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Cholesterol
Filed under dietOct 18Once upon a time, we didn’t know anything about fat except that it made foods tastier. We cooked our food in lard or shortening. We spread butter on our breakfast toast and plopped sour cream on our baked potatoes. Farmers bred their animals to produce milk with high butterfat content and meat “marbled” with fat because that was what most people wanted to eat. But ever since word got out that diets high in fat are related to heart disease, things have become more complicated. Experts tell us there are several different kinds of fat, some of them worse for us than others. In addition to saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, there are triglycerides, trans fatty acids, and omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.[I:http://www.weightloss-review.biz/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ChrisArribbat0.gif]
Cholesterol is sort of a “cousin” of fat. Both fat and cholesterol belong to a larger family of chemical compounds called lipids. All the cholesterol the body needs is made by the liver. It is used to build cell membranes and brain and nerve tissues. Cholesterol also helps the body produce steroid hormones needed for body regulation, including processing food, and bile acids needed for digestion. People don’t need to consume dietary cholesterol because the body can make enough cholesterol for its needs. But the typical U.S. diet contains substantial amounts of cholesterol, found in foods such as egg yolks, liver, and meat, some shellfish, and Many people are confused about the effect of dietary fats on cholesterol levels.[I:http://www.weightloss-review.biz/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ChrisArribbat1.jpg]
Another misconception is that people can improve their cholesterol numbers by eating “good” cholesterol. In food, all cholesterol is the same. In the blood, whether cholesterol is “good” or “bad” depends on the type of lipoprotein that’s carrying it.
In 1908, scientists first observed that rabbits fed a diet of meat, whole milk, and eggs developed fatty deposits on the walls of their arteries that constricted the flow of blood. Narrowing of the arteries by these fatty deposits is called atherosclerosis. It is a slowly progressing disease that can begin early in life but not show symptoms for many years. In 1913, scientists identified the substance responsible for the fatty deposits in the rabbits’ arteries as cholesterol. In 1916, Cornelius de Langen, a Dutch physician working in Java, Indonesia, noticed that native Indonesians had much lower rates of heart disease than Dutch colonists living on the island. He reported this finding to a medical journal, speculating that the Indonesians’ healthy hearts were linked with their low levels of blood cholesterol.
Some research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish such as salmon and mackerel as well as in soybean and canola oil, lower both LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood. Some nutrition experts recommend eating fish once or twice a week to reduce heart disease risk. However, dietary supplements containing concentrated fish oil are not recommended because there is insufficient evidence that they are beneficial and little is known about their long-term effects.
A Healthier You Quite a few years back, everyone didn’t know much about fat except that it made foods tastier. everyone cooked our food in lard or shortening. everyone spread butter on our morning toast and poured sour cream on our baked potatoes. Farmers bred their animals to produce milk with high butterfat content and meat “marbled” with fat because that was what most people wanted to eat. A Healthier You
Tags: health, fitness, cholesterol
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