthesize cholesterol. Birds do not usually make
cholesterol. This is why the white meat of birds is relatively free of
cholesterol.
The brain is made up of 30% cholesterol. Our body makes about 1,000 mg. of
cholesterol each day. We only get between 200-400 mg. in our diet (a couple
of eggs and a piece of meat during the day). So we get about 1,200-1,400
mg. of new cholesterol in our body everyday. If someone is vegetarian they
still make about 1,000 mg. per day.
We have the illusion that cholesterol comes from our diet and if we cut it
out of our diet it is gone.
In 1964 the Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded for the discovery of the
metabolic function of cholesterol and its synthesis. So it has only been
within recent times that we have actually known what cholesterol does and
what its structure truly is.
There are about 135 steps in the liver to manufacture cholesterol in our
body.
Here are some other cholesterol facts: Cholesterol is a solid in our body
at body temperature. You do not find cholesterol floating around. It is
always attached or stuck to something else. It does not dissolve in blood
which is important. But it is carried around the body in some very
interesting structures called lipoproteins.
It is only in the last few years we really understood what these compounds
do.
We have a lot of stress in our culture. We stress our adrenals. The
adrenal glands contain some of the highest cholesterol in the body. The
testes in men and the ovaries in women are also very high in cholesterol.
The mammary glands are also high. The Thymus gland in the base of our neck
contains the center where we process and train our white blood cells so they
know how to defend the body. It is also high in cholesterol.
With this being present in all these important tissues don’t you think there
might be some reasons it is being produced? The function of cholesterol is:
It is a pre-hormone. It is the starting material for a whole class of
hormones that are primarily made for higher organisms such as humans.
It is a descending cascade of hormones that is made from cholesterol. First
is pregnenolone-involved in pregnancy but made in both men and women. It is
the intermediate that goes to aldosterone for adrenal function so we can
handle water and salt.
Then we have progesterone. Progesterone is converted into cortisol so we
can handle stress. So the more stress, the more we are depleting our
progesterone (men and women both get into trouble with this). If we get
physically injured it will convert into cortisone.
The other side of cholesterol is that it is converted into anti-stress
hormones like DHEA. DHEA is like rubber bumpers on your car. They prevent
you from being damaged under times of stress. DHEA is the mother hormone
for stress adaptation. If we are healthy and balanced and not under stress
it goes on to be androstenedione, which is the precursor to estrogen,
estriol and estrone female hormones.
This gives you the basis for cholesterol and why it is important. As you
can see, managing stress is also important for our hormone balance. I am happy to share information on some nutritional things that are working for others and are great at balancing the adrenals so we don’t cause
imbalances in our hormonal system. We can’t escape stress but we can
protect our bodies and help them manage it!
Stay tuned next week for more info on cholesterol.
Tricia