Hello and welcome to
"Health for a Lifetime"
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I'm your host Don Mackintosh
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We're glad
you've joined us today!
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We're going to be talking
about a big word - CHOLESTEROL
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and here to help us with that
big word is Dr. George Guthrie
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He is the physician at the
"Lifestyle Center of America"
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in Oklahoma and he has practiced
medicine for many years,
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about 14 years in the
area of family practice that is
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dealing with all kinds
of things in the family
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including cholesterol...
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And also, he has
been an instructor,
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and also taught medical
students about nutrition,
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and a lot of
interesting things, really.
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We're glad that you
are with us Dr. Guthrie
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Glad to be here, Don
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And we're going to be
talking today about cholesterol,
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and you know, many people
here in this particular culture
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and in many Western cultures,
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and perhaps even around the
world, have heard a lot about
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cholesterol over
the last few years...
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But I have to say that
a lot of people are still
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kind of confused
about what that all means,
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and so we want to
talk about it today.
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What IS cholesterol?
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Oh, that is an
interesting question.
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I like to
describe it like this...
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Water and oil or
grease do not mix very well.
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You know that, you see
the puddle when it rains,
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and then a little
oil floating on top.
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Showing the
little rainbows. Sure!
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Our bodies are water systems.
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We drink water,
we urinate water,
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70-80% of our body is
water! Take showers in water.
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Okay, inside and outside!
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So it's a water
system, YET grease, oil, fat
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are necessary for
the body to function.
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Many people do not know
that all living cells are
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differentiated one from
another by a layer of FAT.
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In our culture today, we
are so low-fat everything,
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we fail to recognize that
we need some of that stuff.
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So we need a little bit
of oil to go with the water.
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Need a little bit of oil
to move around within our,
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in essence, water system.
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Now, if you were to
get GREASE on your pants...
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Well, let's not do
that but let's just
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think about the
possibility of that.
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My guess is you
would take them off,
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put them in the washing
machine and turn the water on.
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Yeah, or
someone else would. Okay
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So the water goes in and
you expect the grease or oil
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to come out of your pants
BECAUSE you add something called
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"SOAP"
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Soap or detergent.
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In essence, soap
or detergent ALLOWS
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fat to mix with
the water environment.
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It's helpful for me to
recognize cholesterol as soap.
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Okay... cholesterol is soap
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When you HEAR cholesterol,
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THINK soap!
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All right, I'm thinking "soap"
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I have a big bar
of soap in my mind.
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Now, you may remember
that from the Framingham Study,
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on the East Coast,
we came to recognize
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that cholesterol is associated
with increased heart attack risk
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And so our goal was to DECREASE
the cholesterol in our blood.
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Take the soap out!
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Take the soap...
Okay take the soap out
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if we're going to put
it that way. All right
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But we didn't understand
it that way at that time.
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We said, "Well, if we're going
to get rid of the cholesterol
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in our blood,
what we need to do is
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to STOP eating cholesterol. "
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Stop eating, soap!
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Okay, stop eating the SOAP.
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So we focused on removing
the cholesterol from our diets.
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Do you know where
cholesterol comes from?
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I'm sure there
are many substances,
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but I'm going to
guess that it comes from
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animal sources instead
of plant sources. Right!
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One of the ways you
can tell the difference
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between animal and plants is
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whether or not
they MAKE cholesterol.
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Indeed, animals
make cholesterol;
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plants do NOT make cholesterol.
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So in our search to try to
remove cholesterol from our diet
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...We said, well we need
to cut back on eating the
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animal products because
they have cholesterol in them.
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Well people did this!
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They moved
towards a vegetarian diet,
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and then they checked
their cholesterol again,
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and they found that
it was STILL elevated.
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They forgot
something VERY important.
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What was that?
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We're animals TOO.
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Our bodies can actually
make the soap that we need.
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We don't need to eat any of it.
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We DON'T need to
eat any of it because
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our bodies make the soap
or cholesterol themselves.
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Are there any plant sources
that have cholesterol in them?
