This is Dr. Lam from DrLam.com.
One of the questions we get is that is it true that we don’t necessarily have to consume
cholesterol because the body makes cholesterol on its own?
To answer this question, we really have to understand what cholesterol is all about and
the good and the bad cholesterol.
First of all, the body does need cholesterol in order to make the many, many steroidal
hormones.
So cholesterol is a necessary precursor and a building block of hormones including testosterone,
estrogen, progesterone, cortisol among many, many others, DHEA as well.
Now the body has its own ability to make cholesterol.
It does not mean that the body does not need cholesterol from external sources.
The reason is because you have to understand that when you take cholesterol from the food,
for example, it doesn’t go straight to the bloodstream.
It actually gets broken down in the body and then it is stored.
Then when cholesterol is necessary, then the storage is then broken down and then reconstituted
into cholesterol and then made into steroidal hormones.
Just because you can make your own hormones and make your own cholesterol in that respect,
does not mean that you don’t need external cholesterol.
Of course, cholesterol is a general term that actually comprises many, many different types
of particles from good cholesterol such as HDL to bad cholesterol such as LDL.
Knowing the kind of cholesterol and what it is for is critical.
In the case of adrenal fatigue and metabolism, the body needs cholesterol.
The older a person gets, the more cholesterol a person needs in order to serve as the building
block of many steroidal hormones including the sex hormones.
That's one reason that overly low cholesterol, in other words total cholesterol of under
150 mg/dL, is actually not very healthy.
Studies have shown that too low cholesterol can cause cancer or be associated with certain
types of cancer.
Of course high cholesterol, when it is not the right kind of cholesterol, can also be
problematic.
That includes LDL, for example.
Cholesterol is a complex subject.
It has many ramifications.
For more information, you can go to my site, DrLam.com.
I’ve written a few articles on this including one called “Big Fat Lie” and another one
called “Cholesterol”.
These are very physiological-based articles that go through with you what cholesterol
is all about, the mechanisms of how it’s broken down and how it’s reconstituted,
the importance of having the right balance, and what does it really say about your cardiovascular
system as well as your hormonal structure.
Cholesterol is much more than just a plug in the arteries.
In the case of adrenal fatigue, you want to have the cholesterol because if you don’t
have the cholesterol as building block, you’re not going to be able to make cortisol in sufficient
amounts.
It’s balance that is important.
People that come to us with adrenal fatigue, we do try our best to have them have a balanced
cholesterol picture.
Unfortunately, the advance of statin drugs may have upset this picture because while
it is good to prevent atherosclerosis, it has issues because statin drugs can be harmful
to the liver.
One has to be cognizant of that.
People who have cardiac disease or muscle problems will find this problematic and you
have to be very careful.
All in all, cholesterol is a general term.
It is good and it is bad.
You need it but you want to have good cholesterol.
You don’t want to have fat.
You want to have cholesterol that is good such as what you find in eggs.
Egg yolk, for example, has high cholesterol but it’s good cholesterol provided that
you don’t overcook it.
At the same time, there is fat that can contribute to the rest of the lipid picture.
When you combine all the pieces together, you will find that cholesterol need not be
something you be afraid of.
You want to have good cholesterol and good cholesterol is your friend.