Cholesterol in Blood Vessels – Cause and Cure

By Cynthia Horner

Cholesterol and triglycerides are words even second graders know. Why do some people have a high amount of cholesterol and or triglycerides in their blood vessels?

First let’s make it clear high amounts of triglycerides and cholesterol in the body are not from eating too much saturated fat!  All medical authorities agree that the buildup of cholesterol in the form of plaque on artery walls is caused by the body responding to inflammation and damage to the artery walls. 

Inflammation is the body’s way to heal. The red, swelling and heat that appear after a sprained ankle or when you get a bug bite; are signs that inflammation is at work healing. Inflammation is like a scab, but inside of you. Like a scab it is not supposed to last for more than a couple of days to a couple of weeks. When it stays for long periods of time in blood vessels, it is a sign that something has gone wrong.

Our bodies are programmed to survive and to do that our brains reward us for eating sugar and fat. The reward is a rush of an opiate like substance that makes us feel good.  Over consumption of carbohydrates is behind many health problems because all carbohydrates turn to sugar in our mouths or stomachs and begins destruction with:

 

Carbohydrates= Sugar = Glycation = Oxidation = Inflammation = Damage to blood vessels

For more about how oxidation leads to inflammation:  http://www.drcynthiahorner.com/antioxidants-and-anti-aging/#more-2649

 What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in all cells in the body.

Your body uses cholesterol for several things:

• to make all your hormones
• to make vitamin D
• to make enzymes that help you digest food
• to make a patch or internal scab on the inflamed vessel wall.

What are triglycerides?

 Triglycerides are chains of fats the body makes in the liver when excess carbohydrates are consumed. They are easier to break-down than stored fat so they can be used as an energy source. But you need to move to need more energy.

Our brains, other organs and muscles use glucose (simple sugar) as fuel to function. Glucose is broken down from the carbohydrate part of the food we eat, and then it passes through a network of blood vessels in our stomach and intestines to be carried by our blood to different parts of our body to be used as fuel. Cells don’t just grab glucose out of the blood as it passes by, it must be escorted into cells by an escort called insulin. Insulin knocks on the the cell door, the cell then opens the door and  glucose is delivered. A problem occurs when we consume more carbohydrates than our cells need for energy. Taking in more carbohydrates than we need for fuel the body creates sugar stores called triglycerides in the liver. A store of some triglycerides is good but too many stored triglycerides result in inflammation.

Why might a person be creating too many triglycerides?

Cholesterol doesn’t stick to healthy arteries. Any carbohydrate that is not needed for energy gets converted to triglycerides the to body fat. In the case of high fructose corn syrup it is metabolized in the body differently than glucose and the end result is the production of triglycerides. Table sugar and high fructose corn syrup are both made up of approximately 50% fructose and 50% glucose. But they are bonded together differently.

It’s about weak bonds

The bond between glucose & fructose in high fructose corn syrup is weak and that allows them to break apart more quickly than in table sugar. The body is designed to run on glucose therefore glucose is used up quickly in the body. The fructose is converted to triglycerides. When fructose is consumed from fruits and vegetables it is mixed with fiber and phytonutrients which slow the break-down of fructose so they are not quickly made into triglycerides. By the way high fructose corn syrup is the first ingredient in most infant formulas.

So what are the major reasons blood vessel walls become damaged?

The cells of our organs have receptors on them that detect and accept insulin and its cargo glucose. When these receptors are overstimulated by a barrage of insulin tapping at their doors, the cells adapt by reducing the number of receptors on their surface, therefore the cell becomes less sensitive to insulin. A diet high in sugary drinks, refined sugar and processed grains make the pancreas work harder to produce more insulin because higher levels of insulin are needed to affect the receptors. This is the beginning of Type II Diabetes. It is a long slow process started by too much sugar and processed wheat products that desensitize insulin receptors on our cells.

Excess sugar molecules bond to proteins and fats in our bodies causing something called glycation.  Glycation creates an increase in the oxidation or breakdown of cells in the body. Oxidation is the process of free radicals damaging cells. Oxidation is a natural process of life but it is when oxidation is happening at an accelerated rate that the body cannot create antioxidants fast enough that is causes damage. The damage happens in the brain, joints and blood vessels. Trans-fats also create oxidation and damage to blood vessels.

 Why might a person be creating too much cholesterol?

Because cholesterol is used to patch damaged blood vessels. The more inflammation in the blood vessels the more cholesterol the body produces to patch it.  It makes more sense to stop the cause of the damage to blood vessels than to lower the ‘patch material’.

 Do children have damaged blood vessels and cholesterol patches?

The answer to this question is yes. It is estimated that 94,00 children between the ages of 1 to 19 are under medical care for high cholesterol. The majority of those children have inflammation in their blood vessels caused by glycation of sugars, oxidation and inflammation from the food they have been given to eat and their environment.

The solution to ending damage in your blood vessels is to reduce inflammation by reducing oxidation by reducing glycation by sugar in your diet.