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One of the ways you
can tell the DIFFERENCE
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between an animal and
a plant is whether or not
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they have cholesterol in them.
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Trick question... Do coconuts
have cholesterol in them?
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If it's a trick
question, I'm going to say, yes!
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I heard on the
RADIO that coconuts
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have cholesterol
in them. Oh, you did?
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But they don't. They don't... No
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They are, in essence, a plant
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and plants don't
have cholesterol in them.
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Okay, so NO
cholesterol in coconuts,
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even if you listen to
this program on the radio.
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That's correct!
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So, well we talked
a little bit about it,
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it's kind of like soap.
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It doesn't mix but we do need
a little bit of cholesterol,
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and our body makes
everything we need.
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It will make all the
soap that we need... yes
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Well then how do we
LOWER it if it's too high?
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Well since our own bodies will
make the soap or cholesterol,
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then we need to avoid
those things that actually
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cause our own body to
MAKE the soap or cholesterol.
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Now, the strongest
stimulus for that is something
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called "saturated fat"
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Is that one of those long
words you've heard of before?
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I don't know, we need to talk
about some of these big words
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because that's where I
think people will get confused.
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So you're saying... if you add
the saturated fat to your diet,
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that can really
increase your cholesterol.
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Exactly, and indeed, the
problem with coconuts is not
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that it has cholesterol in it,
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but coconut has a lot
of SATURATED fat in it
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and that SATURATED fat
stimulates our own body
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to make a lot of
soap or cholesterol.
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Now, what's different
about these saturated fats
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that causes such a problem?
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They are long and
straight. I see...
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I like to think of
them like firewood.
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You see, fats are
long, straight carbon chains.
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I know this is
sounding awful technical.
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When every hand in that carbon
chain is full of hydrogen,
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it is called a saturated
fat and it's long and straight.
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If you stack these together,
they make a good, tight wad,
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and our bodies need more
soap to move them around.
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Have you ever stacked firewood?
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Yeah, I used to
be in charge of that.
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Straight sticks
are easy to stack.
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If they're bent, the
stack will tend to fall over.
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Straight sticks are GOOD
when you're stacking firewood
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but straight sticks are BAD when
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you're dealing with the FATS
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because they make
these big globs that are
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hard for our
body to move around.
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So cholesterol then
is kind of like all these
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bars of soap that are all flat
and they're all stacked together
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Or the fats are rather.
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The FATS are stacked together
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and our body has to make
extra soap - extra cholesterol
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to be able to move
those fats around in the
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water environment.
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So that's why we don't want
to have saturated fats because
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it's just like putting a big
glob of firewood in your body...
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and you can't move it around!
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And it's hard to move around,
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and it
stimulates more cholesterol,
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and increases your
risk of heart attack.
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Yeah, well you know,
many times when people hear
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about this whole subject,
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I think it kind of
goes over their head.
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It's kind of like looking
at someone's VCR at their house
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or maybe their DVD player
and the place that has the sound
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or rather has the date and time
on it and it's still blinking.
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...And it's been
blinking ever since they got it
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because they never
learned how to use it...
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And sometimes people are
like that when it comes to the
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big words associated
with high cholesterol...
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Like for instance,
"lipids" what does that mean?
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Lipids is just a fancy
word for oil or grease.
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In essence, it's
the fats in the body.
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When your doctor
orders a lipid panel on you,
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draws your blood to
find out what the lipids are
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in essence, he's trying
to find out about the fats,
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and the fat-related substances
like soap or cholesterol.
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Okay, so they are just
fats, grease or whatever.
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What are triglycerides?
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Oh now that's
another long one, isn't it?
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I like that word!
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"Tri" sounds like
tri-cycle, right? Yeah
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So that's 3 and,
indeed, triglycerides are just
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3 of those fats tied
together at one end with a
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glycerol molecule.
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So that's pretty easy. Yeah
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So why don't they
say 3 fats tied together
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with a glycerol molecule.
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I don't know, they use
the Latin... triglycerides
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Saturated fats, I already know.
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That's like stacked firewood.
