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It’s always good to remind ourselves about cholesterol because of the flurry of information you get from the news on tv or the net. It seems that everybody has a strong opinion about it. Anyway, cholesterol is not all bad. In fact, it is essential for life. It’s part of our cell membranes besides being the parent molecule for all the steroid hormones in the body including cortisol, aldosterone and sex hormones. 90% of the cholesterol molecule is made in the liver from carbs (de novo synthesis) while only 10% comes pre-formed from our food. Therefore, the first step in curbing unhealthy cholesterol numbers is to cut down simple carb intake. That includes your white bread, white rice and pastries. Anyway, what’s also important is your bad cholesterol or oxidized cholesterol. What causes this is the ingestion of trans-fats or hydrogenated oils from fried foods primarily. One more thing to consider is the actual size of your cholesterol particles. The smaller the size, the more dangerous it is. Fortunately, there are labs that would actually do a more comprehensive lipid panel. One lab also includes the following in their panel namely; C-reactive protein, homocysteine, lipoprotein-a, fibrinogen and ferritin levels. Anyway, there are a host of natural remedies that help balance cholesterol levels. These include the use of essential fatty acids, plant sterols, guggulipids, red yeast rice extract and garlic. For those people who “have to ” be on statins, I highly recommend the use of coenzyme Q 10 just to prevent the common side effects of statins such as memory loss (by interfering with pregnenolone synthesis), fatigue, and muscle aches. An integrative approach to lipid management always yields better results than just taking the medication route alone.
Hot Tips, News and Trends for Healthy Aging By Dr. Joel Lopez, M.D. 