Brought to you by the clinicians of The Institute of Natural Health.
This month we would like to address a topic that is discussed in almost every visit to our clinic. The topic is cholesterol. Most people know that their cholesterol level gets checked when they go to the doctor, but very few people actually know what cholesterol does.
When the topic is brought up in our office, we often ask our patients what they understand about cholesterol. The most common answer is something along the lines of “… too much cholesterol is bad.” In this article we would like to discuss the importance of cholesterol.
Cholesterol is very important for our bodies. It is needed to manufacture vitamin D as well as steroid hormones like androgens and estrogens and many others. The hormones that are made from cholesterol are needed for virtually every physiological process in your body, including proper immune function, energy production, carbohydrate and fat metabolism, regulation of women’s menstrual cycles, and bone formation. Without adequate levels of cholesterol, brain (memory) and nerve function can be impaired. In fact, the cholesterol in the brain accounts for 25% of all cholesterol in our body.
It is also important to understand that our bodies manufacture cholesterol. In fact, the FDA tells us that 75% of the cholesterol in our blood is made by our liver, while only 25% comes from the foods we eat. However, when talking about cholesterol, most of the focus is on the foods you are eating, when that accounts for very little in terms of your overall cholesterol level. When cholesterol levels increase, it is often in response to our body needing to repair some type of damage.
At The Institute of Natural Health we help a lot of people with elevated cholesterol. We do this by finding out why their cholesterol is elevated in the first place. We look at whether the elevation is actually due to cardiovascular disease or if there is another process responsible, like latent infections or autoimmune conditions. Once the reason for the elevated cholesterol is found, comprehensive natural treatment strategies are implemented to address the cause of the increased cholesterol. Clinical experience has shown us that blindly treating elevated cholesterol without first finding the cause can have a significant negative impact on one’s overall health due to the necessity of cholesterol and its products by our body.
If you are looking for a more natural approach to your health, please contact us at The Institute of Natural Health by phone at 314-293-8123 or visit our website at www.theinstituteofnaturalhealth.com.