Why does your cholesterol level go up if you don’t eat fat?

Among the things your doctor will recommend when you try lower cholesterol levels is to make changes to your diet.

It is a waxy substance that is distributed throughout the body and is necessary for the production of sex hormones, as well as the repair of cell membranes and the synthesis of vitamin D. But at high levels, it can combine with other substances and form plaques inside the arteries, narrowing and hardening them, enlarging them. risk of heart attack and stroke.

Cholesterol in food is not a problem

While adopting a diet that controls cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of heart disease, many people look askance at foods high in cholesterol.

However, science has long known that dietary cholesterolwhich is consumed in food, “does not pose a health problem and is not the cause of high levels. “Although it can obviously have an effect if we take it in excess,” points out the Spanish Society of Dietetics and Medical Sciences. (SEDKA).

In fact, it is found in many healthy foods, such as eggs or sardines. For example, research Egg consumption and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, published in 2013, stated that “higher egg consumption (up to one egg per day) is not associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.” Although the same was not observed in patients with diabetes, where an association was observed.

This is because the body gets the cholesterol it needs in two ways. On the one hand, food is present in products of animal origin, mainly meat and dairy. Your body also produces it in the liver from saturated fats. present in food. If you get too much from your diet, your body will produce less.

The problem with saturated fat

As SEDCA emphasizes, the main cause of high cholesterol is cholesterol, which the body produces itself from fat reserves. “So overweight or obesity will be a major concern, along with poor eating habits or lack of physical activity.”

Saturated fats play an important role in this. They are present in red meat, sausages and full-fat dairy products, as well as coconut oil or many processed foods.. By consuming them in large quantities, the body can store them as reserves in the liver to be used to produce cholesterol.

One study estimates that replacing just 5% of saturated fat intake with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats is associated with a reduction in mortality of approximately 13–27%, respectively.

High cholesterol without eating fat

But saturated fat is one of several dietary factors that contribute to increased cholesterol levels and therefore the risk of heart disease. This nutrient not only benefits fat stores. They will also be created eating too many calories or sugar.

“It has been shown that if saturated fat is replaced with refined carbohydrates such as sugar or white bread, there is no net health benefit,” he explains in his paper. cnn Dr. Stephen Devries, preventative cardiologist and executive director of the Haples Institute.

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Fats are not a problem if they come from healthy sources such as olive oil, avocado or omega-3s from fish. All of them do have a protective effect on the heart.

But if you overindulge in added sugars and refined carbohydrates, lowering your cholesterol will be difficult, even if you don’t eat fat. When consumed in excess, they contribute to increased obesity, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in the body.

“This is more important focus on healthy food categories, rather than discussing individual nutrients such as saturated fat or cholesterol. “Most people don’t look at nutrition labels, and I try to encourage people to eat more foods that don’t have labels on them,” sums up Devries, which means more fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.