Functional Trainer: Holistic Health Series 5; Cholesterol Health

Mar 13 2010 by Jack Walton

Let’s open a can of healthy worms.  What is the truth about cholesterol and its role in the body?  With such dominance as a health topic how far have we actually come to understanding why it is important and how we can be preventative in our drive for health and well-being?  In staying true to the series, we will see the success of the holistic approach.  

A positive note for Cholesterol
To start with, a brief look at cholesterol:

:: Cholesterol is an integral part of the 1 Trillion cells in the body.
:: Without cholesterol cells cannot function.
:: Involved in making Vitamin D.
:: Also the starting point for many hormones and bile salts for our digestion.
:: Supports the brain and nervous system.
:: It even has tissue repair qualities (save for later).

The Current ‘Inflamed’ Situation
Popular belief in society appears to be that high cholesterol levels are a major risk factor in causing heart disease and that these levels are due to eating foods high in saturated fat.  So, two villains (cholesterol and saturated fat) have already been identified and aggressively attacked from many sides; media, medical and health.

A counter-argument to this would be to look at the scientific research and educate ourselves as to what cholesterol and saturated fat do in the body and to even look at the dietary intake of the population and its relationship to disease.  After all, ignorance is bliss until you suffer the consequences.

What Causes High Cholesterol Levels?
Is conventional ‘wisdom’ taking us in the wrong direction?  If we look at the research (National Diet and Nutrition Survey) and the facts we see that the number of people in the UK with heart disease is going up and the amount of saturated fat in the diet is actually going down.  You can make your own conclusions from this information, but one thing it does show is that the public are following the low-fat, high-carbohydrate dietary recommendations.  So far the problems with heart disease do not seem to be due to high fat dietary intake.