New study reveals there are benefits to even the "bad" form of cholesterol.
Have you ever stopped to ask if the cholesterol in your bloodstream has a purpose? I mean, what if there's a reason for it. Most of us don't consider the reason for cholesterol. We just "know" its bad, but if we really think about it, there must be a reason.
Everybody knows somebody on cholesterol lowering medications. According to the CDC, one in every six adults in the United States has high cholesterol. Over 50% of Americans over the age of sixty and 25% of those over 45 take some form of drug that lowers cholesterol levels. And presumably for good reason. We've been told by "health authorities" for years that cholesterol causes heart disease, and if we don't get our cholesterol levels down, a heart attack is eminent.
However, a recent study published in the Journal of Gerontology might just turn everything you've been told about cholesterol on its head. The study, conducted at Texas A&M University, studied health markers (including blood cholesterol levels) of generally healthy adults between the ages of 60-69 after they began a new exercise routines that included resistance exercise. In a surprise to the researchers, they found the test subjects gaining muscle mass were also developing a significantly higher LDL (bad) cholesterol level. Thus, they concluded that LDL cholesterol was a vital part of the muscle building mechanism of the body, and suggest we rethink our cultural demonizing of cholesterol.
"But here is where people tend to get things wrong, LDL serves a very useful purpose," The author of the study, professor Steve Riechman from Texas A&M said.
"Our tissues need cholesterol, and LDL delivers it," he notes. "HDL, the 'good cholesterol', cleans up after the repair is done. And the more LDL you have in your blood, the better you are able to build muscle during resistance training."
The conclusion of this study is an idea that we in the natural health world have been discussing and reporting for years. Cholesterol, anywhere in your body (yes, even in your blood), has a very important purpose. In fact, its vital for life. Without cholesterol, you will die. It is found in the outer membrane of every cell of your body; It's part of the make-up of your brain; even your blood vessels themselves have cholesterol in them. Likewise, the cholesterol in your bloodstream is there to keep you alive, too. It's job is not to plug up your arteries. In fact, for most Americans, it's purpose is exactly the opposite. Cholesterol is laid down in your arteries to repair them!
In the study above, cholesterol levels increase in adults building muscle mass because building muscle mass requires breaking down the old muscle and building it up larger and stronger. Muscle tissue is broken down (from resistance exercise like weight training) by a process of tearing due to strain and then rebuilding to adapt to the strain it was under. During the process of tissue repair, the broken down tissue must be protected to heal (much like a scab over a wound on our skin). That protective covering contains significant amounts of cholesterol, so our body wisely shuttles cholesterol to the bloodstream and eventually the site of repair using Low Density Lipoprotiens (that's right... LDL). When the repair is over, the cholesterol is recycled by the body and taken out of the bloodstream using High Density Lipoprotiens (HDL).
So why has the medical community embraced the idea that lower your cholesterol is a good thing? Obviously cholesterol is needed for your body to do its job in times of healing. The reason lies in the number one killer of Americans today: Heart Disease. Doctors and researchers noticed that most people with fatal heart conditions shared some common traits. One of those traits was cholesterol plaques in the blood vessels around the heart, and therefore these scientists deduced that it was the cholesterol causing the heart attacks. What the scientific/ medical/ pharmaceutical industry failed to do however, is ask: "Why is the cholesterol there in the first place?"
The answer to that question is: It's there for the same reason it's present with muscle repair. Cholesterol plaques in your bloodstream are a dangerous sign that your blood vessels are damaged and being repaired. The high cholesterol epidemic in the United States is a literal canary in the coalmine revealing we as society are drastically moving in the wrong direction when it comes to health and healing. Our culture of excess, comfort, and convenience has created nation that currently ranks dead last in industrialized nation in health and health care. Our bodies require specific nutrients to function, and unfortunately our high paced, high stress, fast-food lifestyle is not giving us what we need and causing an overload of stress on the system. For example, even though our government recommends a minimum of 3-6 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, most of us struggle to get that in a week. Furthermore, that outer membrane of our cells (including our blood vessels) are not only made of the cholesterol we've been medicated for to remove an told to avoid, but they're also made of other GOOD FATS and oils found in wholesome nutritious foods, but completely absent in our American diet. Stress has been shown to increase blood pressure and causing more strain on our blood vessels.
Not only that, these cholesterol lowering medications are causing a whole new problem to arise. As more people find themselves on these medications for cholesterol (called statin drugs), many are noticing muscle wasting and fatigue in their lower extremities. Again, the research above sheds a light on the reason why. We use the muscles of our legs against resistance every day (gravity), and if there's inadequate cholesterol in our blood to repair the tissue, it will continue to break down, and fail to rebuild.
If you find yourself on cholesterol lowering medications, I suggest you ask your doctor about this study. In fact, hand him or her a copy of this article and ask them to read it, too. Cholesterol is not killing you, friends. But your cholesterol medications might. If you have high cholesterol or want to be assured it stays low, the first step is giving your body the nutrient building blocks it needs and removing the refined and processed foods that harm it. Find ways to lower stress levels and start exercising. All of these lifestyle choices are shown to NORMALIZE cholesterol naturally, without side effects. If you need more help, seek the guidance of your natural health care provider.
Research Source:
Texas A&M University (2011, May 8). 'Bad' cholesterol not as bad as people think, study shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 10, 2011
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