The Skinny On FAT~ Part I

I thought I would begin a weekly "fat write-up".  Our culture is so fat phobic.  Who wants to be fat, right?  The problem is that we have been lead to believe that fat makes us fat.  Fortunately, this is not true!  Good, high quality fats actually can help us lose, yes lose weight, bring back balance to our moods, build a strong mind and help us assimilate all those good vitamins and minerals.  I feel so good and so strongly that FAT is the reason why I feel so good, that I just have to share :)

This week starting with cholesterol!  

Cholesterol can be a scary one for many people.  Is it too high?  Too low?  What do I eat?  What do I take? 

Here is an article talking about the why cholesterol is so important.

Just a quick note "polyunsaturated fats" are those found in vegetable oils.  When our bodies don't know what to do with something we have eaten it is "stored".

Cholesterol - Your Body's Best Friend

Cholesterol is the body's repair substance. Scar tissue contains high levels of cholesterol. When your arteries develop irritations or tears, cholesterol is there to do its job of patching up the damage.

Along with saturated fats, cholesterol in the cell membrane gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability. When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is "driven" into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet, even though the body's overall cholesterol levels actually go up.

Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer; and to the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. Cholesterol is also a precursor to vitamin D and to the bile salts. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet.

Recent research shows that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant. This is the likely explanation for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer.

Cholesterol is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain. Serotonin is the body's natural "feel-good" chemical. Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicide.

Mother's milk is especially rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme that helps the baby utilize this nutrient. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system.

Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall. This is why low-cholesterol vegetarian diets can lead to leaky gut syndrome and other intestinal disorders.

Men who have cholesterol levels over 350 mg/dl are at slightly greater risk for heart disease. For women, there is no greater risk for heart disease, even at levels as high as 1000 mg/dl. In fact, mortality is higher for women with low cholesterol than for women with high cholesterol.

Cholesterol readings are highly inaccurate. They vary with the time of day, time of the patient's last meal, levels of stress and the type of test used. Tests for HDL and LDL are especially subject to inaccuracies.

Written by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig PhD