There are studies that indicate controlling your diet can help lower your blood cholesterol level. The current diet recommendations include: keeping your trans fats intake as low as possible, reducing saturated fat, including more plant stanols/sterols, increasing fiber in your diet, including nuts and eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids such as fish. Maintaining a healthy weight and getting at least 30 minutes of exercise beyond your normal daily activities can also help to improve your cholesterol level.
While lowering your total cholesterol may seem helpful, it is actually the amount of LDL (low-density lipoproteins) that seems to increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. There are also studies that show the amount of HDL (high-density lipoproteins) is equally important in preventing atherosclerosis (a disease of the arteries characterized by the deposition of plaques of fatty material on their inner walls). If LDL is too high and/or HDL is low, you may be at greater risk of developing blockages that lead to heart attacks or strokes. More recent research implicates oxidized-LDL as being a causative factor in initiating the cellular immune response that leads to atherosclerotic plaque formation in the blood vessels that can eventually lead to blocked arteries. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is a harmful type of cholesterol that is produced in your body when normal LDL cholesterol is damaged by chemical interactions with free radicals. So where do free radicals come from? Free radicals are the result of chemical reactions in our body. Eating foods with trans fats (fried foods or processed foods) as well as exposure to environmental pollutants, cigarette smoke, alcohol and stress can all promote free radicals. If we lack adequate antioxidants (which help prevent damage from free radicals), then we end up with oxidized-LDL and are susceptible to the damage it causes. Thus LDL, also known as “bad cholesterol”, is the form that certain drugs target to lower. HDL, also known as “good cholesterol”, is the more desirable form that serves as the transport vehicle to remove excess LDL cholesterol from the blood. If our diet is full of organic fruits and vegetables full of antioxidants and we have adequate HDL (good cholesterol) to avoid an excess of oxidized-LDL accumulating in our vessels, then we have a reduced risk of developing atherosclerosis. Minimizing your exposure to cigarette smoke, alcohol, toxins, chemicals, pollution and stress also helps reduce free radical damage. Cholesterol is necessary to make many things for the body including cell walls, stress hormones and sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone). But when it becomes damaged by excess free radicals, our arteries walls will suffer.
While diet is not the only way to protect yourself from oxidized-LDL damage, it definitely helps. So look for fresh, preferably-organic, fruits and vegetables full of antioxidants to protect yourself. Your heart will thank you.
For more information on cholesterol with target ranges listed, check out my article entitled Cholesterol and Heart Disease. Thanks for visiting.
- References:
- Hansson, G. K., & Jonasson, L. (2009). The discovery of cellular immunity in the atherosclerotic plaque. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 29(11), 1714-1717.
- Gordon et al., 1977T. Gordon, W.P. Castelli, M.C. Hjortland, W.B. Kannel, T.R. Dawber (1977). High density lipoprotein as a protective factor against coronary heart disease. The Framingham studyAm. J. Med., 62, pp. 707-714.
