Why cholesterol is actually good for you.

I often get asked what causes high cholesterol and high sugar and what can be done about it. Believe it or not, the two of them are actually connected in a way and, if you fix one, chances are good you're going to fix the other. Out of the two of them, the only one you really should be concerned about, is the suger. The reality is that cholesterol itself, is NOT bad for you. In fact, your body needs it in order to function normally.

Cholesterol became a popular buzz-word round about the time that saturated fats became the enemy and low-fat diets became trendy. The best thing, according to everyone and their doctors, was to have as low cholesterol as possible. Well, like the low-fat diet, we have been misinformed! Eggs, butter, red meat, full cream dairy; they've all gotten a bad rap when it comes to our health. According to "experts", they are all just so bad for you, you need to stop eating ALL of them. Instead, you need to eat more grains and carbs. In other words, more sugar?!

Well, people are doing that and, guess what? More people are dying of heart attacks then EVER before. So how's that workin' for ya? Let's take a closer look at what cholesterol is really, and perhaps we'll have a better understanding of it.

When a woman gives birth to a baby, the first milk that her body will produce, is called colostrum.  For those who didn't know, colostrum is essential to your baby's development. It is considered your baby's first vaccine because it contains so many antibodies. It is also extremely high in cholesterol...

What?!?!?!

However, if you know what cholesterol is used for, then that would make all the sense in the world because cholesterol is used to help produce cell membranes, blood vessels, vitamin D and bile acids. You have cholesterol in your body all the time because it is helping to build it up. You can see why a baby would need it, but can you also see why YOU would need it? While a baby may have slightly more specific needs than us, we are not that different. We are still human and our bodies are always regenerating, as long as they have the tools to regenerate WITH. Take away the tools, and you are going to end up with any number of problems.

If you go to a doctor, and they tell you that you have high cholesterol, that doesn't immediately suggest that there is something wrong with you. First of all, high HDL (high density lipoprotein) which is considered the good cholesterol by conventional doctors, is indeed good, and necessary, for everyone. HDL takes excess cholesterol in your body, and transports it back to the liver. LDL (low density lipoprotein) is known as the "bad" cholesterol by conventional doctors. LDL takes cholesterol from your liver and transports it to the rest of the body. So, we can deduce from that, that both HDL and LDL are not actually cholesterol so much as "transporters" of cholesterol, right? Now, there are also TWO types of LDL: the big fluffy kind, which you don't need to worry about, and the small, dense kind, which MAY be more cause for concern and I'll explain why in a bit.

The problem is, most blood tests don't distinguish between HDL and LDL, never mind the two different types of LDL so, more than likely, the reading you are getting, is not telling you the whole story. It is one of my biggest issues with Discovery Vitality's health assessment. A finger prick test gives you the total of ALL your cholesterol levels, not a breakdown of good and bad. Penalising you points-wise, based on that, is simply incorrect and it can cause unnecessary worry as well.

If you have high cholesterol, it is a symptom of some underlying problem in your body. It ISN'T the cause of the problem. Cholesterol gets sent TO the problem areas to try and alleviate said problem. If there is inflammation in the arteries, cholesterol will be sent to the artery to help heal the inflammation. If it's successful, everything will return to normal. But, when the inflammation doesn’t subside, more cholesterol is sent and it eventually starts to accumulate around the artery. This is where the small, dense LDL will pose a problem because that's when plaque starts to form and that, as we know, is going to cause all kinds of trouble.

So you can see that cholesterol is sent to treat a problem, not to cause it. The root of the problem is actually the inflammation. What is that caused by: High levels of insulin, and high levels of insulin are caused by excessive carb (sugar) consumption, as well as excessive transfats and vegetable oil consumption. Can you see the link here between high sugar and high cholesterol? If you fix one, the other will likely balance out.

Getting a pill from your doctor isn't going to fix the problem. You knew I'd say that though;) Pills don't fix problems. They just mask symptoms. While the pill may lower your cholesterol, it won't stop the inflammation around your arteries. Whether you lower your cholesterol or not, you will STILL be sick and in danger of something going horribly wrong. The great irony is that, if you lower your cholesterol by cutting it out of your diet, or by taking pills, your body will simply MAKE its own cholesterol, because it needs it to function. If you eat cholesterol, your body won't need to compensate and so it won't make more.

So how can you fix both of these issues? It's actually so easy and, if you've read all my blog posts (if you haven't, start here and work your way through) you already have the tools! As I've said before, you really ARE what you eat. The only way you are going to lower your sugar levels, is to start eating REAL food. Cut out ALL processed foods. If you aren't sure what that means, read up here. Go through your cupboards and throw out anything that you have bought from the middle shopping aisles in a grocery store. That means all this stuff.

