In 2013, when I published the results of my experiment to increase testosterone levels, many commentators cursed me for recommending diets high in fat and cholesterol. If you believe them, I advertised a dangerous diet that leads to heart problems and obesity, despite the fact that I published my blood test results that showed high cholesterol.

I do not blame them for criticism. Most of them, like me, grew up in the 80s and 90s, when it was believed that diets high in cholesterol and fat would lead to heart disease and other problems.
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But everything that people know about cholesterol was not true. This includes me, and the fact that I found a unique connection between this lipophilic molecule and testosterone.

Mr. Cholesterol is not a villain. He was simply misunderstood. Today we will share everything you need to know about Mr. Cholesterol and reveal all the secret information about this nice guy.

Benefits of Cholesterol

Without cholesterol, you die.

Cholesterol is the raw material used by your body for various purposes. For example, the membranes of all your cells are partially made up of cholesterol. Without it, we would be gelatin bubbles - our cells would not have any structure.

In addition, cholesterol has the following advantages:

Sex hormones are composed of cholesterol . Testosterone - a hormone that grows chest hair and gives you strength - consists of cholesterol. And not only he. The estrogen and sex hormones needed by women are also made from cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a precursor of testosterone, so a common side effect in men who take cholesterol-lowering drugs is a decrease in libido and the appearance of erection problems. Several studies have confirmed the link between low cholesterol and low testosterone.

Is the opposite true? Does testosterone increase your cholesterol intake? In my experiment to raise cholesterol, I suggested this, so I devoured eggs and red meat for three months. However, after conducting additional research, I did not find any work where this question would be investigated, which is surprising. Researchers are aware that Leydig cells in the testes - those that create testosterone - consume more cholesterol than other cells. But where they take extra cholesterol is unknown. Leydig cells can create their own cholesterol for testosterone when its level drops; but if the Leydig cells have to do this, the testosterone level drops . Perhaps the gap is being filled with cholesterol? One study found that olive oil helps Leydik cells absorb more cholesterol, and this increases testosterone levels. Do not regret olive oil for salad!

Tim Ferris experimented with increasing testosterone levels, absorbing large amounts of cholesterol — in the form of whole milk shakes and four raw eggs — before bedtime. It turned out that the level of testosterone in the morning increased, compared with the days when he did not drink a cocktail. This is another experiment, and it does not claim to be the ultimate truth, but the result itself is interesting.

Bottom line: an increase in cholesterol consumption may or may not increase testosterone levels. But, anyway, eating low-carb and high-protein foods, you can get additional bonuses for health. For example, weight loss and muscle building - which will definitely increase your testosterone levels.

Vitamin D consists of cholesterol . "Vitamin D" is so wrong, because in fact it is a hormone. And just as cholesterol serves as a precursor to sex hormones, it is also needed for the production of the hormone "Vitamin D". When cholesterol in the skin is exposed to sunlight, particularly UV-B rays, a chemical reaction occurs with the production of vitamin D3. The same can be achieved through eating vitamins, but if your body makes it free from cholesterol and the sun, you can take advantage of it.

Our bodies use vitamin D for various important things - immunity, regulation of calcium and phosphate, reducing inflammation, and gene expression. An increase in its level is associated with improved intellectual and emotional health and an increase in testosterone levels.

What are you waiting for? Put cholesterol into action with the help of the sun.

Bile acids are made from cholesterol . The steak you have eaten at dinner must be digested so that your body can use its nutrients. Bile acids play an important role in this. And they are made from our convenient friend, Mr. Cholesterol.

Cholesterol is vital for brain health . Your brain is filled with cholesterol. It uses cholesterol not only to make new nerve cells, but also to maintain their integrity and ensure cellular interactions, for which it helps to form myelin sheaths covering cells.

Studies have found that low cholesterol (160 mg / dl or less) can be associated with memory loss, depression, and aggression. Some studies suggest that cholesterol may be involved in the effective release of neurotransmitters. Without it, the brain would not be able to create all the cellular connections necessary for clear thinking.

If you want to quickly increase your cholesterol intake, eat the brains of other animals. Seriously. Mega-doses of cholesterol are squirrel brains mixed with eggs.

Cholesterol can help cope with infections . Studies have found an inverse correlation between cholesterol levels and infections — the lower the cholesterol level, the more prone you are to diseases. How does cholesterol fight infections? Studies show that LDL (the so-called "bad" cholesterol - about him below) plays a role in stimulating our immune system to fight infections. When cholesterol levels go down, some antibodies do not produce enough.

Why does cholesterol have a bad reputation?

If cholesterol is so healthy, why does it have such a bad reputation?

As usual, the answer lies in poor science and politics.

