Is cholesterol really harmful?

 

1.
Cholesterol also plays an important role in human health

 

Many people are scared when they talk about cholesterol and think it is the chief culprit of cardiovascular disease
.
In fact, cholesterol is not useless to the human body.
On the contrary, it also has very important physiological functions.
It is the main component of human cell membranes and a synthetic material for the synthesis of vitamin D, bile and some hormones (such as sex hormones and adrenaline)
.
Studies have shown that cholesterol is also very important for brain health, and it helps to form memories
.

 

2.
What we should worry about is the cholesterol in the blood, not the cholesterol in the food

 

Now, many people, especially those with three highs, are particularly afraid of cholesterol problems and think that all cholesterol is harmful
.
However, they often confuse the subjects and fail to distinguish between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol
.
In fact, what we should worry about is the cholesterol in the blood, not the cholesterol in the food
.

 

High blood cholesterol level is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but cholesterol in food has little effect on cholesterol in blood
.
why? There are two sources of cholesterol in the human body, about 70-80% is synthesized by the liver, and only a small part is derived from dietary cholesterol
.
Part of the ingested cholesterol is absorbed and used by the body, and the unabsorbed is excreted with feces
.
In addition, when the dietary cholesterol intake level is high, it can feedback inhibition of cholesterol synthesis in the human body
.
So, maybe we really don't need to worry too much about cholesterol in food, but what we need to worry about is cholesterol in blood
.

3.
There is no good or bad cholesterol in food

 

We often divide cholesterol into "good cholesterol" and "bad cholesterol", namely high-density cholesterol and low-density cholesterol
.
Many people will wonder, then: Which foods contain good cholesterol, and which foods contain bad cholesterol?

 

In fact, there is no good or bad cholesterol in food
.
They are all the same
.
Only the cholesterol in the human blood is good or bad
.

 

4.
Low-density cholesterol in the blood is the worst

 

Cholesterol is divided into high-density cholesterol and low-density cholesterol in human blood
.

 

High-density cholesterol (HDL-c) refers to the cholesterol in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which can reflect the amount of high-density lipoprotein in the plasma, and its main function is to transport excess cholesterol in extrahepatic tissues to the liver for metabolism.
To prevent excessive accumulation of cholesterol in these tissues
.
Modern studies have confirmed that high cholesterol has the effect of preventing atherosclerosis and reducing the mortality rate of coronary heart disease, which is often referred to as "good cholesterol"
.

 

Low-density cholesterol (LDL-c) is the cholesterol in low-density lipoprotein (LDL).
It can reflect the amount of low-density lipoprotein.
The main function of low-density lipoprotein is to transport cholesterol to cells in extrahepatic tissues to meet their needs.
The need for cholesterol
.
It is also the primary atherogenic lipoprotein among all plasma lipoproteins
.
However, if it is high, it will also have an adverse effect on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular vessels, and easily cause atherosclerosis, commonly known as "bad cholesterol"
.

 

Therefore, we hope that high-density cholesterol will be higher, while low-density cholesterol will not exceed the standard
.
What we need to control most is bad cholesterol
.

 

5.
Cholesterol is not the culprit of disease

 

High cholesterol in the blood is indeed not good, and it will increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease
.
However, many people now regard cholesterol as the culprit of all diseases.
This pot of cholesterol cannot be reckoned
.
In fact, cholesterol itself is a necessary substance for the human body, but it is more harmful to health
.
There is no problem with the amount of control
.

 

6.
One egg a day will not affect cardiovascular health

 

I heard that eggs, especially egg yolks, have high cholesterol content.
Many people are particularly worried and dare not eat eggs, especially egg yolks
.
This time, the U.
S.
Dietary Guidelines abolished the cholesterol restriction, which can be regarded as dispelling a misunderstanding of cholesterol and egg yolk that people have for many years
.
In fact, the contribution of cholesterol in food to the body's overall cholesterol is not high, so you don't have to worry too much about eating some eggs
.
There is currently no data showing that eating one egg a day will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease
.

 

7.
Unrestricted cholesterol does not mean that you can eat meat without restriction

 

Many people have heard that the U.
S.
Dietary Guidelines have lifted the restriction on cholesterol, and they think that the ban on meat has been lifted, and red meat and processed meat can be eaten without restrictions
.
If you really think so, it's a different story
.
In fact, it is said that cholesterol is not harmful to health, but it does not mean that meat can be eaten casually
.

 

Although the US Dietary Guidelines suggest that cholesterol in food has little effect on health, dietary cholesterol intake is no longer restricted
.
However, this does not mean that we can completely relax our vigilance
.
It is worth noting that high blood cholesterol is still a risk factor for heart disease, and consumers still need to pay attention to nutritional balance in food choices
.
In fact, many cholesterol-rich foods, such as various animal meats, especially red meat (usually pork, beef and lamb) products, even if you don’t have to worry too much about the cholesterol contained in them, you still need not to eat too much
.
Because their fats often contain a lot of unhealthy saturated fats, a lot of evidence shows that excessive intake of saturated fats can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases
.
Therefore, the report recommends that the energy provided by saturated fat should account for less than 10% of the total energy.
It is recommended to replace saturated fat with unsaturated fat, especially polyunsaturated fat
.
In addition, a large number of studies have confirmed that increased intake of red meat will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and other diseases
.

 

On the other hand, from the perspective of food safety, some environmental pollutants, especially persistent organic pollutants (such as dioxins), are usually high in animal fat
.

 

Therefore, even if we don't have to worry about cholesterol too much, we should not eat too much foods high in saturated fat, especially some red meat and animal fats
.

 

In general, cholesterol is not as scary as everyone thinks.
To correctly understand cholesterol, you should remember four points:

 

First, cholesterol is actually good for human health, so don't beat it to death with a stick
.

 

Second, we should distinguish between food cholesterol and blood cholesterol.
What we should worry about is blood cholesterol, not food cholesterol
.

 

Third, don’t think that the American dietary guidelines can lift the ban on cholesterol and you can eat it openly.
In fact, high-cholesterol foods often have high saturated fat content.
Saturated fat is more unhealthy than cholesterol, and we should control it
.

 

Fourth, eat a balanced diet.
Eat according to the recommendations of the residents’ diet pagoda, so you don’t have to worry too much about cholesterol.