If it has to list ingredients on the packaging, you shouldn't be eating it. It's not real food. It's food made in a science lab and it's loaded with sugar, transfats and vegetable oils; all the things that will raise your sugar levels and cause inflammation throughout your body. The only way you are going to lower your sugar and inflammation is to go back to grass roots. Start eating good, wholesome food. That means anything that was grown in a field, the natural way, without pesticides and chemicals to make it grow faster or out of season. Eat meat or eggs or dairy from an animal that has been allowed to range free and eat its natural food rather than genetically modified grains; animals that haven't been pumped full of hormones to make them grow faster; and animals that haven't been pumped full of antibiotics to try and cure the horrible diseases they get from being held in such cramped, unhealthy quarters.

Real, organic food is not only GOOD for you, it's healing and it will heal you faster than any pill, or anything labelled as "health food", ever could. If none of this is making sense to you then I urge you to read the rest of my blog posts. I have spoken about all of this ad nauseum so it's pointless repeating myself, although I probably am anyway;) There is NOTHING else that is going to lower your sugar levels and regulate your cholesterol permanently. But remember, high cholesterol isn't a bad thing unless it is being sent out to fix a bad problem. Once you fix that problem, you lower your cholesterol to acceptable levels again, and you will be good to go! If your doctor tells you your cholesterol is high, ask them for a breakdown of the types of cholesterol. That will give you the tools you need to fix the problem IF there is a problem at all.

My advice? Fix your sugar by fixing your food intake, and you will fix yourself. Give it a try for a few weeks. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Some easy thing to kickstart your clean, green lifestyle!

I know it can be quite daunting making a decision to live green, organic and chemical free. I am sure a lot of you have read these blog posts and been a bit overwhelmed by just how much is actually toxic in our environment, and how much we have to do if we want to keep it, and ourselves, clean and toxin free! I agree. It IS overwhelming. You might be tempted to just leave things as they are and I wouldn't blame you. When I first made the decision to make our household clean and green, I had no idea what I was taking on. Poor GLM had no idea either. She mostly still doesn't;) I often get questions about what goes where and why and how! But she does it without too much complaint because she knows it's good for us and she knows it makes her wife happy;)

So, maybe you want to start with some baby steps, just to ease you and your family into things gradually? Well, you'll be happy to know there are PLENTY of small, simple things you can do that will already make a HUGE difference to both you AND the environment. Perhaps you can make it your goal to achieve just ONE of each of the points below, each week, or even each month if it's easier. I found that I started off a little slowly, because I was learning and discovering things, and then I picked up the pace as I became more accustomed to it. I also found that, the healthier I felt, the more I WANTED to change things. The nice thing about following my blog is that you don't even need to waste time trying to figure things out. I've done that all for you and this blog is here for that purpose. To make YOUR life easier:)

What you can do, food-wise:

• Make a decision to cut out at least ONE of the "normal" foods you buy, from your monthly or weekly shop, and replace it with an organic, or free range, substitute. 
• A great example here would be eggs. By buying free range eggs, you are ensuring that you get LOADS more nutrients into you and your family's bodies. Egg yolks SHOULD be a bright orange colour. If they are pale and anaemic looking, they are not from healthy chickens and have little to no nutrients. They are actually probably doing you more harm than good because the chicken it came from is, very likely, ill. By buying free range eggs, you are also ensuring that you are not supporting the many chicken farms that keep chickens in unethical, cruel conditions. Watch this video to see what you are unwittingly supporting every time you DON'T buy free range eggs. (please be aware that it is not an easy video to watch. I still haven't watched all of it! It just breaks my heart.) Free range eggs are available at ALL grocery stores so it's a very easy, small change to make, and yet it will go a LONG way.
• Most grocery stores now stock organic bananas so that's something else you could consider changing. Kids LOVE bananas and eat loads of them so it makes sense to have chemical-free bananas in the fruit basket.
• If you become acquainted with the "clean 15" and the "dirty dozen", those of you on a budget can make sure you get fewer pesticides in your diet while still spending less money. Of course, the nutritional benefits are far superior when it comes to organic fruit and veg and there is less impact on the environment as well, but just making this little change will already make a big difference to your own health. The list below will tell you what's cleaner and what's dirtier.

• Start collecting bones after meals, store them in a container in your freezer and, when you have enough, use them to make some bone broth. You can use this to cook EVERYTHING with in place of store bought stock. Bone broth is unbelievably nutritious, and so necessary for your health and yet it is so cheap to make. Find out how to make it here.
• Start buying only fruit and veg that are in season. You may notice that some grocery stores will stock all types of fruit and veg all year round. The problem with that is that, different fruits and veg grow in certain seasons and you can be pretty sure that, if they're being sold at a shop out of season, they have either been grown unnaturally OR they have been imported from somewhere creating a huge carbon footprint. Wait it out for a few months and rather get the proper nutritional and environmental value for your money.

