By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
Early last year, the provincial employees of Mountain Province had free executive check-up (thanks to then Governor Leonard Mayaen) and the major unhealthy finding was high blood cholesterol levels. What was more worrisome was that even young employees under 30 years of age were already having high cholesterol levels. At this point in history, people accuse cholesterol and sugar as the main culprits for all the high blood pressure and heart attacks and cardiovascular diseases in this world. Let us focus on cholesterol. What really is cholesterol? Where is it from? What is “good” and “bad” cholesterol? How does it affect our health?
You will have to bear with the technical discussions here because cholesterol and what it does to the body is not something visible to all. Presently, industry has developed gadgets to measure it and we can’t see the inside of our blood vessels, do we? Even if we had x-ray eyes, we wouldn’t see the arteries unless they are coated with fat and calcium deposits, ugh. Those trained in traditional medicine, though, can diagnose with their clinical eye. May their tribe increase!
For now, this is going to be a technical discussion so open wide your imagination and read slowly as we discuss this thing called CHOLESTEROL. It is a waxy fat-like substance and technically belongs to a class of substances called steroids. Somebody said that it would feel like soft melted candle. It is, in fact, an essential part of our body. That’s is why ALL the cholesterol we need is manufactured by our body mismo, mainly in our liver. The amazing thing is that our body only manufactures enough cholesterol that is needed– not more, not less. And also it is only our body who knows how much cholesterol is enough. Which is fine with me so I won’t have to calculate. Thank you, dear Creator.
Cholesterol is necessary in a lot of chemical processes going on in our bodies but I wouldn’t like to confuse you with the details of these processes. (And you can always go to the internet if you want more information.) Suffice it to say that cholesterol is needed for our body to function normally. We cannot live without it. But in excess, it can make us sick and can kill.
I repeat, ALL the cholesterol we need is provided by our body, meaning nobody needs to eat or drink anything containing cholesterol. God is good. So when you have your blood cholesterol checked and it is high, where do you think all that excess cholesterol came from? Not from the air and not from plants. Nope. Cholesterol is found ONLY in animal foods- eggs, meat (hotdog, longaniza, chicken, pork, beef, kambing, lamb, etc.), milk and other dairy products (chocolate, cheese, yogurt…), sea animals especially shrimps. One egg contains around 210 mg. cholesterol. Mind you, that is only one egg. And this 210 mg. is all in the egg yolk. The egg white does not contain cholesterol.
What about “good” and “bad” cholesterol? These are misnomers because these are actually carriers that transport cholesterol to all parts of the body. Apparently, cholesterol doesn’t have legs and so they cannot travel alone. The major cholesterol carrier is the low density lipoprotein (LDL) and this is what the medical people label as “bad” cholesterol. Imagine your artery as a tunnel with a river of blood flowing in it. Then imagine a lot of boats cruising this river (one writer likened them to submarines.) Some are loaded with oxygen (these are the hemoglobin) , others are loaded with a fatty substance called cholesterol (these are the LDL). In normal circumstances, traffic should be smooth and unimpeded. What happens if you have an excess of these “fat” boats? Naturally, there will be monstrous traffic making transport slow. What science found out is that these carriers then deposit the excess cholesterol in the tunnel walls. They must grow tired of carrying the load in slow traffic. These deposits, termed “plaques” will narrow the passage and thus aggravate the traffic problem. (Imagine these as like clay dumped by the roadsides and creating slow traffic.) As more and more cholesterol are dumped in the walls, time will come that the tunnel will be totally blocked, blocking all the boats including those containing oxygen and nutrients. If this block happens in the heart arteries then one gets a heart attack. If in the brain area, the condition is termed “stroke”. These things can happen at any age – whether a baby in the womb or an octogenarian in Tambuan. So think twice before cooking and serving cholesterol to your children. Imagine their very small arteries.
In contrast, “good” cholesterol are high density lipoprotein (HDL) – carriers that remove the excess cholesterol and transport it to the liver. Must be like loaders that clear the slide.
At the moment, the most popular test that doctors rely on to check if you have excess is blood cholesterol level– the cholesterol that is cruising in the bloodstream. Those still in the transport carriers or those floating excesses. Once they are deposited or dumped on the arterial walls, then one can have a normal cholesterol level. Don’t be surprised then when a person with normal cholesterol level has a heart attack or stroke or the other diseases that develop because of slow blood traffic. So if your diet is unhealthy, don’t let a normal blood cholesterol level assure you that all is well. Sooner or later your body will say “tama na! sobra na!”
It is a simple equation. Our body makes all the cholesterol it needs. So any other cholesterol you eat or drink from animal products will be extra. Ideally, then, our intake should be zero. Thus we can understand why vegans (no dairy no eggs, no meat) can be so strong and healthy. Well, I can say our Creator loves us so much that He designed our bodies to handle small short term excesses. So if you really want to, occasional organic meat or other animal products will not make you sick ….as long as you also limit the occasions.***
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“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” 1 Corinthians 3:19a
