Why is it that it is okay to eat fish if you have to watch your cholesterol?

Question

I understand that some fish has Omega 3 which helps with HDL ( I think), but still the label lists almost as much cholesterol as other kinds of meat. So if I were to eat lots of fish, wouldn't that still be contributing to my high cholesterol?

Answer 1

Fish contains a "good" cholesterol that can be used by your body as opposed to storing it as fat. If you eat lots of fish, it should not be fried, it should be baked, tuna, shrimp all have the good Omega 3's which can be used by your body and will not contribute to an increase in your cholesterol numbers.

Answer 2

First of all there is only one cholesterol. The erronous terms good and bad cholesterol refer to lipoprotiens. Lipoproteins are what transport cholesterol (and fats)around your body. the so called bad cholesterol is in fact a Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL). The so called good cholesterol is is a High Density Lipoprotein (HDL). No food contains HDL or LDL only cholesterol and it is all the same. I repeat, there is only one cholesterol.
One of the purposes of HDL is to return used cholesterol from the body back to the liver, where it is utilised in bile acids to help digestion of fats.
LDLs, on the other hand are what transport cholesterol from the liver throughout the body ( They actualy start out as a very low density lipoprotein).
Not too sure how one can be bad and one good. they both provide vital functions.
How much cholesterol you eat has no impact on your cholesterol levels, as your liver produces aprox 70% of your bodys needs. I f you eat less, then your liver will produce more and vica verca. The cholsterol you eat is transported to the liver for dispersdal throughout the body. It is not broken down then reformed.
Fats (fatty acids or lipids) are NOT cholesterol. They are not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination. Fat is not turned into cholesterol or cholesterol is not turned into fat. Generally dietary fats have very little effect on blood cholesterol levels. The exception can be fish oil. This would have more to do with balancing the omega 3 to omega 6 ratio than anything else. The exact mechanism as to how this actualy helps to raise HDL levels is largly unknown.
From the studies of Weston A price 70 odd years ago to modern clinicaly trials the benefits of eating fish for you overall health is pretty well documented. Just enjoy it without stressing about cholesterol levels or other junk.
Regular feeds of wild caught fish are much better that supplements, but not always achievable. The processing of these fish oils can cause the fragile omeg 3 fatty acids to oxidise. Any oxidised food will ultimately do more harm than good, so only buy reputable products. Farmed fish will probaly give lower yields of omega 3 as the fish's diet is important in determinaly omega 3 levels. This applies to anything else you eat that contains omega 3. Eggs from free range hens that have access to green grass will have more omega 3 than cage hens, while grass fed beef will have a omega 6/3 of 3:1 while grain fed beef will have a ratio of 6:1. The desired ratio overall in your diet should be somewhere between 1:1 and 2:1

Answer 3

The cholesterol you eat has very little to do with the cholesterol in your bloodstream, because the stuff you eat is broken down into simpler molecules before it gets into the blood. Many fish oils are good for you - Omega 3, for example - and many fish contain less fat than red meat. The best fish are sardines, salmon, mackerel, and tuna, in other words, the fish with the strongest taste, as opposed to whitefish. If you're buying the canned fish, be sure to get the "packed in water" variety.

Answer 4

Omegal 3 fatty acids are listed as cholesterol just the same as lard would be listed as cholesterol. The FDA doesn't recognize "good cholesterol" on its packaging requirements yet. So, even tho the cholesterol content in the can is there, it doesn't mean that it is the stuff that makes your body cholesterol go up.
It's a wacko system, but hopefully, they will improve it soon.

Answer 5

In the GISSI Trial fish oil supplementation RAISED LDL levels and SIGNIFICANTLY LOWERED CHD mortality. And this trial is HARDLY ALONE in demonstrating this.

So much for the FALSE Cholesterol Theory.




Wiseowl and Saphhire RULE for having the courage to speak out against this.



Anti -saturate stupidity by Anthony Colpo

"You know I could take this oppurtunity to really dump on those who have been incessantly slandering saturated fat all these years, but I won't because some of my more sensitive readers might write me and accuse me of infairly impugning the personal and professional integrity of these upstanding citizens.

I could point out how many of these anti -saturated fat commentators have built their status and careers on a completely erroneous bunch of nonsense , but again, I won't, because , hey, that wouldn't be nice.

I could also point out how their unbridled vitriol against these naturally occurring fats has probably cost hundreds of thousands, even millions, of lives, but , gee, that wouldn't be a politically correct thing to do.

Nope , I won't mention any of these things(o rdid I just do that........oops! ) ........all I will say is that the nect time you hear some misguided fanatic wailing on about the evils of saturated fat , run --------- straight to the nearest tub of butter!"


Another from Anthony Colpo

"Don't fool yourself

As long as you fail to verify the claims of the medical heirarchy for yourself; as long as you merely glance over the abstracts in medical journals instead of reading he full text,; as long as drug companies remian your primary source of drug information;as long as food and drug companies control the flow of information eminating from the health associations , institutes and organizations that you look to for professional guidance then you remian simply a puppet of our disgustingly corrupt orthodoxy."