Is it bad to cut out cholesterol altogether?
Really the only foods with cholesterol I am eating(now that I know I have a lipid processing disorder) are deli sliced turkey, grilled chicken and grilled salmon. Occasionally I will have a veggie burger, but I was wondering if I should be looking for alternatives to even these, lean meat, items?? I know the body needs cholesterol to survive, my liver seems to be making too much anyway! Do I really need to consume ANY cholesterol?????
Hi FELDO311,
Like you stated, your liver is going to produce cholesterol for necessary bodily functions whether you eat it or not. Cholesterol production is related to our genetic makeup and it sounds like you have an additional disorder to work around. My recommendation if you DID NOT have a lipid processing disorder would be to not worry about the cholesterol content of these lean meats. Dietary cholesterol does not have as much impact on total cholesterol levels as saturated and trans fats. I would encourage you to put your focus on limiting total fat intake and replacing saturated and trans fats with more heart healthy unsaturated fats.
However, since you have additional complications playing a role, I suggest you speak with your MD to determine what's best for your individual situation.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN
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Cholesterol is make in the body by converting acetly CoA (from fat or sugar) into cholesterol using a variety of enzymes (HMG-CoA synthase, HMG-CoA reductase, and a few others only a biochem professor can remember). Unless you have a defect in one of these enzymes (which would manifest as ungodly low LDL or possibly death from failure to synthesize cholesterol derived hormones) ...
YOU DO NOT NEED TO CONSUME CHOLESTEROL WHAT SO EVER.
That being said you do need B vitamins and long chain omega-3s which only come from animal meat which incidently has a little cholesterol. I would not recommend full vegetarianism (the closest you can go that seems healthy is being mostly vegetarian and still eating fish).
If you want good diet advice read up on Dean Ornish and Jack Lalanne. If you want to understand how cholesterol/triglycerides etc. really work read Lippincott's Illustrated Review of Biochemistry (it has a 10 page chapter on LDL, HDL that is the only thing I've ever seen that explains this stuff properly).
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