07/17/2025
Cholesterol and Its Role in Your Body:
Cholesterol is essential for many bodily functions. It’s used in the production of hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids that help digest food. It’s also a key component of cell membranes and cell repair. Without cholesterol, your body couldn’t produce the hormones it needs to regulate everything from mood to metabolism and sexual health.In fact, your body is constantly producing cholesterol, particularly LDL, to meet these needs.
Why High Cholesterol Isn’t Always Bad:
Cholesterol levels alone don’t determine your heart disease risk. What matters is the type of cholesterol and how it interacts with your blood vessels. If your LDL is large and fluffy, it's less likely to contribute to plaque buildup in your arteries.Your body is always balancing cholesterol levels, and it can produce more or less as needed. It’s possible for cholesterol to be high but still not problematic if you have the right balance and if other health markers, like inflammation, are well-controlled.
The Real Culprits: Seed Oils and Sugar
• Seed oils: Oils like canola, sunflower, and soybean oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids. While omega-6 fats are essential, an overabundance can promote inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation is linked to many health problems, including heart disease. Seed oils also lead to unhealthy cell membranes by incorporating oxidized and unstable fats, which weaken the integrity of cell structures and make them more prone to damage.Sugar and processed carbs: High sugar intake, especially from refined carbs, leads to insulin resistance and increased triglycerides, which can elevate your risk for heart disease. Sugar also promotes inflammation and increases the small, dense LDL particles that are harmful to your arteries.The real problem arises when a diet is high in processed foods, sugar, and industrial seed oils, leading to imbalances in the body’s lipid profile and increased inflammation.
How Sugar Causes Inflammation:
Excess sugar in your diet leads to chronic inflammation, which is a major factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases. High sugar levels can cause the glycation of proteins, making them sticky and more prone to damage. This affects the **epithelial walls of arteries**, making them more susceptible to plaque buildup. These sugar-induced changes in the blood vessels increase the stickiness of LDL particles, making them more likely to attach to the arterial walls and cause narrowing.
How Seed Oils Affect Cell Membranes
When you consume industrial seed oils, the omega-6 fatty acids in them are incorporated into your cell membranes. This leads to **unhealthy cell structures**. Cell membranes made from these unstable oils are more prone to damage and inflammation. They can create **oxidative stress**, which compromises the integrity of cells, making them more vulnerable to dysfunction. These changes also affect how cells interact with each other, which can impair cellular communication and repair.
