CHOLESTEROL

Gamani Jayaweera, Ph. D.

A. What is cholesterol?
B. Risk of having high cholesterol
C. Some statistics about high cholesterol & health problems
D. Which foods have cholesterol?

A. What is cholesterol?
• Cholesterol is a white, waxy, fatlike substance
• It is a part of every cell in your body
• It insulates nerve cells and helps skin cells retain moisture
• Cholesterol makes up a major part of your brain
• It is a precursor for vitamin D and essential hormones, such as cortisone, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone
• Too much cholesterol in your blood is a health hazard
• Some of the extra cholesterol can be deposited on your artery walls, narrowing them and interfering with normal blood flow

B. Risk of having high cholesterol
• Major risk factor for heart attacks. Heart disease (Cardiovascular disease - CVD) is the leading cause of death in the U.S. It kills one person every 33 seconds or nearly 9.6 million every year. Heart disease gives no warning signs and therefore prevention is a good strategy to live a healthier life. Heart attacks and strokes disable even more people than they kill; more than the number of people who die from all forms of cancer!
• Major risk factor for stroke
• Increase the risk of cancer
• Increases the risk of dementia
• Combined with high blood pressure, it can be a risk for hearing loss
• Combined with high fat diet, it can be a risk for gallstones

C. Some statistics about high cholesterol & health problems
• In 48% of men & 63% of women who die suddenly from heart attack or stroke, there are no warning signs
• Cardiovascular disease kills twice as many men as cancer
• If your cholesterol level is 200 to 239, your risk of having a heart attack is twice that of someone whose cholesterol is 200 or less
• More than half of all men over 20 have cholesterol levels over 200
• Heart attacks kill 10 times more women every year than breast cancer
• African American women are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from a heart attack than other women
• Women's average cholesterol levels are higher than men's after age 55
• 102.3 million Americans have cholesterol values of 200 or higher. Of these, 41.3 million have levels of 240 or above

D. Which foods have cholesterol?
• Cholesterol can add into your body by two ways:
1. By eating cholesterol rich foods
2. By manufacturing cholesterol by the liver. In fact, most people make three times more cholesterol than they eat in food.
• There is a simple rule to determine whether any food contains cholesterol or not. If a food grows in the ground, it has no cholesterol. If a food has a face, it has cholesterol.
• According to this rule all animal foods - such as beef, poultry, fish, eggs. milk, yogurt, cheese & butter do have cholesterol. egg yolks are a major source of cholesterol, egg whites do not have any.
• All foods that grows in ground - such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, cereals and grains do not have cholesterol

References:
CHOLESTEROL COUNTER by Annette Natow & Jo-Ann Heslin
EAT TO LIVE BY Joel Fuhrman