Killer Eggs
I was asked about the egg comment yesterday; I really do eat that many. I offset the evil effects of eggs by eating lots of steak and hamburgers. At this moment, a five-egg omelet is being put together... (It arrived. Excellent.)
I'm going to simplify here. Basically, the "cholesterol molecules" (high-density and low-density lipoproteins) are used for transport of materials for construction of cellular tissues, mostly membranes but also nerve insulation and many other uses. The molecules are too large (one LDL molecule contains about 1,500 cholesterol esters) for humans to absorb easily in the small intestine, so about 85% of this is made in the body from smaller molecules. They are the body's long-term storage for construction materials.
This is why egg whites have so much; they are for building the embryo into a chick. The storage container, though, must be "opened" (broken down) to be useful, so the enzyme lecithin (in the egg yolk) is used for this purpose. And that can be readily absorbed.
Amusingly, some "cholesterol-free foods" obtain that status by breaking the cholesterol molecules into the forms that can be readily absorbed, and put back together in the body. The body then uses this to create cholesterol--making things like cholesterol-free ranch dressing from Weight Watchers one of the worst offenders, despite the fact that its label is technically correct.
When your intestine senses cholesterol in the food stream, it relaxes (food is plentiful) and builds less for storage. When there's a reduction in cholesterol in the food, the body's tissues panic and try to store cholesterol. Technically, "The body compensates for cholesterol intake by reducing the amount synthesized."
So, a low-cholesterol diet can actually exacerbate the problem. I'm simplifying, of course, but this is the essence. It was reading research on this back in the 1970s that started my course of action. I've been glad to see, in recent years, that the "killer eggs" nonsense is being retracted. It was never true. Oho! And I've just discovered "The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics," an organization I'd never heard of before today.
Note that there are people with mutations that have an effect on this -- but there are people for whom peanut butter is poisonous. Our diets should not be set by such exceptions, unless they reflect our own situations.
===|==============/ Level Head
I'm going to simplify here. Basically, the "cholesterol molecules" (high-density and low-density lipoproteins) are used for transport of materials for construction of cellular tissues, mostly membranes but also nerve insulation and many other uses. The molecules are too large (one LDL molecule contains about 1,500 cholesterol esters) for humans to absorb easily in the small intestine, so about 85% of this is made in the body from smaller molecules. They are the body's long-term storage for construction materials.
This is why egg whites have so much; they are for building the embryo into a chick. The storage container, though, must be "opened" (broken down) to be useful, so the enzyme lecithin (in the egg yolk) is used for this purpose. And that can be readily absorbed.
Amusingly, some "cholesterol-free foods" obtain that status by breaking the cholesterol molecules into the forms that can be readily absorbed, and put back together in the body. The body then uses this to create cholesterol--making things like cholesterol-free ranch dressing from Weight Watchers one of the worst offenders, despite the fact that its label is technically correct.
When your intestine senses cholesterol in the food stream, it relaxes (food is plentiful) and builds less for storage. When there's a reduction in cholesterol in the food, the body's tissues panic and try to store cholesterol. Technically, "The body compensates for cholesterol intake by reducing the amount synthesized."
So, a low-cholesterol diet can actually exacerbate the problem. I'm simplifying, of course, but this is the essence. It was reading research on this back in the 1970s that started my course of action. I've been glad to see, in recent years, that the "killer eggs" nonsense is being retracted. It was never true. Oho! And I've just discovered "The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics," an organization I'd never heard of before today.
Note that there are people with mutations that have an effect on this -- but there are people for whom peanut butter is poisonous. Our diets should not be set by such exceptions, unless they reflect our own situations.
===|==============/ Level Head