5 answers to questions about cholesterol
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol (also known as cholesterol) is an organic compound that looks like wax. Experts say it’s a “sterol” – a combination of steroid and alcohol. It is translated from Greek as something like “hardened gall”. There is no way to “feel it with our fingers” and we just have to accept that there is such a waxy substance in our body. And there is no way to get rid of it.
Where does it come from?
All the cholesterol the body needs is produced in the liver. But he can also come with the food. For example, if we overdo the barbecue, we are actually agreeing that animal cholesterol will replenish our personal stores. However, this does not mean that if we deprive ourselves of barbecue, we will not have cholesterol – the liver will fill its lack as much as it can, because cholesterol is needed by our body.
Is cholesterol harmful?
Cholesterol is the body’s most important building block. It actively participates in the creation of cells of all organs and tissues – nerves, muscles, skin, lungs, heart. The brain usually contains 25% of the body’s total cholesterol reserves, and this is quite justified: “hardened bile” is necessary for the growth and development of nerve cells.
So if cholesterol is necessary and useful, why do we avoid it?
If there is too much cholesterol in the body, it begins to accumulate on the walls of blood vessels, creating so-called atherosclerotic plaques. The lumen of the vessels narrows, less and less blood enters the organs and tissues, they receive less and less nutrition and oxygen. This nasty job is done by the so-called “bad cholesterol” – LDL, but HDL, or “good cholesterol”, tries to prevent it.
What to do if we find out that we have high cholesterol?
To begin with, we must consult our treating or family doctor. It is possible that your cholesterol level is slightly higher than normal, but there are no other risk factors. This situation is considered normal and does not require treatment.
In principle, it is desirable even in such a case to lower our cholesterol. It is often enough to make some small changes in our lifestyle: watch what we eat – less trans fat, more vegetables and fruits with a high fiber content, more movement, less smoking.
To summarize.
Whether we will eat foods containing cholesterol is not so important in most cases, as long as we do not overdo it.
In order not to have problems with cholesterol, we must do the following:
- To fight obesity (if we have allowed it);
- To increase our physical activity;
- Adjust our diet – we should not overdo it with salt. We shouldn’t really overdo any food, but especially one that contains saturated and trans fats and leads to obesity. We need significantly more fiber, oat beta-glucans, Omega-3 and a gradual increase in water intake to 0.04 l per kg of weight.
- Smoking has an extremely harmful effect on the levels of good cholesterol. Stopping it has beneficial effects even after only 3-4 weeks.
- A good solution is to take Beta Heart, which contains oat betaglucans and has been proven to reduce bad cholesterol levels with a serving of 2 spoons a day, and with one spoonful it maintains the correct levels.
You can learn a lot more about cholesterol and all aspects of nutrition and a quality and fulfilling life in our challenges – contact our coach for more information and recommendations.
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