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Demystifying Cholesterol
Dr. C. P. Lau, Internist
During our daily conversation among friends and relatives, whenever the word ' CHOLESTEROL ' is mentioned , we have a sensation of fear, because we been told by the health professionals, that it is cholesterol that causes strokes and heart attacks. Cholesterol is bad. Cholesterol kills .Then when we went for check up , our doctors send us to have fasting blood tests for the bad and good cholesterol so as well as triglyceride .So I want to clarify a few misconceptions .
Cholesterol is only not bad, but it is very important . It keeps us alive ! Only when there is too much and in the wrong place, then it creates a lot of health problems . Just like water which we all need but when there is a flood, it destroys our homes and kills us .
There is no such thing as bad cholesterol. There is only one type of cholesterol. What is bad is the vehicle that carries excess cholesterol called LDL to the arteries and blocks up the blood flow to our brain, giving us stroke and to the heart, giving us heart attack. The good cholesterol is HDL which salvages all the excess cholesterol in the blood stream and brings it back to the liver for recycling .
We cannot live without cholesterol. The cell wall of all the trillions of cells in our body is made of cholesterol, much like the cement used in building the walls of our house.
Cholesterol is also used to make hormones .The adrenal gland makes 6 hormones including the sex hormones , testosterone and estrogen. The ultraviolet ray of the sun converts cholesterol in our skin to vitamin D which is important for making strong bones. The liver uses cholesterol to make bile which is secretes to the intestine for digesting fat coming from the food we ingest.
Our brain cells are full of cholesterol that helps the cells to function properly. The egg yolk is packed with cholesterol so it can develop into a chicken. That's why if we need to cut down cholesterol in our diet we don't eat brain and too many eggs.
80% of cholesterol in our blood Is synthesized by our liver, using the fat from the food we ate and in between our meals, from the fat we stored in our abdomen . Only 20% of our blood cholesterol is from the food we eat.
Cholesterol is a very complicated molecule . As you know all living things are made of carbon .Carbon dioxide is made of one carbon. Glucose is made of 6 carbon. Fat is made of 14 to 18 carbon,. Cholesterol is made of 27 carbon. Our body uses a lot of energy to make a molecule of cholesterol.
So what do we do when our doctor told us our LDL is too high?First look at your family . Any one has stroke and heart attack in an early age of 40 s 50 s & 60s ? If yes, then there may be a hereditary link .
Then check your waist line . We Chinese should not have more than 38 inches . Our liver uses the fat from the abdominal fat depot to make cholesterol and triglycerides . That is how we get fatty liver as well as excess cholesterol carried by the LDL.
So what do we do before we take medication?You probably know that diet and exercise.
For diet we can consult your doctor who will give you literatures and referral to the dietician. Check the calorie and nutritional data of food you buy from the stores and eat in the restaurants . Do more cooking at home.
For exercise, the best way to lose your dummy is exercise 1-2 hours after meals especially supper which is usually the largest meal of the day . If we take a blood test 1 hour after your supper, we will find a lot of cholesterol and fat. But our body is very efficient so that within 4 hours all the fat will disappear and deposit in the abdomen for storage . This is not what you want to do. You want to use it by exercising one hour after meal so the muscle cells of our body will burn up the extra fat.
The are several types of cholesterol pills . By far the most powerful one is STATIN . It blocks the liver from making cholesterol. Another type EZETROL , blocks our gut from absorbing cholesterol .The 2 can be combined so you don't have to take large doses and less side effect . The common side effect of STATIN is muscle aches and pain because it makes the cell wall of our muscle thin and weak.
Cholesterol is only not bad, but it is very important . It keeps us alive ! Only when there is too much and in the wrong place, then it creates a lot of health problems . Just like water which we all need but when there is a flood, it destroys our homes and kills us .
There is no such thing as bad cholesterol. There is only one type of cholesterol. What is bad is the vehicle that carries excess cholesterol called LDL to the arteries and blocks up the blood flow to our brain, giving us stroke and to the heart, giving us heart attack. The good cholesterol is HDL which salvages all the excess cholesterol in the blood stream and brings it back to the liver for recycling .
We cannot live without cholesterol. The cell wall of all the trillions of cells in our body is made of cholesterol, much like the cement used in building the walls of our house.
Cholesterol is also used to make hormones .The adrenal gland makes 6 hormones including the sex hormones , testosterone and estrogen. The ultraviolet ray of the sun converts cholesterol in our skin to vitamin D which is important for making strong bones. The liver uses cholesterol to make bile which is secretes to the intestine for digesting fat coming from the food we ingest.
Our brain cells are full of cholesterol that helps the cells to function properly. The egg yolk is packed with cholesterol so it can develop into a chicken. That's why if we need to cut down cholesterol in our diet we don't eat brain and too many eggs.
80% of cholesterol in our blood Is synthesized by our liver, using the fat from the food we ate and in between our meals, from the fat we stored in our abdomen . Only 20% of our blood cholesterol is from the food we eat.
Cholesterol is a very complicated molecule . As you know all living things are made of carbon .Carbon dioxide is made of one carbon. Glucose is made of 6 carbon. Fat is made of 14 to 18 carbon,. Cholesterol is made of 27 carbon. Our body uses a lot of energy to make a molecule of cholesterol.
So what do we do when our doctor told us our LDL is too high?First look at your family . Any one has stroke and heart attack in an early age of 40 s 50 s & 60s ? If yes, then there may be a hereditary link .
Then check your waist line . We Chinese should not have more than 38 inches . Our liver uses the fat from the abdominal fat depot to make cholesterol and triglycerides . That is how we get fatty liver as well as excess cholesterol carried by the LDL.
So what do we do before we take medication?You probably know that diet and exercise.
For diet we can consult your doctor who will give you literatures and referral to the dietician. Check the calorie and nutritional data of food you buy from the stores and eat in the restaurants . Do more cooking at home.
For exercise, the best way to lose your dummy is exercise 1-2 hours after meals especially supper which is usually the largest meal of the day . If we take a blood test 1 hour after your supper, we will find a lot of cholesterol and fat. But our body is very efficient so that within 4 hours all the fat will disappear and deposit in the abdomen for storage . This is not what you want to do. You want to use it by exercising one hour after meal so the muscle cells of our body will burn up the extra fat.
The are several types of cholesterol pills . By far the most powerful one is STATIN . It blocks the liver from making cholesterol. Another type EZETROL , blocks our gut from absorbing cholesterol .The 2 can be combined so you don't have to take large doses and less side effect . The common side effect of STATIN is muscle aches and pain because it makes the cell wall of our muscle thin and weak.
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