THE CHOLESTEROL MYTH
Aug 02, 2023
Why you should stop swapping your butter for margarine… and how cholesterol positively affects your hormones
STOP trying to lower cholesterol ๐ ๐ผโ๏ธespecially through your diet! It could be hurting your hormones! Let me explain:
Our bodies are smart – they know what to do (even if you eat a few extra slices of bacon one day ๐). Your body KNOWS that it needs to metabolise (break down) cholesterol. But it needs key nutrients to do so.
If we just try to lower cholesterol we end up just lowering our ability to produce sex hormones… And this leads to:
๐ฉธ Heavier periods with heaps of PMS symptoms
๐ฎ Losing your libido
๐ค Low energy levels
๐ Slower metabolism
This isn’t a solution!
Keep reading to to understand why this can happen, and for what you SHOULD be doing if you’ve been told you need to “watch your cholesterol”
ABOUT THE CHOLESTEROL MYTH
Firstly 80% of your cholesterol is made by the liver, your dietary intake only contributes 20% to the total cholesterol in your body.
We actually need cholesterol to make our mother hormone pregnenolone, which can then convert into progesterone and then cortisol, estrogen and testosterone.
Cholesterol is a key factor for hormone production… but we need key nutrients to convert it into hormones, specifically zinc and essential fatty acids. If you’re deficient in zinc or essential fatty acids, then cholesterol can’t be converted into pregnenolone and that’s when it accumulates and becomes a problem for the liver to deal with.
Some great sources of zinc include: oysters, dark chocolate, chickpeas, eggs, pumpkin seeds and spinach. And for your essential fatty acids, try adding in avocados, oily fish like salmon and tuna, walnuts, seaweed, hemp seeds and kidney beans. Make sure you get those key nutrients in to support your body’s natural breakdown of cholesterol.
We also need to make sure that we optimise your liver function (this tends to be where I start when it comes to high cholesterol levels), as this is the deeper issue often in combination with the deficiencies.
It is also why I don’t recommend cutting out high cholesterol foods like butter and eggs, because they aren’t the problem and they won’t be what makes the big difference in your cholesterol balancing out and you feeling more energised.
FINAL THOUGHTS
And if you’re new here, hi, I’m Sheree ๐๐ผ your new health bestie. I help women thrive by balancing hormones and optimising gut health.
Click here for more blog posts like this delivered right to your inbox, so you can regain control over your body and thrive mentally, physically, and spiritually ๐คโจ
Yours in Health & Happiness,
Sheree xo
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