Understanding Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Ratios And More Part 1, by Russell J. Martino, Ph.D.  The Voice Of Health www.DrRussellsHealthAndWeightLossBlog.com   ^{High Cholesterol Explained On Audio}

A discussion of cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol ratios, high cholesterol, lower cholesterol naturally and an introduction to The Cholesterol Myth and The Great Cholesterol Hoax.

Let’s clear up the confusion over cholesterol once and for all. If suddenly all of the cholesterol in your body disappeared, you would literally melt into the floor like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.  You’d melt because the “structural framework” of the cell is made almost entirely of cholesterol… and without the structural framework the cell would collapse. 

Cholesterol is so important that besides getting it from food, cholesterol it is produced in your body in 2 specific ways.

First, every day your liver makes cholesterol and sends it streaming into your blood where, ideally, the cholesterol is absorbed into the cells where it is used. Cholesterol that is not absorbed by the cells is transported back to the liver where it is recycled or simply eliminated. In addition to being made in the liver, every cell in your body can and frequently will make ALL the cholesterol it needs internally, PLUS every cell in your body has the ability to grab cholesterol circulating in the blood and bring it into the cell for use.

Your total cholesterol is determined in large part by whether your cells make cholesterol internally, or instead, gather needed cholesterol directly out of your blood. Dietary cholesterol consumption has nothing whatsoever to do with determining whether your cells produce cholesterol internally or whether they gather cholesterol directly from the blood.

Numerous doctor-directed studies have repeatedly demonstrated that even massive changes in the dietary cholesterol consumption, up or down, have only a minor effect on total cholesterol levels.

Two Ways Your Cells Get Needed Cholesterol; 1) Cells make cholesterol internally, which means there’s no need to gather cholesterol from the blood, and/or; 2) The cells do not make cholesterol internally and instead, send cell receptors, (kind of like a catchers mitt), from deep inside the cell to the cell’s surface to grab needed cholesterol from the blood and bring it back inside the cell.

The only reason your liver makes cholesterol is to send it crusing through your blood so the cells can grab what they need. Too bad the  liver and the cells don’t communicate because the liver makes cholesterol every day regardless of whether the cells harvest it from the blood or not. If your cells make cholesterol internally, then no cell recpetors, (remember the catchers mitt) are sent to gather cholesterol from the blood and blood cholesterol levels increase.

If instead of making new cholesterol, the cell gather cholesterol out of the blood, then blood cholesterol levels typically remain low. The cells don’t care which method is used to get cholesterol they need BUT YOU SHOULD because there is a correlation between certain types of elevated cholesterol and heart health.

Much of the confusion over cholesterol has to do with the fact that the dietary consumption of cholesterol has only a very small effect on determining total blood cholesterol levels.  This means that trying to control cholesterol by rigorously avoiding all forms of dietary fat and consuming only low cholesterol foods is a misdirected and highly inefficient approach to lowering cholesterol.

The key to lowering cholesterol is to shift your cells’ preference from manufacturing new cholesterol internally to using cell receptors to gather cholesterol out of the blood. By gathering cholesterol out of the blood to meet the cells ongoing cholesterol needs, blood cholesterol typically stays well within healthy levels and the important HDL to LDL ratios stay in the healthy range.

A specific enzyme with a long, complicated name controls the manufacture of cholesterol inside the cells. When this enzyme with the long name is ACTIVE cholesterol is made inside the cell and little or no cholesterol is scavenged from the blood. If the enzyme is NOT ACTIVE, then little if any cholesterol is made inside the cell and cholesterol is actively harvested directly out of the blood, which of course lowers the blood cholesterol levels. Better yet, low density lipoprotein, (LDL), often considered the "bad cholesterol" is what the cell gathers from the blood stream, which means total cholesterol lowers and "bad" cholesterol lowers the most. Popular cholesterol lowering drug work the same way, except they produce horrific side effects.

Cholesterol lowering drugs work by inhibiting the enzyme that activates cholesterol production inside the cell.  Because the cell has no internally produced cholesterol the cell receptors gather the needed cholesterol directly from the blood, naturally lowering blood cholesterol levels.

The secret to establish and maintain normal, healthy cholesterol levels is to ACTIVATE cells to sweep cholesterol out of the blood and NATURALLY DEACTIVATE the enzyme that causes cells to make cholesterol internally.

The "secret" is really no secret at all; in fact any medical physiology textbook clearly explains that insulin and glucagon are the two hormones that regulate the rate of cholesterol synthesis inside the cells. Insulin activates the enzyme that causes your cells to make cholesterol internally.  This means that if and when blood insulin levels are high the cells make cholesterol internally and do not gather cholesterol from the blood, which leads to high cholesterol.

Glucagon does exactly the opposite; glucagon inhibits the enzyme that causes cholesterol production inside the cell.  If the cell is not making cholesterol internally then it will send cell receptors to the surface and gather the needed cholesterol directly from the blood, which means your cholesterol will, in all probability, be normal and health. There is nothing new about this information. 

