You may have heard about "good" cholesterol and "bad" cholesterol. In fact, there are four components of your lipid (fats) blood test panel: cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglyceride. The value for total cholesterol is the combination of your HDL and your LDL cholesterol. The LDL, the "bad" cholesterol, transports to cardiac tissues and arteries in high amounts and promotes cholesterol accumulation in arterial walls. HDL, the "good," transports LDLs back to the liver and protects against heart disease and atherosclerosis. The ratio between the HDL and LDL for a healthy individual should at least be at 2 to 1. Recent studies have shown that simply lowering your cholesterol may not be enough to prevent serious heart disease. They show that even with low or normal cholesterol levels, you can be still at a high risk of heart attacks. In fact, half of all heart attacks take place in people with normal cholesterol levels!

If normalizing the level of our cholesterol isn't enough, what is? Although doctors routinely monitor the quantity of the cholesterol, they do not routinely monitor its quality. They are missing a crucial factor: whether the cholesterol has been oxidized into potentially harmful molecules that damage the cardiovascular system. "Natural, un-rancid cholesterol is an antioxidant. Blaming coronary heart disease on healthy cholesterol is like blaming pure water for illness. Rancid cholesterol, like polluted water, can cause disease. So, the focus must be on rancidity of cholesterol rather than on its blood level." Ali, M. Aging Healthfully magazine, p.37.

FREE RADICALS CAUSE OXIDATION

An oxygen molecule has two electrons. A free radical only has one. The free radical robs oxygen of its electron because its goal is to become an oxygen molecule. As it robs the oxygen of its innate electron, it turns the oxygen into a free radical. This exchanging of electrons shreds the structures of the body much like rust does to metal. Free radical damage is the cause of rusting. When this damage is happening it is called oxidation. Oxidation can happen to your vascular system and it can happen anywhere at any level of the body.

OXIDATION ALTERS THE QUALITY OF YOUR CHOLESTEROL

Oxidation, caused by free radicals, alters the quality of your cholesterol when your adrenaline levels shift due to stress. When you eat starchy carbohydrates and sweets, you are also creating free radicals that oxidate your cholesterol by spiking your insulin levels. A low antioxidant diet, a diet low in fruit and vegetables, does not protect your cholesterol from this oxidation. Eating too late or too much, with the resulting poor digestion, can also further oxidize your cholesterol. Unfortunately, when you eat foods laden with pesticides, expose yourself to petrochemicals, heavy metals, or your prescription medications, you're ingesting chemical free radicals. Literally, oxidation is a form of cellular damage, and the LDL cholesterol molecule is very susceptible to such damage.

LDL is not dangerous until it is oxidized. At this point it converts into a substance known as oxysterol. Your M.D. doesn't screen you for oxidation.

OXYSTEROL: THE REAL CHOLESTEROL CULPRIT

Oxysterols are oxidized derivatives of LDL cholesterol and related compounds. Oxysterol causes the damage and breakdown of the vascular system that makes cholesterol infamous. Cellular fragments of the vascular system stimulate the chronic inflammation that leads to primary coronary disease. If you want to control heart disease, you must also control the oxidation of cholesterol into oxysterols.

When damage occurs to the lining of our arteries, chemicals are released to initiate the process of inflammation. Arteries constrict, blood begins to clot, white blood cells are called to the area to gobble up damaged debris, and cells adjacent to those that are damaged are told to multiply. Ultimately, scars form. In the arteries we call that stiff scar tissue, plaque. Furthermore, constriction of our arteries and the "thickening" of our blood further predisposes us to high blood pressure and heart attacks.

WHO TESTS YOU FOR OXIDATION?

Not your cardiologist. They're only concerned about the quantity of your cholesterol, not the quality of it. Easy-to-use in-office urine oxidation tests are now available to give you instant results regarding your oxidation status. Find a health practitioner who uses urine oxidation tests. Without correcting the oxidation levels, your risk of cardiovascular disease still exists.

WHAT ABOUT THE CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING DRUGS?

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are now proving to be a considerable risk to your health. Statin drugs can produce such serious side-effects that doctors insist on blood tests at least twice per year to detect early stages of liver damage.

While lowering your cholesterol, statin drugs also lower Co-Q-10, a naturally occurring vital cellular nutrient. Co-Q-10 is important in protecting the vascular system and the heart against inflammatory oxidation damage and is also critical to cellular energy production.

LOWER AND PROTECT YOUR CHOLESTEROL NATURALLY

Research has identified numerous nutrients and herbs that effectively improve cholesterol metabolism. A properly balanced program will accomplish much more than a statin drug. A balanced program should simultaneously:

• lower your Total Cholesterol level
• raise your HDL (good) cholesterol level
• lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol level
• protect your cholesterol from oxidation damage

A balanced program should be personalized to your specific metabolic needs by an experienced health practitioner. No two people have the same requirements, and only an experienced health practitioner can help you determine your individual needs.

HOW TO REDUCE YOUR RISK OF HEART DISEASE

• Find a health practitioner who tests the quantity and the quality of your cholesterol.
• If your health practitioner advises it, use recommended anti-oxidants on regular basis. This helps protect you from oxidation damage.
• Exercise aerobically at least 3 x weekly, a magnificent controller of cholesterol.
• Eat 5-6 cups of fruits and vegetables daily, giving you the fiber needed to remove excess cholesterol and powerful antioxidants to protect cholesterol from oxidation.
• Eat up to 30% of your calories from total fat-most should be from unsaturated fat, which does not raise cholesterol levels.
• Learn to relax. Learn to play. High stress is implicated with high cholesterol.
• If your cholesterol is out of balance, use safe nutritional and herbal products to balance your cholesterol naturally. When properly combined these provide better protection than statin drugs, without the potential side-effects. Allow your health practitioner to individualize your program.

Remember, until you protect both the quantity and the quality of your cholesterol, you are still at risk.

Sara Kendall Gordon, L.Ac., condensed from unpublished research by Stephen Stiteler. O.M.D., L.Ac. (The five-page list of published research articles is available on request.)