In the 1950s, Ancel Keys, a scientist who created snacks for World War II soldiers, noticed that well-fed company directors were more susceptible to heart disease, and undernourished people living in post-war Europe suffered less frequently. Kees suggested that the American diet, which is saturated with fat and foods high in cholesterol, is responsible for this, and came up with a study to prove it.

His famous study "Seven countries" was the first long-term study of the effects of diet on health. He monitored the consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol in seven countries and seemed to find the perfect connection between the number of heart diseases and the frequency of use of these substances. His data confirmed his predictions.

Other researchers immediately began to question the correctness of this work. British doctor John Yudkin was especially skeptical of him. Yudkin conducted a similar study and found several countries in which the absorption of saturated fat in quantities greater than the average was adjacent to a smaller number of heart diseases. Yudkin and others accused Kiz of biased country selection made to prove her hypotheses. They argued that not cholesterol and fat, but sugar consumption lead to heart disease.

But due to Kiz's role in developing consumption standards for soldiers during World War II, he was able to greatly influence congressmen, bureaucrats, agencies, and the media. Supported by research results, Keyes began lobbying the US government for low-fat, low-cholesterol diets. In 1977, Sen. George McGovern, chairman of the committee on nutrition and human needs, published dietary guidelines based on Kiz’s research that radically changed American food consumption. Regulations called for diets low in fat and cholesterol, and high in carbohydrates from vegetables and cereals. The USDA recommended to consume no more than 300 mg of cholesterol per day. And this is not very much. Two eggs contain 374 mg of cholesterol.



The result was a boom in low-fat and heart-healthy foods. Fat-free biscuits, margarine without cholesterol, potato chips without fat occupied the shelves of stores. Americans have replaced the natural food consumed by centuries, made in the laboratory and in factories. They stopped eating eggs and butter, switched from whole milk to skimmed milk, and abandoned bacon.

Moreover, pharmaceutical companies joined this boom and came up with drugs that lower cholesterol levels, calling them statins. Statins block the substance required by the body to produce cholesterol. Doctors began to prescribe these drugs with buckets to all those who had cholesterol levels exceeding the norm.

But something unexpected happened.

Despite the fact that more and more Americans were eating low fat, low fat cholesterol foods, the number of heart diseases and overweight people continued to increase. Why did it happen?

It turned out that Yudkin and his colleagues were right. People gained weight and suffered from heart disease not because of cholesterol and fat — sugar and fast carbohydrates were to blame. And how did manufacturers replace the lack of fat in their “heart-healthy products”? Of course, sugar and fast carbohydrates. And cholesterol-free margarine was made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, which contained fat containing trans fatty acid isomers, in fact, associated with heart disease and heart attacks.

These supposedly heart-healthy diets from the 70s caused tremendous harm to the cardiovascular systems of tens of millions of Americans.

And the statins lowering cholesterol lowered him too actively. Many patients began to complain of memory loss, depression, increased infections, erection problems, and lower testosterone levels. Researchers found that in many patients, a statin brought down cholesterol levels so much that the body lacked it for healthy functioning.

Fortunately, in recent years we have thought better of fat and cholesterol. Recent studies confirm what scientists knew 60 years ago. It is not cholesterol and saturated fat that cause heart disease - sugar, along with other vital factors such as stress and a sedentary lifestyle, are all caused by wine.

As a result, government organizations and public health institutions are withdrawing their hard cholesterol limits. This year, the consumption standards committee issued a draft document stating that cholesterol consumption has virtually no effect on heart disease and that people should not worry about the amount of cholesterol they eat. And although the committee does not issue official standards, the agencies that publish them usually follow the recommendations of this committee.

Many doctors already prescribe statins with great limitations. Instead of assigning them to all people with high cholesterol, doctors prescribe them only to people with a high risk of heart disease. Do any of the patients have a high risk? In fact, one who already has such a disease.

Where does the body get cholesterol

Your body produces about 80% of the cholesterol it needs, and the remaining 20% ​​comes from food.

20-25% of cholesterol produced by the body is created in the liver from fatty acids. It is also produced in the intestines, adrenal glands and reproductive organs.

When you absorb cholesterol containing food, your body uses it. If you absorb a lot of cholesterol, the body will reduce its production. If you do not absorb a lot of cholesterol, the body will increase its production. So, if you eat as many eggs and bacon as you can (as I did), the cholesterol level most likely will not change (I had it all).

Genetics, not diet, seems to play a big role in cholesterol levels.

What is good and bad cholesterol: HDL and LDL

Cholesterol is transported in the blood by proteins associated with it. These combinations of cholesterol and proteins are called lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are usually divided into two groups based on their density: high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL).