What about things you can do, for the environment, around the house, and in your garden?

• Did you know that while you are running your hot tap, waiting for it to get hot, you waste at least 3 litres of water? I actually tried it one day just out of curiosity and I filled up three one litre jugs before the water even got warm. The same applies if you want a glass of cold water and need to run the hot tap for a while to get it cool, especially on a hot summer's day! (You definitely don't want to risk actually drinking the hot water, no matter how cool it might be, because hot water will have a higher lead content due to the heat of the water leeching the lead out of the pipes. NOT good for you.) I decided to put a big bucket next to my sink and, if I needed to run water for any reason that didn't involve me plugging the sink, I would run that water into the bucket instead and use it to water my plants and my garden or even to fill my steamer or boil eggs. At least it's being put back into the environment, or being used to cook vegetables instead of all that clean water just going down a drain. Something small like that will make a huge difference in the longterm.

• Switch off lights in rooms you aren't using. We only ever have lights on in the rooms we are actually in. If we walk out of a room, the light goes off. It's such a habit for us now that I barely notice I'm doing it. I thought EVERYONE actually did that but, now and then, we have guests stay at our house and I am always surprised at how often I have to go into a room after they have vacated it, to switch off the lights! It's a great habit to get into and Eskom will thank you. Perhaps we can avoid the dreaded load-shedding if everyone starts doing it;)
• If you MUST leave on any lights, make sure the globes are energy saving globes. I can't actually understand why anyone would buy a normal globe these days. They last for such a short amount of time, they raise your electricity bill, and they are dangerous, especially if a child should try and play with a bedside lamp. Energy saving globes are far more hardy, they last for AGES, actually saving you money on globes and they also lower your electricity bill.
• Make a compost heap. Words can't describe how easy this is to do and how much difference it makes to the amount of rubbish your family generates, and to your garden. I had a flat piece of wood in my garage so we dug a hole that was the same size as the wood, and about a metre deep. The wood made a great lid! You're thinking that it probably smells right? WRONG! It doesn't smell AT ALL and that is because there is nothing in there TO smell. It's just fruit and veg cut offs, the occasional pieces of newspaper and tissue, grass cuttings and egg shells (rinsed of raw egg) The way to keep it smelling sweet, is to make sure you don't load your compost heap with all of one thing and not the other thing. A compost heap needs carbon and nitrogen to function properly, and to smell sweet. Carbon comes from dry things like dried plants and grass and cardboard and newspaper and tissues. Nitrogen comes from all the ripe, juicy things like banana peels and apple cores and other fruit and veg cut offs. As long as you throw in some of both, your compost heap will not have a smell. Visit this page to get an idea of what you can throw in your compost heap. Don't make things too complicated for yourself though. I may not be getting it 100% right because I don't calculate the ratios but, the good thing is, I am still getting lovely compost for my garden AND my rubbish bin is hardly being used because of that which means I am saving space in the landfills:) What I do, to make things easier for us is, I saved an old 5kg protein-shake container and I keep it next to the bins in the kitchen. I just put all our fruit and veg cut offs, teabags, etc in there until it's full and then I empty it into the compost heap once every few days. It saves me having to go out to the garden every time I want to throw away some stuff. I promise you that container does not smell at all. I keep a lid on it but that's just to stop the cats from messing with it. Get the kids involved in collecting the compost and emptying it into the heap. It'll teach them some good habits and small kids love to help!

That's the little compost container at the bottom!

• Buy yourself a BIG bottle of white vinegar. 

You may not know it but vinegar has MANY uses around the house and it's natural as well. It's GREAT for cleaning surfaces and stubborn dirt off of pots. It's also great at killing germs. You can use it to clean all your fruit and veg knowing that you are not adding further chemicals to your body because it's just vinegar, but you ARE getting rid of bugs. It's good for getting rid of dirt and insects and other creepy crawlies in your lettuce leaves and other leafy greens. I eat A LOT of those so I keep vinegar next to my sink all the time. What I do is fill a big bowl with warm water and about 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Then I throw in all the leaves, stir it around a bit and walk away, leaving them to soak for a good 10-15mins. Wipe off any excess sand and rinse well in clean water and you're good to go.

Another use for vinegar, oddly enough, is as a laundry softener! It works wonders and it's all natural. Hang your clothes out in the sun or tumble dry them and there is NO vinegar smell at all on your clothes. They are just lovely and soft:)

There are LOADS more tips I can give you but I think that's enough for now. More to come later but I think that's more than enough to get you started;)