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That's like the, okay - the
long-straight, stacked firewood.
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Like big pieces
of pretzels. Okay
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What about unsaturated fats?
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Okay, unsaturated fats,
physically, are actually bent,
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they're not long and straight.
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It's unsaturated because
a couple of the carbons have
00:10:06.91\00:10:10.48
let go of some of the hydrogens.
00:10:10.51\00:10:13.03
So instead of being
long and straight now,
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it's actually bent.
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Do you know, you can
tell by looking at the fat,
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whether it's long
and straight or bent.
00:10:20.43\00:10:24.92
How can you tell that
just by looking at it?
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Well if it's on the table
and it's long and straight,
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because it's stacked like
firewood and sticks together,
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it will hold its shape.
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So like slices of cheese.
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Uhhh - I was thinking
more butter... Butter!
00:10:37.47\00:10:39.37
Cheese has some
other things in it,
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but butter is a
fat that is SATURATED,
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and because it's
long and straight,
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at room temperature it
will sit there on the table
00:10:45.85\00:10:48.81
and you can actually cut
it with a knife and spread it.
00:10:48.84\00:10:52.98
And so then, what about
the stuff that's curled up?
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Well the
UNsaturated, the bent ones,
00:10:55.50\00:10:58.71
at room temperature on
the table turn into oil.
00:10:58.74\00:11:01.69
A good example of
that would be olive oil.
00:11:01.72\00:11:04.25
The same length of a carbon
chain but this time - bent,
00:11:04.28\00:11:08.37
doesn't stack as well
and it turns into an oil.
00:11:08.40\00:11:13.40
Okay and then you said
the temperature is something
00:11:13.43\00:11:15.89
about that and the things
that we're concerned about
00:11:15.92\00:11:18.11
are things that stack or
don't stack at body temperature,
00:11:18.14\00:11:21.36
is that fair to say?
00:11:21.39\00:11:22.76
Well, it's actually
the room temperature
00:11:22.79\00:11:26.28
that's the best way to tell...
00:11:26.31\00:11:27.68
But you're right, when those
fats that stand up on the table
00:11:27.71\00:11:31.92
get into our body, they
tend to stimulate cholesterol
00:11:31.95\00:11:35.49
or soap production much
more than those that are bent
00:11:35.52\00:11:39.22
or the oils.
00:11:39.25\00:11:40.62
We've talked about
some of these words and
00:11:40.65\00:11:42.78
different things... how
low or how high should my
00:11:42.81\00:11:46.32
cholesterol be?
00:11:46.35\00:11:48.35
You know, if you look
at your laboratory results,
00:11:48.38\00:11:51.61
it will tell your
cholesterol number,
00:11:51.64\00:11:53.01
then it will give
you a normal value.
00:11:53.04\00:11:55.74
And it will say - "Get your
cholesterol less than 200 mg/dl"
00:11:55.77\00:12:01.34
Have you heard
that number before?
00:12:01.37\00:12:02.91
Sure, 200 or
240-something, they used to say.
00:12:02.94\00:12:05.64
It used to be and they've kind
of lowered it down to 200 now.
00:12:05.67\00:12:09.87
It's an
interesting phenomenon...
00:12:09.90\00:12:12.63
It ends up that
cholesterol is not a real good
00:12:12.66\00:12:15.16
way to check to see if
you're at risk for heart attack.
00:12:15.19\00:12:17.61
One-third of the
people that have heart attacks
00:12:17.64\00:12:20.48
in this country this year
00:12:20.51\00:12:21.90
will do it with cholesterols
that are LESS than 200.
00:12:21.93\00:12:25.74
So, that's not a good measure,
00:12:25.77\00:12:28.58
at least the way it's listed
there on your laboratory sheet.
00:12:28.61\00:12:32.19
If you want to make SURE,
00:12:32.22\00:12:33.87
you know, 99.9% that
you're not going to have
00:12:33.90\00:12:36.92
heart attack, better
get that cholesterol down
00:12:36.95\00:12:39.71
less than like 150.