This is not new information; it is well known cellular biochemistry, in fact it is the EXACT biochemistry that expensive, cholesterol-reducing drugs are based on. Naturally Lowering Cholesterol Is Simple . . . Eat in a way that avoids the production of excess insulin and odds are strong that your blood cholesterol level and your triglycerides will fall effortlessly. This is not opinion… it’s simple metabolic fact clearly explained in medical physiology textbooks since the mid 1950’s.  With this knowledge it is crystal clear that dietary cholesterol consumption plays a VERY SMALL ROLE in determining total cholesterol levels and is essentially a non-issue for most people including millions who have been scared into taking drugs to lower cholesterol.

Understanding HDL and LDL Cholesterol

There are two more pieces to the cholesterol puzzle, the first piece has to do with understanding the ratio between the "good cholesterol" and the "bad cholesterol" and the second piece of the puzzle has to do with fully understanding the effect diet has on cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol ratios are simple.   As soon as you understand the difference between LDL and HDL cholesterol, you will understand practically everything.

Low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, are proteins that transport cholesterol from the liver into the blood, making it available for absorption into the cells. Low-density lipoproteins are like trucks, loaded with cholesterol, bringing it into the blood stream just in case it’s needed.

Unfortunately, if you eat in a way that causes the constant presence of excess insulin in your system, these LDL truckloads of cholesterol are not needed because the cells are making all the cholesterol they need internally. If the cells make all the cholesterol they need internally, that means low-density lipoproteins are carrying unnecessary, EXCESS cholesterol into your blood, and this excess cholesterol builds up in the blood, tissues, and arteries setting the stage for serious health problems. High density lipoprotein, or HDL, help eliminate this excess cholesterol by collecting it from the tissues and arteries and transporting it out of the blood and back to the liver where it is recycled or disposed of.

HDL particles are like the cholesterol clean-up crew. HDL particles are the empty trucks sent into the blood stream to load up all the excess cholesterol that has spilled out and collected in the tissues and arteries and then transport that excess cholesterol out of the blood. Clearly, cleaning up excess cholesterol lowers cholesterol levels.

LDL is recognized as the "bad" cholesterol because LDL transports cholesterol into the blood. HDL is considered the "good" cholesterol because HDL gathers up excess cholesterol and transports it out of the blood.

With this in mind, it’s easy to understand the importance of having the proper ratio of HDL to LDL. If the ratio of LDL to HDL is too high that means your blood is being loaded with cholesterol faster than the HDL cholesterol clean-up crew is removing it, which means excess cholesterol is building up inside the tissues and arteries and that’s bad.

Doctors have determined that having the proper ratio between HDL and LDL is a more important predictor of health than the level of total cholesterol. This means that the person with a total cholesterol level of 260 mg/dl and a good HDL to LDL ratio is in better shape health-wise than someone with a 175 mg/dl cholesterol reading whose LDL level is too high compared to their HDL level.

The two cholesterol ratio standards accepted by most doctors and researchers today are: 1. Total cholesterol divided by HDL should be below 4; and, 2. LDL divided by HDL should be below 3. There is almost universal agreement in the medical and scientific community that the further away your cholesterol ratios are from these standards the greater the risk of eveloping heart disease.

It is INCORRECT to assume that lower and lower cholesterol levels somehow translate into better health.

Research has clearly demonstrated that the "ideal healthy range" for cholesterol is in the 180-to 200 mg/dl range, and most importantly, with the proper HDL to LDL ratios. Historically, cholesterol levels over 200 correlate positively with increased risk of heart disease, and cholesterol levels lower than 180 correlate positively with almost every serious disease known except heart disease.

So far we’ve discovered that insulin stimulates the production of cholesterol inside the cell thereby eliminating the need for the cell.  Given this, we now know that the key to maintaining normal, healthy cholesterol levels is to eat in a way that does not result in excess insulin and in a way that puts glucagon in the metabolic driver’s seat in your body.

We’ve also learned that LDL carries cholesterol into the blood and tissues and that HDL carries cholesterol out of the blood and tissues and that is why HDL is known as the "good" cholesterol.

The next piece of the cholesterol puzzle explains the affect food has on your cholesterol levels and is continued in Part 2 of this ongoing discussion on Understanding Cholesterol. Coming Soon: Part 3 on The Cholesterol Myth & The Great Cholesterol Hoax Getting yourself into excellent health is a choice you can make. 

Helping you make that choice every day is one of my most important goals!  It’s easy when you know how! Subscribe Here: www.DrRussellsHealthAndWeightLossBlog.com

Until Next Time… All The Best To You And Yours! Russell J. Martino, Ph.D The Voice Of Health Bringing You Health… At The Speed Of Life! This is a small sample of the practical, usable information in 5 Steps To Optimal Health, a program thousands have benefited from since 1999 and I updated continuously.  Learn more here: http://www.5StepsToOptimalHealth.com

Written by Dr. Russell J. Martino, Ph.D
The Voice Of Health
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