is the cholesterol level in our blood directly related to the cholesterol content of our diet?

Question

I note that Nutrition News Focus and Journal of the American
Medical Association (April 21, 1999), seem to be taking the position that the link between dietary and blood cholesterol is not particularly strong.

Is this position generally accepted by scientists or to appease some pressure groups? Pray tell.

Answer 1

There are a lot of factors on this one, and the main one is that people would rather expect people to take a drug and mind their specific food choices, than to trust them to lose weight.

It would help if you understand osmotic balance:
Whatever you have in you body that is not tightly bound will be found in your blood in the same proportions that it exists in the non-tightly bound bodily substances...
If you have more salt than usual in your tissues, there will generally be more salt than usual in your blood...
If you have more of a mineral in your tissues than usual, you will generally have more of it in your blood...

If you have more fat in your body than usual, there will generally be more fat in your blood than usual.

There are exceptions, like..
diseases that bind more of something than usual in your tissues, causing a low blood level of that thing,
OR
diseases that prevent the movement of something from your blood to your tissues...
BUT
generally, if you have a a lot of body fat, you will have high cholesterol.

Here is a whole lot of detail you may or may not be able to use. I am not sure what you are prepared to understand regarding cholesterol, or why you need to know it.

http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/cholesterol.html
Fabulous explaination, with pictures and arrows, of cholesterol metabolism and its rate limiting steps. Contains the diagram and explaination of this annoying quote regarding the first rate limiting step:
"The acetyl-CoA utilized for cholesterol biosynthesis is derived from an oxidation reaction (e.g., fatty acids or pyruvate) in the mitochondria and is transported to the cytoplasm by the same process as that described for fatty acid synthesis (see the Figure below). Acetyl-CoA can also be derived from cytoplasmic oxidation of ethanol by acetyl-CoA synthetase."
(ALCOHOL IS BAD FOR YOU)
Explains why when you have made cholestrol there is no way to effectively get rid of it except through bile loss.
Produce lots of bile (DRINK GRAPEFRUIT JUICE and eat bitter foods)
Make sure you do not reabsorb it (EAT YOUR FIBER!)

http://www.biocarta.com/pathfiles/h_fxrPathway.asp
Another simpler version of the above using common names rather than chemical description. In it you can see the need for rentinoids and support/non-competition for CYP7A1 if you want to efficiently prevent the oxidation of cholesterol (which is when it turns into your enemy). Unfortunately they just located it, so not a whole lot is easily available for your information on non-competition. Thiamin supports most alternate pathways for cytochromes, and this is a viable way to take the load off most cytochrome systems are aare overloaded or working badly. (TAKE SOME THIAMIN)
Rentinoids come from fish eyes and deeply colored berries like blueberries and raspberries, and also from purple veggies like red chicory and red cabbage. You synthesize your own out of Vitamin A (which is toxic) and also out of LYCOPENE (which is non-toxic and is easily available in tomato paste) and CARROTENE (which is non-toxic and present in... Carrots!). If you are consuming enough carotene and lycopene do do anything significant for yourself, you should turn a slight funny color. This is perfectly safe.

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673602112037 (this one is not free)
http://www.utmb.edu/phtox/fac/faculty.asp?id=13 (this one is free, but sparse)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytochrome_P450_oxidase (this one is clear as a bell
Hepatic CYP7A1 expression is reduced in rats with spontaneous hyperlipidemia. It is a product of the P450 system, and mitochondrial in origination.
"P450 7A1 (CYP7A1), in the brain by CYP46A1, and in most extrahepatic tissues by CYP27A1. Steroid hormone biosynthesis is initiated by CYP11A1. Thus, CYPs 7A1, 27A1, and 46A1 play key roles in cholesterol homeostasis whereas CYP11A1 is essential for steroidogenesis"
These Cytochromes do more than one thing, and it pays not to compete with the use of them for lipid transport if you want to get on with effective lipid transporting.

http://medicine.iupui.edu/flockhart/table.htm
This is the most coomprehensive and in-depth table for CYP induction/competition in the universe (not just the net). You want to induce CYP7A1 and CYP7A2, and not compete with them. Pay attention to inducers 1A2 (EAT YOUR BROCCOLI AND BRUSSEL SPROUTS!)

Anyhow, stuff that has been proven to work are Statins, dietary fat binders including drugs and also plain old oat and bran fiber, oral hypoglycemics, and endurance exercise (you have to use up muscle fat and draw it out of the bank - swimming, cross country skiing and rowing are the top burners).

Weird notes:
1. Over 4 cups of coffee per day seems to provide a type of fiber that strips cholesterol, and at over 4 cups per day the blood pressure effect becomes baseline).
2. 4 cups of raw cocoa beverage (this stuff is bitter enough to hurt your teeth) seems to prevent a whole culture from having this problem (until they move to the city and start drinking refined cocoa) - nobody *knows* why, they think it is the flavinoids.
3. Even people with mindblowingly high cholesterol do not seem to make arterial plaques in the 3 years after being treated with a course of tetracycline, nobody knows why, so they don't do it... but it reduces death and disability to less than a 1/3 for 5 years.
4. Consider changing regularly from beer to deep red wine, it contains a lot of flavinoids, and people who drink too much of it refuse to get sick and drop dead of high blood fats or fatty livers as fast as they are projected to do.
5. SOBE is the brand of pasturized juice drink containing the highest fiber and flavinoids.
6. Getting enough sleep lowers your cholesterol.
7. Chronic stress increases your cholesterol (it is a great fuel)... get relaxed :)

Answer 2

In terms of pure scientific statistics the "co efficient of correlation" between dietary and blood cholesterol is zero. In other words dietary and blood cholesterol are not related to each other among perfectly healthy people. A child of five years may eat an extra fat in terms of animal fat , without change in blood cholesterol. But it is not so if the child is suffering from diabetes or primary hyperlipedemia when dietary intake of excess fat translates to corresponding increase in blood cholesterol.
A diabetic adult whose blood glucose is not under control ,would have a higher blood cholesterol even if he takes minimum fat in diet.
Carbohydrates and fats act as interchangeable substrates in animal and human metabolism.
Position taken by TV advertisers and pressure groups do no apply in people who are diabetic,hyperlipedemic,who have endocrinal disorders,pregnant and menopausal women.
"Zero added sugar" beverage increases blood sugar and blood cholesterol among diabetics and other types mentioned above.
Rice bran oil or sunflower oil offer about NIL protection against heart attacks among diabetics,and others mentioned above.

Answer 3

drink plenty of water

Answer 4

Eat more vegetables first

Answer 5

Stand up and walk atleast 5 mins after evry 2 hours while working

Answer 6

make it a point to use the steps whenever possible use the bathroom on a different floor at work take the stairs at the bus station the airport or the mall

Answer 7

Walk at least 15 mins after your meals

Answer 8

Drink plenty of water daily

Answer 9

forget the dried cranberries which have added sugar and add a half cup of fresh berries to top off your salad

Answer 10

While you re going to vacation take some fitness accessories along with you

Answer 11

50 minutes of hula hooping