Cholesterol - Why it's so important for your hormones
Poor lil cholesterol has sadly got a bad wrap over the past few decades and I would love to explain here why I absolutely love healthy cholesterol and why to not be scared of it!
Cholesterol has 3 main functions in the body:
Forms the lining of cell membranes
Creates bile acids in the gut
Is the building blocks of steroid hormones
Did you know that there is very little clinical evidence that cholesterol increases cardiovascular disease?
There is now more clinical evidence that a low carbohydrate diet decreases blood cholesterol levels compared to a low fat diet which does not have any clinical evidence to reduce cholesterol levels.
Firstly, cholesterol is important for lining the cell membranes and creating a myelin sheath along nerve endings. This is the first reason why having LOW cholesterol is actually not advisable. Cholesterol is useful in so many ways. This first action of cholesterol leads me to discuss how cholesterol lowering medications has a direct impact with brain health. Cholesterol lowering medications can impact the myelin sheaths and may cause issues such as neurological issues and also impact the levels of CoQ10 (an essential enzyme in the body) which can cause mitochondrial dysfunction.
Secondly, cholesterol creates bile acids in the gut. Cholesterol helps to create bile acids in the gut to assist with the absorption of many vitamins and minerals from our food. Bile acid is essential for breaking down fats and protein and is essential to absorption nutrients such as calcium and potassium.
Thirdly, and my favourite function of cholesterol - Cholesterol is the building blocks of steroids hormones. Steroid hormones include hormones like oestrogen, testosterone, DHEA and cortisol. If cholesterol is too low, this will inhibit these hormones to be made properly in the body.
All of these hormones regulate: -
Sleep cycles
Energy
Moods
Libido
Monthly cycles (for females)
Hair, skin and nail health
Where does Cholesterol come from?
Hormones are made by cholesterol which is why having good amount of healthy cholesterol is so important.
Only a small amount of cholesterol we get from our food and the rest we actually make with our liver.
Good sources of fats to make healthy cholesterol include: -
Fish
Avocado
Oils - EVOO, Extra virgin coconut oil, flaxseed oil
Butter & ghee
Nuts and seeds
Eggs
Grass-fed / organic meats
The next step for healthy cholesterol levels is to support the liver. Your liver is your main detoxifier of the body, so when supported with the right nutrients it is able to process toxins much more effectively and essentially not have excess cholesterol built up. Liver support nutrients include: -
Methionine
Choline
Vitamin D
B vitamins (B12, B6, B2)
Magnesium
5MTHF (active folate)
Liver support foods which contain all of these above nutrients include: -
Green leafy vegetables
Garlic
Turmeric
Brassica vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts)
Artichoke
Beetroot
Celery
Dandelion root tea
Green tea
Berries
Overall, cholesterol is important for many functions in the body and we need to learn why and how to love our healthy cholesterol and embrace the beautiful work it does for our brain, gut and hormones.
