For this week’s entry, I thought to share with you a few interesting facts about cholesterol that will be covered in more detail at our webinar this Saturday (to register click here).  Here they are!

 People with higher cholesterol are more likely to live longer, healthier lives than their counterparts with low cholesterol.
 Cholesterol is absolutely necessary for memory and learning, which may be why two common side effects of statin therapy are memory loss and cognitive decline.
 People with low cholesterol are more likely to experience mood disorders such as depression and exhibit violent behavior.  In fact, some researchers attribute the rise in domestic violence and child abuse over the past 30 years to the increased use of cholesterol-lowering medication.
 Exposure to heavy metals is usually followed by a rise in blood cholesterol, possibly because cholesterol acts as a “raft” to get toxins out of the body quickly.
 Every cell in your body makes cholesterol.  In fact, only 15% of cholesterol in your body comes from your food – the rest of it is synthesized by your body because it is that important!
 Fatty plaques in the arteries are actually a sign that there is underlying inflammation in the body.  Cholesterol rises as a response to this inflammation to try to repair damaged portions of blood vessel walls – cholesterol is NOT the root cause of artery plaques, inflammation is!
 If you are stressed about the results of your cholesterol test, it is likely that your results will be higher than they would be if you weren’t stressed.  Stress causes cholesterol levels to rise, and they may not return to normal for 24 hours or more.   
NOTE: Please talk to your physician before making any dietary or supplement changes.  This blog is not intended to replace the advice of a qualified healthcare practitioner.

Yesterday during our second spring snowstorm, I started thinking about how depressing it is to have TWO spring snowstorms in a row, and then started to think about how many people have told me that lately they just feel a little depressed.  I know there are many factors involved with depression, but living in Iowa where the winter lasts half the year I have found that obtaining adequate intake of Vitamin D helps many people to feel happier.  Vitamin D can be obtained from sunlight (which we don’t get much of in the winter here), from food, and from supplements.  If you’re going to take a supplement, look for D3 (the usable form) instead of D2 (the synthetic form). 

Here is a link to an article with more info on Vitamin D and depression by one of my favorite Vitamin D researchers, Dr. John Cannell, MD:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/depression.shtml