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What Is Cholesterol? How Can It Affect Your Health? | Myprotein
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Jan 30, 2025
Expert nutritionist explains what cholesterol is, the difference between “good” and “bad” cholesterol, and how it can affect your heath. Confused about cholesterol? There can be a lot of misleading information out there but our expert nutrition researcher, Richie Kirwan, is here to separate the facts from the fiction. Find out what cholesterol is, why it plays a vital role in your body, and how to lower cholesterol naturally. You might be surprised by what you learn... ********************************* Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyproteinUK?sub_confirmation=1 If you like this, you'll love this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxieu9CQte4 Find more expert nutrition advice here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkb17OgnhB-E3HuYJuEacRqMjrokvPxpI Download the Myprotein App: https://bit.ly/3dhVVUE ********************************* #cholesterol #health #myprotein
View Video Transcript
0:00
today we're going to talk all about a
0:02
very misunderstood health marker
0:03
cholesterol we'll talk about the
0:05
different types
0:06
and what it does and most importantly
0:08
i'll talk about how your diet and other
0:10
habits can affect it i want to point out
0:11
that i'm not offering any medical advice
0:13
in this video i'm just going to talk
0:15
about the current scientific evidence
0:17
related to cholesterol and health if
0:18
you're concerned about your cholesterol
0:20
please please please speak with your gp
0:23
now
0:24
after covering my ass with all that
0:25
let's get started the first thing i want
0:27
to mention is that there is
0:28
only so much that we can talk about in a
0:31
short video
0:32
so i'm only going to cover the most
0:33
relevant information when it comes to
0:35
cholesterol and health
0:36
so what even is cholesterol well
0:38
cholesterol is a
0:39
sterol which is a type of lipid or fat
0:41
which all animal cells are able to
0:44
produce one of its most important
0:45
functions is in cell
0:47
membranes these are the thin lipid
0:50
membranes that hold the content of our
0:52
cells together
0:52
and keep them protected from what's
0:54
outside the cell in animal cells
0:55
cholesterol has a very
0:57
important function in maintaining cell
0:59
membrane integrity to help you
1:01
understand this
1:02
plant cells which don't have cholesterol
1:04
need a cell wall
1:06
made of fiber to maintain their shape
1:08
animal cells on the other hand
1:09
don't have a cell wall are more fluid
1:11
and can change shape cholesterol
1:13
in our cell membranes allows our cells
1:15
to do that on top of that cholesterol in
1:17
our cell membranes allows us to
1:18
transport different substances
1:20
into our cells and is involved in
1:21
communication between cells and even
1:23
nerve transmission on top of that we
1:25
also use cholesterol to form steroid
1:27
hormones the word steroid derives from
1:30
the word sterol
1:31
in cholesterol like testosterone
1:33
estrogen cortisol
1:34
and many others we also use cholesterol
1:36
to form bile acids which are essential
1:38
for the digestion of fats when we eat so
1:40
cholesterol is
1:41
absolutely essential for life which is
1:44
something
1:45
many people get confused by that's why
1:47
our bodies are able to produce
1:49
all the cholesterol we need even if our
1:51
diet contains
1:52
no cholesterol whatsoever we can produce
1:54
enough
1:55
we'll talk about that a little later now
1:57
most of the cholesterol we produce is
1:58
made in the liver and the intestines
2:00
and that needs to get to all the other
2:03
cells in the body to keep them
2:04
functioning
2:05
because cholesterol is a lipid it's not
2:07
soluble in water
2:08
or in blood so it needs something to
2:10
help transport it around the body
2:12
those some things are lipoproteins and
2:15
you've probably heard of them before
2:17
the two most famous are ldl or low
2:20
density lipoprotein
2:21
and hdl are high density lipoprotein and
2:24
those are the two we're going to focus
2:26
on today
2:26
unfortunately they've also been given
2:28
the titles of bad
2:30
and good cholesterol respect ldl is a
2:33
very important molecule it helps to
2:35
transport cholesterol from where it's
2:37
produced or absorbed
2:38
to all the tissues in the body where
2:40
it's needed hdl has the opposite job and
2:42
transports cholesterol
2:44
that has been used by cells back to the
2:46
liver where it gets converted to bile
2:48
acids
2:48
and used for digestion in the gut now
2:50
some of that cholesterol in boil acids
2:52
gets lost
2:53
through the digestive system and some
2:55
gets reabsorbed depending on how much we
2:57
need
2:57
so why does this even matter to health
2:59
well it matters
3:00
quite a lot actually you see ldl
3:02
cholesterol and some related
3:03
lipoproteins
3:04
are just small enough to be able to
3:07
enter
3:07
into the wall of our blood vessels
3:09
they're also just
3:10
big enough to get stuck there and when
3:12
that happens they build up in the blood
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vessel wall
3:15
and that's when things get nasty when
3:17
that cholesterol builds up
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it can attract a lot of white blood
3:20
cells to the artery wall
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especially if it's oxidized cholesterol
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these white blood cells whose job is
3:26
normally to protect us
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then become activated they induce
3:29
inflammation
3:31
and what eventually happens is we get
3:32
the formation of a
3:34
plaque in our blood vessels this is
3:37
called
3:37
atherosclerosis when these plaques build
3:39
up over time they can shrink the space
3:41
in our blood vessels making it harder
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for our blood
3:44
to pump around the body this is coronary
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heart disease and it's the number one
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cause of death
3:49
worldwide things get really bad if that
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plaque ruptures and a piece of it breaks
3:53
off
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blocks an artery and causes a heart
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attack well hasn't this turned into a
3:57
fun conversation we have plenty of
3:59
evidence to show us that the higher
4:00
someone's cholesterol is
4:01
the greater their risk of getting heart
4:03
disease but it's a slow process that
4:05
takes
4:05
years of high cholesterol caused by poor
4:08
diet to lead to full-blown heart disease
4:10
this is why heart disease
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is much more common in older people the
4:14
cholesterol has had
4:15
more time to take effect while ldl isn't
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the only cause of heart disease high
4:19
blood sugar smoking and chronic
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inflammation play a role too
4:22
it has a major effect we also know that
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reducing ldl cholesterol
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can shrink plaques and reduce the risk
4:29
of heart disease this
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is a really good example of how
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something that is essential in
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low concentrations can be really bad for
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you
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in high concentrations you'll often hear
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people who don't understand how
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cholesterol functions in the body argue
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that it's essential to have high levels
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this
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is categorically wrong you don't need to
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have high cholesterol levels
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to cover all of your needs and when they
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do get high
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that's when your heart health is at risk
