The Truth about Cholesterol

By Dr. Rick Dina D.C.

The consumption of delicious and healthy fresh fruits and vegetables exerts a major influence in keeping your blood cholesterol level low. Although there are many inter-related risk factors for the potential development of arterial plaque, it is well known that higher cholesterol levels are strongly associated with the development of this plaque, which leads to life threatening conditions such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes, as well as quality of life issues such as impotence, angina (chest pain), intermittent claudication (leg pain with physical exertion) and decreased brain function. When we keep our blood cholesterol level appropriately low, we take a major step in the right direction in avoiding the accumulation of plaque in our arteries.

Despite the bad rap it has gotten over the years, cholesterol has numerous critical functions in our bodies. It is a necessary component of our cell membranes, is the precursor to the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, and is involved in converting sunlight to vitamin D. Cholesterol is also the most abundant ingredient of a substance known as bile. When we consume any type of fat from our diets, bile is released from our liver and gallbladder into our small intestine in order to “emulsify” the fat, or break it down into smaller pieces so it can then be properly digested. Because the main “ingredient” of bile is cholesterol, the more fat you consume, the more bile is needed, and therefore the more cholesterol is produced by our liver to make the bile.

Generally speaking, saturated fat causes greater bile production than unsaturated fat, and therefore raises our blood cholesterol level from internal production to a greater degree. Saturated fat is found in abundance in foods of animal origin and some tropical oils, such as coconut and palm. Unsaturated fats are found primarily in foods of plant origin. Trans fats are found in margarine and processed bakery products, crackers, candy bars, etc. Trans fats act like saturated fats in our bodies in terms of how much cholesterol is produced by the liver in response to the consumption of them.

Because whole natural plant foods tend to be very low in fat, they do not cause the excess production of cholesterol in response to greater bile production needed to emulsify the fat consumed. In addition, the high fiber content of fruits and vegetables binds to excess cholesterol to help eliminate it from the body. In other words, the fiber in fruits and vegetables acts as the built-in cleanup system for the relatively small amount of cholesterol produced in response to the low amount of fat in them. It is a great package deal! Animal foods and high fat processed plant foods, on the other hand, cause larger amounts of cholesterol to be produced; yet lack the necessary fiber to bind to the excess. Animal foods additionally contain their own cholesterol, adding to what our liver has already produced. The result is excess cholesterol in our bloodstream, which, especially when combined with other issues such as low antioxidant levels, is a major contributing factor to the clogging of our arteries, leading to the unfortunate and unnecessary disease processes described above that are so predominant in our population.

Scientific literature from all over the world has shown us that populations who consume greater quantities of whole natural plant foods have far lower rates of these complications than populations who consume more high fat processed foods and animal products. In China, for example, the average citizen consumes three times as much fiber as the average American, only 15% of calories from fat as compared to our nearly 40%, and has a likelihood of developing heart disease 17 TIMES LESS than the average American! When Chinese immigrants come to the USA and begin to adopt our rich western diet, they get just as much heart disease as Americans. This would indicate that one’s choice of diet has a greater influence over the potential for developing cardiovascular disease than one’s genetics.

Studies such as the Lifestyle Heart Trial by Dean Ornish, M.D. have even shown that a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and other whole, natural plant foods naturally low in fat; combined with moderate exercise, stress management and group participation can actually reverse the accumulation of arterial plaque in a majority of patients.

Besides blood cholesterol, there are many other risk factors for the potential development of arterial plaque. These include blood triglycerides, blood sugar (glucose) levels, blood insulin levels, antioxidant levels, and indicators of inflammation, such as hs-CRP, TNF-alpha, and VCAM, for those of you who like to know the technical stuff. The good news for those following a diet that includes an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables is that this type of dietary approach often improves the risk factor profile of many of these other components, simultaneously and synergistically!! Many of the same dietary issues that lower your cholesterol, for example, also lower your blood sugar and insulin levels, decrease arterial inflammation, raise antioxidant levels that protect cholesterol and other fats from oxidative damage, and vice-versa. So while blood cholesterol itself does not tell us the entire story, it is still a good indicator of what other related physiological processes are occurring in your arteries.

For additional information on how to successfully maintain a high raw food diet, please click here and sign up for our Raw Food Science TeleCourse starting August 4th, 2009 (Limited Space!)

Best wishes for abundant health!
Rick Dina, D.C.
www.rawfoodeducation.com