Cholesterol: Do You Need to Worry About It?

Cholesterol gets a bad rap but in reality it's essential for so many of your body's functions. It's a precursor to making hormones like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. These sex hormones are incredible keeping you young and vibrant.

You also need cholesterol to make bile which is an emulsifier that breaks down fat. If you don't make enough bile, you will not tolerate fats in your diet and you'll also become deficient in fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K which are important for skin health, immunity, your eyes, blood clotting, mood and more.

Cholesterol is incredibly important for brain health and your cell membranes. Both your brain and cells rely on cholesterol for their health. Your cell membranes control what is allowed inside a cell and what it keeps out. Your brain relies on cholesterol for health and memory. Did you know that low cholesterol is more highly correlated with Alzheimer's disease and other memory disorders?

Where cholesterol is most often under appreciated is it's important function of repairing damage. When you cut yourself or get a scab, the scab is primarily cholesterol coming to repair the damage and keep you from bleeding out. Similarly, when your blood vessels get damaged, cholesterol comes in and repairs the damage by making a plaque over the damaged area.

This plaque is often seen a bad thing when in reality is actually the damage that is the bad thing. This damage is usually caused by stress and high blood glucose levels. Your body makes more cholesterol when it's in stress than when it's relaxed. Instead of worrying about cholesterol levels, which do not correlate with higher levels of heart disease or stroke, focus on how you feel.

Do you have plenty of energy?
Do you get adequate exercise and does it feel good to move your body?
Do you have plenty of circulation? Are your hands and feet warm?
Do you have effective ways to manage your stress?

If you feel good, have plenty of energy, eat a balanced diet and get good sleep, you probably don't need to worry about your cholesterol levels even if they are "high" according to today's standards. Please know that the "acceptable" levels have been reduced to promote statin drug use.

I highly recommend these videos to learn more about cholesterol and statin medications:

https://vokalnow.com/video/4661

https://youtu.be/TSqHhy3LEKo