Atherosclerosis and Cholesterol

                Atherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque. Plaque may consists of cholesterol, platelets, and macrophages being trapped in a lesion along the epithelium of the arterial walls.

            Today's post we will focus on cholesterol. Not all cholesterol is bad. In fact, in all your cells in your body has cholesterol built within its lipid bilayer cell membrane.

            It is practically impossible to render your body free of cholesterol. So how do we counteract atherosclerosis with the topic of cholesterol?

            Cholesterol can be categorized as either low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The cholesterol that is associated with plaque buildup is the LDL cholesterol. So you might be wondering, how can a common person understand the difference and how do we avoid it?

            There is a common phrase saying, "you are what you eat".  There is probably a book with this title, but by no means am I referencing that piece of text in this post. In short, your body is comprised of what you feed it.

            The best way to differentiate between food with LDL or HDL cholesterol can be fairly simple. Typically in meat, LDL is associated with red meat and HDL is associated with white meat. Red meat can be classified as beef, lamb, veal, and pork. While white meat can be classified as chicken or fish.

            However, this is not always the case. Pork for example, is red when raw, but white when cooked. Meanwhile, tuna is red when raw, but white when cooked. This can be confusing, but by nutritionist standards, any meat from a mammal is consider red meat.

            Nevertheless, regardless of what color the meat is when raw or cooked, the best way to distinguish meat with LDL or HDL cholesterol is to simply look at how much saturated fat is on the meat before its cooked. You know the juicy and flavorful white bits on the meat, yeah that stuff. The leaner the meat is, the less fat on the meat, the lower the level of LDL cholesterol in it.

Food to avoid that contains LDL cholesterol:

·         Eggs

·         Dairy

·         Meat

·         Animal products

·         Trans fats (typically in processed food)

·         Hydrogenated Oil

            Conversely, meats that are high in HDL cholesterol, such as fish, are filled with the good fats. The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon has now been referred to as the good cholesterol. 

Food that helps lower LDL cholesterol, while promoting HDL cholesterol:

·         Oatmeal

o   Soluble fiber that helps reduce cholesterol, also found in fruits and vegetables

·         Fish

o   Omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce blood pressure

·         Walnuts, almonds, and other nuts

o   Reduce blood cholesterol, while maintaining healthy blood vessels with polyunsaturated fatty acids

·         Olive oil

o   Antioxidants that lower LDL cholesterol

·         Food with added sterols or stanols

o   Orange juice or yogurt that has added sterol or stanols

Here is a clip that contains good tasting food that help lower cholesterol:

            Generally, it would be ideal to avoid all animal products and meat altogether, but that is not only unreasonable to certain individuals, but also potentially bad for individuals which rely on meat as a staple for nutrition. The best way to counteract atherosclerosis is to simply reduce fat consumption, but not necessarily avoid it altogether while maintaining a balanced diet through fruits and vegetables. 

References:

1.       Krauss R. M., Eckel R. H., Howard B., Appel L. J., Daniels S. R., Deckelbaum R. J., Erdman J. W., Jr, Kris-Etherton P., Goldberg I. J., et al. AHA Dietary Guidelines: revision 2000: A statement for healthcare professionals from the Nutrition Committee of the American Heart Association. Stroke. 2000;31:2751-2766.

2.       Hu F. B. Plant-based foods and prevention of cardiovascular disease: an overview. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2003;78:544S-551S.

3.       Hoffmann I., Groeneveld M. J., Boeing H., Koebnick C., Golf S., Katz N., Leitzmann C. Giessen Wholesome Nutrition Study: relation between a health-conscious diet and blood lipids. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 2001;55:887-895.

4.       Key T. J., Fraser G. E., Thorogood M., Appleby P. N., Beral V., Reeves G., Burr M. L., Chang-Claude J., Frentzel-Beyme R, et al. Mortality in vegetarians and non-vegetarians: a collaborative analysis of 8300 deaths among 76,000 men and women in five prospective studies. Public Health Nutr. 1998;1:33-41.

5.       http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002