Bad) Cholesterol
Don't give in to medical fear tactics or complex technical terms. Learn the basic functions so you can make informed decisions.
Important terms used below: Oxidized = rancid. Polyunsaturated = vegetable oils.
When and how does LDL cholesterol become bad
?
...LDL cholesterol, which is produced by the body in the liver is harmless...It only turns bad when it becomes oxidized [rancid]....
What does LDL do? ...LDL cholesterol, which is produced by the body in the liver is harmless, and actually beneficial because the body uses it as building material for cell walls, to make vitamin D, and to synthesize many vital hormones.
[ Source: Page 121-122, Coconut Cures, Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut, Bruce Fife, N.D.]
So the natural LDL cholesterol produced in the liver is beneficial for metabolism. It is the rancid (oxidized) cholesterol in the diet that is harmful and clogs arteries.
LDL cholesterol is known as the
[ Source: Ibid.]bad
cholesterol because it is associated with arterial plaque. It only turns bad when it becomes oxidized. Oxidized [rancid] cholesterol damages artery walls. Unoxidized cholesterol doesn't.
Avoid vegetable oils (except for olive oil). Why? Vegetable oils (polyunsaturated fats) clog your arteries because they are highly vulnerable to oxidation. Oxidized fats are rancid fats.
Rancid fats clog your arteries. [ Source: Ibid.]
Most vegetable oils (polyunsaturated) are rancid by the time they arrive at a grocery store. The reason they do not smell or taste terrible is that they have been sanitized and deoderized by high heat treatments. These oils are toxic.
Ironically, saturated fat phobics have attempted to demonize coconut oil by labeling it an
[ Source: Ibid.]artery clogging
fat. Coconut oil, however, does not clog up the arteries, but polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oils) do.
Analysis of arterial plaque by Felton and colleagues show that oxidized fatty acids in arterial plaque are primarily unsaturated, not saturated....In truth, unsaturated fats, and particularly polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oils), are the real artery-clogging fats.
[ Source: Ibid.]
...The benefit of coconut oil is that it is composed of 92 percent saturated fat, most of which is made of MCFAs [Medium Chain Fatty Acids]. These fats are very stable and highly resistant to oxidation. So resistant, in fact, that they act as antioxidants....Coconut oil helps reduce oxidative stress and thus helps protect against heart disease.
[ Source: Ibid.]
...Studies show that adding coconut oil into the diet will significantly lower total cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids. On the other hand, HDL (good) cholesterol increases. So the total lipid (fat) profile improves, reducing risk of heart disease....
[Source: Ibid. Page 139-140]
...The cholesterol ratio is superior to total cholesterol as an indicator of heart disease risk. HDL cholesterol is believed to protect against heart disease while LDL cholesterol is believed to promote it. A measurement of total cholesterol is essentially worthless because you don't know how much of each makes up the total. This is why half of all those people who die of heart attacks have normal to below normal total cholesterol levels....Both red and white palm oils [also coconut oil] tend to raise HDL cholesterol and thus improve the cholesterol ratio....
[Source: The Palm Oil Miracle, Bruce Fife, N.D., Page 86]
In a study carried out in Holland, researchers evaluated the effect of replacing the usual sources of fat in the Dutch diet by palm oil. The following significant results were obtained: 1. No effect on plasma total cholesterol, 2. An 11 percent increase in HDL cholesterol, 3. An 8 percent decrease in LDL cholesterol, 4. A 9 percent decrease in triglycerides, 5. An increase in plasm apolipoprotein A1 and decrease in apolipoprotein B, both positive changes.
[Source: The Palm Oil Miracle, Bruce Fife, N.D., Page 86-87]