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the good news is that you can alter your
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cholesterol levels
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quite significantly with diet and
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exercise one of the main causes
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of high ldl cholesterol is a high
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saturated fat
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diet saturated fat is found in foods
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like red meat
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high fat dairy products especially
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butter and cream although the effect of
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cheese and yogurt
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may be different and coconut and palm
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oil which are commonly used
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in many processed foods and commercially
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produced pastries reducing saturated fat
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intake below 10
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of your total calories can have a major
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impact on reducing your ldl cholesterol
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but what's just as important
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as reducing saturated fat is what you
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replace it with replacing saturated fat
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with polyunsaturated fats such as those
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found in sunflower seeds pumpkin seeds
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flax seeds walnuts and peanuts or oils
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like rapeseed
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has the strongest effect on reducing ldl
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cholesterol after that
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replacing saturated fat with plant-based
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monounsaturated fats like those found in
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olive oil and
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nuts like almonds cashews hazelnuts
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pistachios and macadamias
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also reduces cholesterol just not as
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much as polyunsaturated fats
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and has the added benefit of helping to
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increase hdl cholesterol that's the type
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that transports cholesterol from the
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body
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back to the liver for disposal finally
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replacing those saturated fats with
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whole grains
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like whole wheat oats whole barley and
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rye
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as well as legumes also has a
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significant effect
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on reducing ldl cholesterol in fact high
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fiber diets are very beneficial for ldl
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because they help your body to excrete
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the excess bile acids from your
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digestive system before
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it can be reabsorbed fiber supplements
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like psyllium which are rich in soluble
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fiber
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have even been shown to be beneficial
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for reducing ldl cholesterol
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if you eat a lot of dietary cholesterol
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for example from eggs or seafood
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reducing it will have a very small
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effect on reducing
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your serum cholesterol but not that much
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if you eat a lot of eggs
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you might want to consider reducing it
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to no more than seven or so a week
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but in general you'll get much more bang
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for your buck with the other dietary
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strategies i've just mentioned
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putting all this into practice a diet
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that would be optimum for reducing
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cholesterol would be high in fruits
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vegetables whole grains and legumes with
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the majority of fats coming from
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unsaturated plant sources
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like nuts and seeds with a limited
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amount of saturated fat from meat
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and other animal products that means
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that lower fat animal products like lean
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meat
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and low fat dairy would be fine up until
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now i haven't mentioned exercise but it
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does have a role to play not only in
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reducing ldl but
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increasing hdl cholesterol a combination
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of moderate to high intensity aerobic
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exercise and moderate to high intensity
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resistance exercise so weight training
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performed regularly you can interpret
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that as meaning daily exercise
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seems to be optimal one last time i
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really want to reiterate
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that this advice is just for someone who
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wants to maintain
7:46
healthy cholesterol levels as a form of
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reducing your future risk of heart
7:50
disease if you already have high
7:51
cholesterol or heart disease
7:53
you need to be speaking with your gp
7:55
about the best options
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for you now i know that was a little
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more technical than usual
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but did it clear up any cholesterol
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confusion for you as always if you have
8:03
any questions let me know in the
8:04
comments below and remember to like
8:06
and subscribe to the my protein youtube
8:07
channel for more great evidence-based
8:09
nutrition information
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[Music]
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