Cholesterol and Diet

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that your body needs to build cells and make hormones and vitamin D. However, too much cholesterol in the blood can clog arteries and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Your liver produces most of your cholesterol, and your body gets some from animal-based foods, which can be transported through the blood via carriers called lipoproteins.

Types of cholesterol

LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein): Often called "bad" cholesterol, high levels of LDL can build up in your arteries, leading to plaque that blocks blood flow.

HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein): Known as "good" cholesterol, HDL helps remove excess cholesterol from your bloodstream and carries it back to your liver to be excreted.

Diet, Weight, Exercise- all can impact the amount of healthy and not so healthy cholesterol in the body.
Losing weight often can help improve cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation, and other health concerns.

As we have learned more about cholesterol, the amount in our blood and what is considered healthy has changed. Some people worry that it is because by lowering the standard or goal, drug companies can prescribe more medication. That may not be completely true because the amount of cholesterol in our blood has actually decreased since the 1970’s – meaning we are testing it differently and beginning to look at the whole person not just the blood work.

This is similar to the BMI tables. These were created in the 1830’s to help assess body fat before we had tools to measure body mass. Same with cholesterol tables.
That said – we all should try to protect our heart health – and here are some foods that can help lower cholesterol.

A heart-healthy low-cholesterol diet may include foods like:

· Plants with high water content, like spinach and other leafy greens help remove cholesterol from the body. High water content in plants helps with cholesterol by promoting fullness with fewer calories, which displaces less healthy foods. More importantly, water-rich plants are often also high in fiber, and soluble fiber specifically helps lower cholesterol by binding with it in the digestive tract and removing it from the body.

· High-fiber foods, including beans, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and a range of vegetables. Fiber helps reduce the impact of sugar and fat in the diet, by helping take it out of the body naturally.

· Whole grains, such as oats, whole wheat bread, brown rice, and even popcorn also have fiber.

· Fruits and berries, such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, contain pectin a different type of fiber that help lower LDL. These are also higher in polyphenols to help fight inflammation too.

· Nuts such as walnuts and almonds. These provide a few benefits – like fiber, healthy fat that can lower cholesterol. Yes – healthy fats can help fight cholesterol. Then they have plant sterols that help block the absorption of cholesterol.

· Polyunsaturated fats, like certain vegetable oils. These include canola oil, sunflower seed oil, and olive oil. These can raise the good HDL fats in your body which then help remove excess cholesterol.

· Eat fatty fish 2-3 times a week. Not only is it replacing meat or proteins, Omega-3s reduce triglycerides in the bloodstream and also protect the heart by helping prevent the onset of abnormal heart rhythms. You can also try MCT oils as they can help boost HDL cholesterol levels.

Just be careful – depending on the brand you may need to get used to the MCT. Some oils at Whole foods have warning that too much too fast can cause diarrhea. That is why our Ignite is different. We have blend of c8/c10/c12 to make it easy to digest. MCT’s help brain function, support healthy skin, help you feel fuller and help provide energy.

· Fiber supplements – but not all fiber is created equal. Some fiber like Metamucil may cause gas and discomfort because they are a bulking agent that swells to 30x it’s size. prebiotic fiber can help fight cholesterol by binding to cholesterol in the digestive tract, preventing its absorption, and by being fermented by gut bacteria to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These mechanisms increase cholesterol excretion and can help lower total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. This is why we have prebiotic fiber in our shake, and in Fiber pro. Other companies use gums to thicken a shake and then can list them as a fiber. But they really are just thickeners. The Clinically studied fiber we use has more benefits – from satiety, to mood, to boosting probiotics in the gut up to 40%, and to helping cholesterol.

Foods that can make cholesterol worse:

· Red meat, like beef, pork, and lamb which have saturated fat that can increase LDL.

· Processed meats like sausage

· Baked goods and sweets

· Fried foods

· Tropical oils such as palm oil and coconut oil

Things that we think were bad but are now being shown that was a myth

· Heavy amounts of butter/cream For most people, the cholesterol in foods like eggs, butter, and cream doesn't have a significant effect on blood cholesterol because saturated and trans fats are more influential. We also know that real butter has Vitamins: Butter is a good source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K, which are important for immune function, bone growth, and heart health.

· Short- and medium-chain fatty acids: These fats are quickly absorbed for energy and have been shown to have anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory effects.

· Butyrate: This fatty acid may support digestive health, reduce inflammation, and help with weight control.

· Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA): Found in higher amounts in butter from grass-fed cows, CLA may have anti-cancer and anti-obesity effects.

· Eggs – contain cholesterol and for years we were told they were bad for us. This is no longer true. We know eggs contain choline and Omega’s which we know are good for brain and heart health. The real issue was when eating eggs, most people consume them with bacon and other foods that are not as healthy.

· And for Triglycerides – avoid sugar!
When you eat too much sugar, your liver makes more LDL while lowering the amount of HDL in your body. The extra calories from a sugary diet also leads to more of something called triglycerides, a type of blood fat that plays a role in your cholesterol health.

https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/high-cholesterol/cholesterol-and-sugar

So yes -all food in moderation but be afraid of margarine, not butter. Margarine is full of bad fats.

Supplements to add:
1. Berberine - May reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol and triglycerides.

(we now have this in Gluco Support too).

2. Fish Oil – supports healthy triglycerides – and no one gets enough. We have Dr. Seidman’s Vital Omega- which is molecurlaly distilled to remove heavy metals, and is combined with black cumin seed oil, flax oil, pumpkin seed oil for a more potent formula than others – 4x more potent.

Info - https://www.fluid.app/s/dae5c7

3. Green tea extract. One of the most studied nutrients. You can add this (get more than what we have in PowerOx).

Info - https://www.fluid.app/s/0b1ad1

4. Niacin – there are some that cause flushing, but it can lower cholesterol.

5. Red Yeast Rice – can lower cholesterol. It may also help blood pressure.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-red-yeast-rice/art-20363074

Jump To Health:

1. Fiber Pro- a prebiotic fiber. While fiber in general is good for health, heart health and cholesterol, prebiotic fibers help and also have more health benefits including lowering cholesterol.

The two fibers we use have been clinically studied – each individually and also combined and shown to help digestive health, cholesterol, regularity, mood and more.

Info - https://www.fluid.app/s/2042e9

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318593#Other-potential-benefits

https://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Article/2016/09/27/Inulin-health-benefits-extend-to-cholesterol-reduction-Meta-analysis

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26959004/

https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/ingredients/fibersol-2

2. Gluco Support – this helps block the absorption of sugars, fats, and carbs – so the impact of white bread on the heart is less, and the fats in common foods are taken out. Plus with the berberine in it to help cholesterol, and cinnamon and chromium to help keep blood sugar stable – your heart, blood vessels, and blood sugar will love you

Info - https://www.fluid.app/s/89709c

3. Healthy Fat – Like Ignite. MCT oils have been shown to have many health benefits, including weight loss, cholesterol, and heart health. We use a clinically studied blend of MCT’s, that are easy to digest and taste good. Plus the decaf green coffee bean extract and Irvingia can help too, along with burning fat and curbing hunger.

Info - https://www.fluid.app/s/8403cc

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mct-oil-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6115836/

https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12986-018-0267-x

https://www.nutraingredients-latam.com/Article/2019/11/20/Meta-analysis-supports-green-coffee-bean-extract-for-cholesterol-improvements#:~:text=Overall%2C%20the%20meta%2Danalysis%20found,average%20of%202.63%20mg%2FdL.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31748178/

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1252/irvingia-gabonensis#:~:text=Irvingia%20gabonensis%20seeds%20might%20lower,increase%20the%20breakdown%20of%20fats.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1168905/

4. V Pro or Core shake – both have a full serving of prebiotic fiber, and are a lean, highly absorbed protein.

Info - https://www.fluid.app/s/aa95ed

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/new-study-finds-plant-protein-fiber-nuts-lower-cholesterol-and-improve-blood

https://www.tciheart.com/HealthLibrary/Content.aspx?DocID=ART-20045192#:~:text=Whey%20protein%2C%20which%20is%20found,stores%20and%20some%20grocery%20stores.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-whey-protein#:~:text=Whey%20Protein%20May%20Have%20Beneficial,%E2%80%9D)%20cholesterol%20(%2017%20).

5 , Superfood POwer – there is a lot of evidence that polyphenols from fruits, veg, tea can help support healthy cholesterol.

Info - https://www.fluid.app/s/f4fdaf

https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/135/10/2291/4669864

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3820045/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12033827/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332220303383

6. KeTonic – this helps your body make more ketones, burn more fat. But we also have in this one a way to aid mineral absorption, plus minerals, plus BHB which can support healthy cholesterol.