Truth About Cholesterol Part 1

~~February is National Heart Health Month. As I pondered what I should write about this month in relationship to cardiovascular health one thing came to mind immediately. That was the material that gets so much attention today in the media, and on your blood tests. The big kahuna in heart health, cholesterol.
 
Alright everyone I want you to take off your blinders as you read the facts that I will set out for you in this article. You see, unfortunately the vast majority of our culture has been tainted by the media to swallow the party line regarding the dreaded, life threatening substance called cholesterol.
 
Let's be clear about a few things regarding this life promoting, and necessary substance. That's right I just said "life promoting" in reference to the dreaded cholesterol. It is necessary for most, if not all normal bodily functions, to have sufficient levels of cholesterol in your system.
 
Here are the facts. First of all 50% of your nervous system is made up of cholesterol. That's right, the lining of your nerves is fat/cholesterol. Billions of the cells that make up the glands, organs, and tissues of your body are made up of cholesterol. There it regulates the exchange of nutrients into the cells, and waste products out of the cells. Cholesterol is a building block of hormones, including those produced by the adrenal glands to regulate the stress response, and those produced by the sex glands including the ovaries. Pituitary hormones are also manufactured using cholesterol. The conversion of sunlight into vitamin D requires cholesterol as a building block for this essential nutrient. One in which many if not most Americans are deficient today.
 
I wonder why this deficiency syndrome of vitamin D is so widespread today? Perhaps because modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry have demonized the essential substance to the point that they are artificially dropping the national levels of human circulating cholesterol, and in many instances doing so to hazardously low levels.
 
Let's continue to get a grasp on how virtually all-encompassing this "miracle molecule" truly is. Cholesterol is required for the manufacture of "bile salts". These substances produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder are essential for the breakdown of fats in the body. If this crucial process could not occur, then the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K (the fat soluble vitamins) would not occur. Once again, we perhaps are creating fat soluble vitamin deficiency syndromes.
 
Cholesterol is also necessary for creating a barrier in the skin to the excess excretion and or absorption of water through the skin. It also is used in the process of metabolism of calcium in the body, affecting bone structure, liver function, and muscular contraction.
 
Now you may have a slightly better indication of some of the functions of cholesterol in the body. What I would like to assist you with now is an understanding of the signs and symptoms that may occur as a result of a deficiency of cholesterol.
 
Some of the symptoms of a deficiency of cholesterol can be fatigue, obesity, nervous system situations, as well as emotional problems. Problems with digestion, impotency, problems with conception and full term pregnancies can also be related to a deficiency of cholesterol. Menstrual difficulties, masculine traits in women, as well as effeminate traits in men can also be related to this deficiency. Blood pressure disturbances, body fluid imbalances, and nutritional deficiencies can also be related to deficiency syndromes of cholesterol.
 
Russell L. Smith, PhD in his book The Cholesterol Conspiracy, stated that; "Both the public and clinical physicians have simultaneously been swamped by an ever growing tidal wave of exaggerations, distortions, and even fabrications of the facts."
 
  
Dr. Pfeiffer's "Think Right"
"The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing."  ~Henry Haskins