For years, doctors and researchers called HDL "good cholesterol" and LDL - "bad." Approximately it is, but recent studies have discovered much more complex nuances in cholesterol types of HDL and LDL. For example, not all HDL are good, and not all LNA are bad. Let's look at the details regarding these two groups.

Cholesterol HDL . Doctors call him "good" because he removes the so-called from the body. "Bad" LNP-cholesterol. It transports cholesterol away from body tissues and back to the liver, where it turns into bile and is removed from the body. HDL gets rid of excess cholesterol and prevents it from accumulating in the arteries.

Since HDL is a garbage truck for cholesterol, the more, the better. Recent studies indicate that HDL levels should exceed 60 mg / dL.

And although, in general, HDL is good, recent studies have found that not all HDL are equally useful. They are two subtypes - one is useful, the other is not very. The particles of HDL-2 are large, floating and best of all protect against the accumulation of LDL. They also have an anti-inflammatory effect. In general, the number of HDL should be high, but HDL-2 should be more than HDL-3. New tests can help divide the number of these two subtypes, and researchers are already developing procedures to reduce the number of HDL-3. But in general, you should not worry about such subtle differences - in general, a large number of HDL is good.

To increase it, you need to play sports, do not smoke and increase the consumption of healthy monounsaturated fats - olive oil, avocado, fish, nuts.

LDL cholesterol . It is considered bad cholesterol, as it can accumulate in the arteries and interfere with blood flow. Unlike HDL, LDL contributes to the penetration of cholesterol into the body after it is produced by the liver.

And while the body needs cholesterol delivered by LDL, too much cholesterol will lead to health problems when it starts to accumulate in the arteries. Researchers and doctors recommend that cholesterol levels not exceed 100 mg / dL.

But, as in the previous case, LDL are different. There are two types of them - one is very harmful, and the other causes problems only after oxidation. LDL-A - large and fluffy molecules that do not harm you if they are not damaged by oxidation, which occurs after the attachment of free radicals. In this case, cholesterol turns into plaques. Researchers believe that LDL-A does not affect the occurrence of heart disease or other problems with the cardiovascular system.

LNP-B is a bad subspecies. They are small, hard and dense, and make your arteries harden. In general, you need to strive to reduce LDL levels, but it is better to have more LDL-A and less LDL-B. Now you can measure the amount of both species in the blood.

To reduce LDL levels, you need to get rid of excess fat and increase HDL levels using the above methods. Studies show that increasing saturated fat intake helps reduce the amount of LDL-B particles in the blood.

Lipoprotein (a) (LP (a); Lp (a)) is the alpha particle cholesterol. HDL and LDL get the lion's share of attention, but there is a third type of lipoprotein, which probably affects the increased risk of heart disease more than HDL and LDL combined. LP (a) is a very small, but strongly inflammatory particle that leads to the formation of blood clots in the blood - and they can already lead to coronary heart disease and stroke. LP (a) is so bad that cholesterol expert Dr. Stephen Sinatra [Stephen Sinatra] called it an "alpha particle of cholesterol."

In small quantities, it does not carry problems. It benefits by helping to repair and repair damaged vessels. Problems begin when the body often needs to use the LP (a) for these needs - in cases where chronic inflammation is present in the body.

Most blood tests for cholesterol do not measure LP (a), so in order to find out your level, you will have to look for a test that measures specifically it. Ideally, its level should not exceed 30 mg / dl. Its level is mainly determined genetically, so if you have any cases of arterial disease in your family, you need to check the level of LP (a).

The currently recommended therapy for high levels of LP (a) is 1–3 grams of niacin (nicotinic acid) daily. It is also known as vitamin B3. Taking such high doses, one can experience so-called. Niacin Blush is a harmless but unpleasant reddening and warming of the skin.To control the process, start taking 100 mg and slowly increase the dose. [consult a specialist! - comment perev.]

Doctor, tell me frankly: can I eat cholesterol?

Firstly, I am not a doctor, I just play doctor on the Internet. Based on my research of existing scientific work, it turns out that most people can absorb cholesterol no less than Ron Swanson without increasing cholesterol in the blood and not putting themselves at risk for heart disease. A very small percentage of people have a genetic predisposition to raising the level of cholesterol in the blood during its active absorption. They need to keep track of how much they eat. To find out if you have an "increased reaction" to it, you need to consult with your doctor.



The same goes for fat. Studies have not found any special links between fat and heart disease, both for saturated and unsaturated fats. You need to avoid trans fat. It is an artificially made fat that leads to heart problems and other problems of the cardiovascular system. Try to stick to a diet made from natural products.

Now you know that you do not need to repel Mr. Cholesterol. Invite him to breakfast of eggs and bacon, and thank him for improving brain function, fighting infections, and, possibly, increasing testosterone levels.