Cholesterol is something that doctors often frighten their patients, calling it almost the main enemy of humanity. However, some researchers believe that cholesterol is good for the body. We asked Dr. Boris Akimov to help us understand these contradictions.
Modern medicine has a large set of anti-sclerotic agents, of which many are known for nicotinic acid-vitamin PP. The fact that the main source of vitamin PP is protein food: meat, milk, eggs, which are also sources of cholesterol, suggests that nature has also conceived anti-sclerotic mechanisms. How do we know if cholesterol is our enemy or our friend?
Cholesterol (cholesterol) is an organic compound from the category of fatty (lipophilic) alcohols, vital to our body and therefore produced by the body itself, mainly by the liver, and in significant quantities-80% against 20% coming from food.
Yuav ua li cas yog roj rau? Very much for many things! This is the basis of the cell, its cell membranes. In addition, cholesterol is involved in metabolism-it helps to produce vitamin D, various hormones, including sex hormones, plays an important role in the activity of synapses of the brain (the brain consists of a third of tissue cholesterol) and the immune system, including protection against cancer. That is, by all measures, it would seem to be very useful.
The problem is that too good is not good either! Excess cholesterol accumulates on the walls of blood vessels in the form of atherosclerotic plaques and leads to a deterioration of blood circulation with all the ensuing consequences-from stroke to heart attack. Every second person over the age of 30 dies from diseases caused by atherosclerosis.
How is it that such a necessary thing for our body destroys it? It’s simple — in this world, nothing lasts forever under the moon. And the man even more so. And nature has created a mechanism of self-destruction of the human body, which is designed on average for … 45 years. Everything else is the result of a healthy lifestyle and happy circumstances: for example, in Japan, the average life expectancy is 82 years. And yet: there are no centenarians older than 110-115 years. By this time, all the genetic mechanisms of regeneration have been completely exhausted. All cases of claims about centenarians who have lived for more than 120 years are nothing more than fantasies.
Of course, cholesterol synthesis is not the only factor in aging, but it is very powerful and, importantly, the earliest. Excess cholesterol can also occur in children, but up to 20 years of age, the anti-sclerotic mechanisms are very active and the problem is not relevant. After 20 years in a healthy person, you can find atherosclerotic plaques in the vessels, and after another ten years-and a deterioration in the patency of the vessels, leading to the disease.
Is there a cure for atherosclerosis? Of course! Modern medicine has a large set of anti-sclerotic drugs, but let’s not bring it to the clinic, and take up the health themselves:
- bring the weight back to normal (every extra two kilograms of weight reduces life by one year);
- reduce the consumption of fatty foods (cholesterol-fatty alcohol);
- txiav kev haus luam yeeb (nicotine leads to vasospasm, creating the ground for the concentration of atherosclerotic plaques);
- let’s do sports (a two-hour workout at a moderate pace reduces the content of cholesterol in the blood plasma by 30%).
The main thing, of course, is proper nutrition. I am very happy to open Japanese restaurants in Russia. Japanese cuisine, like Mediterranean cuisine, is distinguished by the most correct products and the way they are prepared. But if we eat at home, then on our table must be fresh vegetables and fruits, which should be eaten on the principle of “the more — the better” and, of course, raw. My favorite anti — sclerotic foods are white cabbage, apples, and vegetable oil. In recent years, olive oil has become popular among people who care about a healthy lifestyle. If you like the taste of this wonderful product-for your health, if you prefer sunflower-it is also good, there is no reliable scientific data on the advantage of one vegetable oil over another. And a glass of red wine at dinner for the prevention of atherosclerosis is quite appropriate!
And one last thing. When do you need to prevent atherosclerosis, especially if you do not have any pain? The answer is one-today! As the Nobel Prize winner in medicine Max Braun wittily noted :” If you wait for the first manifestations of coronary heart disease to begin its prevention, then the first manifestation may be sudden death from a myocardial infarction.”