March 12, 2010

Good cholesterol ; Bad cholesterol

Posted in Nutrition tagged Bad cholesterol, Fat, Good cholesterol, increase HDL, lipoproteins at 10:05 am by motanuincaltat

Ok..I heard this numerous times. You should increase your good cholesterol and decrease your bad cholesterol for a healthier lifestyle. Ok…HOW do I do that? And while we are on the topic what the hell is good or bad cholesterol and what the heck is cholesterol anyway. Point well taken. What are these people talking about?

In this article I’ll try not only to give a few pieces of advice on how to live a healthier lifestyle but to explain to you what exactly is cholesterol, what does it do and why should you be interested in such “non-sense”  anyway.

This article is written more like a college class on the topic than a simple blog article with pretty images and words hat you probably never heard of in your entire lives. But..that’s like a price that has been given to us. We live and we learn. I must state another important thing . This article , as all my other articles for that matter , contains information that is a SCIENCE FACT. I’m using as reference some of my college class of Metabolism as well as articles on the topic written by scientists. You’ll have the references belooooooooooow.

Cholesterol :

It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes, where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. In addition, cholesterol is an important component for the manufacture of bile acids,steroid hormones , and several fat-soluble vitamins.

Good cholesterol or bad cholesterol I think are improperly named that way. Good cholesterol ( HDL ) and bad cholesterol (LDL)  are actually not Cholesterol per-say. Rather HDL and LDL are carriers for cholesterol.

Good or Bad cholesterols are Lipoproteins.

Lipoproteins are associations of proteins and lipids (fats) , almost spherical in shape that act as a carrier for different fats  in the blood plasma.

This lipoproteins are classified by density into 5 major groups :

• Chylomicrons carry triglycerides (fat) from the intestines to the liver, skeletal muscle, and to the adipose tissue

• Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) carry (newly synthesised) triacilglycerol from the liver to adipose tissue.

• Itermediate density lipoproteins (IDL) are intermediate between VLDL and LDL. They are not usually detectable in the blood

• Low densitylipoproteins (LDL) carry cholesterol from the liver to cells of the body. LDLs are sometimes referred to as the ” BAD CHOLESTEROL” lipoprotein.

• High density liporoteins (HDL) collect cholesterol from the body’s tissues, and bring it back to the liver. HDLs are sometimes referred to as the “GOOD CHOLESTEROL” lipoprotein.

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.

Here is how it works :

So basically LDL puts fat on your arteries and body HDL takes it from the tissues to the liver to metabolize it .

What can you do to lower LDL and to increase HDL?

Aerobic exercise. Many people don’t like to hear it, but regular aerobic exercise (any exercise, such as walking, jogging or bike riding, that raises your heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time) may be the most effective way to increase HDL levels.

Lose weight. Obesity results not only in increased LDL cholesterol, but also in reduced HDL cholesterol. If you are overweight, reducing your weight should increase your HDL levels.

Stop smoking. If you smoke, giving up tobacco will result in an increase in HDL levels.

Cut out the trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are currently present in many of your favorite prepared foods — anything in which the nutrition label reads “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils” — so eliminating them from the diet is not a trivial task. But trans fatty acids not only increase LDL cholesterol levels, they also reduce HDL cholesterol levels. Removing them from your diet will almost certainly result in a measurable increase in HDL levels.

Alcohol. With apologies to the American Heart Association, which discourages doctors from telling their patients about the advantages of alcohol: one or two drinks per day can significantly increase HDL levels. More than one or two drinks per day, one hastens to add, can lead to substantial health problems including heart failure — and there are individuals who will develop such problems even when limiting their alcohol intake to one or two drinks per day.

Increase the monounsaturated fats in your diet. Monounsaturated fats such as canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil and in the fats found in peanut butter can increase HDL cholesterol levels without increasing the total cholesterol.

Add soluble fiber to your diet. Soluble fibers are found in oats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and result in both a reduction in LDL cholesterol and an increase HDL cholesterol. For best results, at least two servings a day should be used.

Dietary means to increasing HDL :

- Eat more curry (Curcumin is the effective agent). One study noted a 29% increase in cholesterol. Studies have shown that curcumin also helps prevent against Alzheimer’ disease.

- Eat foods high in vitamin B-3 ( niacin) (A recent study in the American Journal of Cardiology shows it can raise HDL by almost 8% in 3 months) . Niacin foods include all lean red meat, fish, organ meats (kidney, liver), prawns, pork, as well as milk and other dairy products. Other niacin rich foods include almonds and seeds, wheat products, beans, rice bran, green leafy vegetables, carrots, turnips and celery.  (If you are thinking of white bread don’t. It has tons of sugar in it)

- Eat more oranges. A study out of the University of Western Ontario showed a 21% increase in HDL

- Eat more raw yellow or white onions. Dr. Victor Gurewich of Tufts University found that a raw onion per day can raise HDL as much as 30%

- Macadamia nuts. One study out of the University of Newcastle showed an HDL increase of 8%.

- Cranberries may increase HDL. A recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that cranberry juice significantly boosts HDL levels.

- Polyphenols in Olive oil . Green Tea also contains polyphenols.

- Eat more fish. Fish oil supplementation has also shown to work

I hope this helped in sorting out some issues for all that are interested and I hope this will provide helpful information for you. Please leave feedback  and rate.

References :

• http://www.americanheart.org
• http://en.wikipedia.org/
• Pf. Dr Dana Iordachescu, Metabolism, Biochimie Metabolica
• http://www.papermag.com/blogs
• http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/oxford/Oxford_Food_Fitness/
• http://heartdisease.about.com/
• http://www.smart-kit.com/
• http://www.nutritional-supplements-health-guide.com/

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