What You Think You Know About Cholesterol

Cholesterol. We've heard a lot about it, but what do we know? The answer may surprise you: more than you've heard. No one has any idea that cholesterol is actually something that your body really needs. Without it, you would die.

Cholesterol makes up a large portion of your cell's walls, some vital hormones related to immune function, metabolism, and stress response. It's required to make bile, which helps to digest fats and uptake fat-soluble vitamins. It's a precursor to Vitamin D, it aids in nerve transmission, and it's a key factor in the uptake and usage of serotonin in the brain.

Serotonin is a very important hormone that wards off depression, apathy, and other emotional disorders. Without the ability to uptake and use serotonin, a person becomes unable to muster the energy to do anything, and they become clinically depressed. To think that cholesterol may cure depression!

In addition to fighting depression, cholesterol is a powerful antioxidant, fighting the effects of free radicals and advanced glycation end-products on our appearance and function. It keeps tissues flexible, preventing diseases such as atherosclerosis.

Cholesterol is often measured in "LDL" and "HDL" form. But you may not know that these molecules are one and the same! Any one cholesterol molecule may 'fill up' on saturated fat and go from low-density to high-density in a matter of minutes. Similarly, an HDL cholesterol molecule may dump a load of fat into a cell and thus become an LDL molecule.

The big, bad myth about cholesterol, though, is that your cholesterol levels go up if you eat fatty foods. This is simply not true. The Framingham Study -- the seminal study on heart disease and diet that the American Heart Association and others base all of their conclusions and further research on -- said of cholesterol: " there was no discernible association between reported diet intake and serum cholesterol level in the Framingham Diet Study Group."

So, don't worry if you have some cholesterol - you have to. And don't worry about eating fatty foods. They don't cause your cholesterol to rise, and they don't cause heart disease. Both of those things are effects of eating too much sugar, not too much fat.

Want proof? It's fire-your-doctor.com one click away!