BALANCING THE CHOLESTEROLS
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE BENEFICIAL
Cholesterols are absolutely necessary for good functioning of the body. As with anything, an excess or too low amount is harmful for the body.
It is high triglycerides that are the best predictor of heart disease. Total cholesterol levels have not been shown to have much of an effect nor to be a good predictor.
Be aware that high levels of sugar and insulin damage cholesterol particles, which makes them far more likely to start the process of inflammation. The metabolic efffects of sugar are highly inflammatory to your artery walls. (The point here is to call your attention to the fact that it is not just the balance of the cholesterol but how you can be affected by what you do to that cholesterol also.)
When more saturated fat is in the diet, it increases the LDL that is large and fluffy (as is HDL) and fairly harmless while it reduces the more dangerous little ones. So while saturated fat raises total cholesterol, part of that is more HDL (the good kind), part is large fluffy LDL and the small stuff is reduced! Low carb, higher fat diets also have had a significant effect on lowering triglyceride levels!
Obviously, eating anything to excess will throw off the functionality of the body and cause some ill effects. But eating saturated fats (from 7% to 10% of your calories) is considered healthful and fine. But we do not include in that transfats and partially hydrogenated fats which should be at zero and not even classified as being worthy of the saturated fat family! (No french fries poison ever!)
The medical establishment recommends, if you are healthy, a limit of dietary cholesterol less the 300 milligrams (mg) a day. However, this is not clearly established. A large egg has 186 mg of cholesterol, so, to eliminate the cholesterol, people eat egg whites - which would eliminate some of the benefits in eggs, which is one of the best foods on the planet.
The HDL to LDL ratio: Must be above .3 and ideally above .4. So we need to assure that that does come about!
INCREASE HDL SUBSTANTIALLY
Don't be fooled by the ineffective HDL's (HDL3) that can be produced by poor health habits.
Do the following:
__ Aerobic exercise (30 minutes +)
__ Lose weight down to optimal
__ Do not smoke
__ Cut out transfats (and hydrogenated) 100%
__ Eliminate alcohol
__ Increase monounsaturated fats (avocado, olive oil, omega 3 supplements, nuts
__ Increase soluble fiber.
__ Avoid polyunsaturated oils that have been "smoked" or damaged by heating.
(Use that list as if it is a checklist and do them all!)
