Cholesterol and heart disease

 

“Of all the nutritional myths perpetuated today, I can think of no greater fiction than the cholesterol scare.” writes Kurt W. Donspach, D.C., N.D., Ph.D. in his book Nutrition in Action. Cholesterol, including LDL cholesterol which has been demonized by the medical community, is actually necessary for the body to build healthy cells, create some hormones, bile and Vitamin D. Believe it or not, your cholesterol can actually be too low, if you are not ingesting enough LDL cholesterol, your body will manufacturer it. Cholesterol is also an anti-oxident, a substance the body needs to prevent free radical damage and disease. It is highly likely that high cholesterol is more a symptom of disease and general poor health, rather than the cause and yet cholesterol lowering drugs were a $26 billion industry in 2005. Why? Because it is easier and more lucrative to blame the problem on something for which doctors can prescribe expensive drugs than to except patients to make the necessary changes in diet and lifestyle.

 

High cholesterol is a factor, and never the only factor, in less than 50% of all heart related incidents. Problems arise only when LDL cholesterol becomes damaged or oxidized by free radicals. The real problem behind heart disease is inflammation of the blood vessels. The lining of the blood vessels is a very thin, sensitive tissue called the endothelium, under the endothelium is the subendothelium and under that is a muscular layer. When the endothelium is injured by free radicals, homocysteine or oxidized LDL cholesterol the LDL cholesterol can pass into the subendothelium where it becomes oxidized and begins to irritate the lining of the artery. The body then releases a certain type of white blood cell called a monocyte which, under ideal circumstances, gobbles up the nasty oxidized cholesterol and the damaged is repaired, the problem over. Unfortunately, for many of us, there are just too many oxidized LDL cholesterol particles running around. Our monocytes gets stuffed full and become foam cells. Not only do foam cells not repair our endothelium but they can become stuck on fibrin, a substance the body uses, among other things, to repair tears in the artery walls. While all of this gunk is building up in your artery walls, they are narrowing and hardening creating high blood pressure and setting the stage for the development of plaque. It doesn't matter then how high your cholesterol is, only whether you have damage to your endothelium and how much of your LDL cholesterol is being oxidized. Preventing oxidation is easy, eat healthy with lots colorful fruits and vegetables, and make sure you are getting plenty of vitamin E & C as well as the nutrients your body needs to make the anti-oxident gluthione: selenium, B2, niacin, and N-acetyl-L-cysteine.  Ways to prevent damage to the endothelium include consuming plenty of anti oxidents, preventing the developement of homocysteine, limiting your exposure to chemicals such as flourine and chloride, even iron, so important to our blood is suspected to damage arteries when blood levels are too high.