00:12:39.74\00:12:42.39
Wow, so it needs to be REALLY,
that's quite a ways down.
00:12:42.42\00:12:45.01
And if it's not, what
should you do, right then?
00:12:45.04\00:12:47.08
Should you take medicine until
00:12:47.11\00:12:48.52
you get it down some other way?
00:12:48.55\00:12:50.54
Well it's not quite that simple,
00:12:50.57\00:12:52.37
but certainly I would
avoid those long straight fats,
00:12:52.40\00:12:56.29
and find ways to decrease the
amount of fats in your blood.
00:12:56.32\00:13:01.45
So cholesterol is different than
triglycerides, right? Correct
00:13:01.48\00:13:04.27
And do they
measure triglycerides
00:13:04.31\00:13:06.25
somehow in your blood?
00:13:06.29\00:13:07.66
Triglycerides are one
of the measurements that
00:13:07.69\00:13:09.57
comes out on the
lipid or fat panel that
00:13:09.60\00:13:12.48
the doctor orders on you.
00:13:12.51\00:13:14.46
FAT PANEL? Is that like...
00:13:14.49\00:13:16.21
I'm picturing a
plane with a panel.
00:13:16.24\00:13:18.67
What does that mean?
00:13:18.70\00:13:20.07
I was trying to use the
doctor lingo - lipid panel.
00:13:20.10\00:13:25.94
And put it up against
the words, in essence,
00:13:25.97\00:13:29.27
these are the
fats in your blood.
00:13:29.30\00:13:31.27
They are, in
essence, equivalent.
00:13:31.30\00:13:32.67
So when they take that
blood test, they look at that,
00:13:32.70\00:13:34.70
and they say, "Okay, you
got this fat, you got that fat,
00:13:34.73\00:13:36.91
you got the other fat"
00:13:36.94\00:13:38.31
So how low should
my triglycerides be?
00:13:38.34\00:13:40.53
It would be best if
your triglycerides were
00:13:40.56\00:13:42.76
less than 150 mg/dl
00:13:42.79\00:13:45.15
and that's probably what
the lab test will show for you.
00:13:45.18\00:13:48.92
Okay, so we're kind of
breaking this down but really,
00:13:48.95\00:13:51.96
most Americans - their
cholesterol is too high,
00:13:51.99\00:13:53.93
their triglycerides are
too high, right or wrong? Right
00:13:53.96\00:13:56.39
And so that's why we
have this real problem with
00:13:56.42\00:13:59.34
heart disease.
00:13:59.37\00:14:01.29
You know, some people
have said it changes when you
00:14:01.32\00:14:03.48
expose it to air - is
there anything to that?
00:14:03.51\00:14:06.00
What changes? Cholesterol
00:14:06.03\00:14:08.24
Oh you mean as far
as oxidized cholesterol?
00:14:08.27\00:14:10.39
Okay, that's kind of a
little different issue.
00:14:10.42\00:14:14.55
Oxidized cholesterol in
your diet can actually cause
00:14:14.58\00:14:17.11
significant
changes in your body.
00:14:17.14\00:14:19.05
There is evidence that
cholesterol that has been
00:14:19.08\00:14:22.56
oxidized can
cause atherosclerosis
00:14:22.59\00:14:24.69
within a matter of
minutes, like 40 or 50 minutes!
00:14:24.72\00:14:27.64
But in order to
really make that,
00:14:27.67\00:14:29.33
you need more than
just oxygen exposure,
00:14:29.36\00:14:32.19
you also need
significant amount of heat
00:14:32.22\00:14:34.37
followed by an acid environment.
00:14:34.40\00:14:36.79
Well, I don't
know how to do that,
00:14:36.82\00:14:38.69
but I think some restaurants
specialize in that. YES!
00:14:38.72\00:14:42.94
As-a-matter-of-fact,
something called "french fries"
00:14:42.97\00:14:45.20
tends to make that happen.
00:14:45.23\00:14:46.81
Okay, because it's
really hot and then how does the
00:14:46.84\00:14:50.98
acid come into that?
00:14:51.01\00:14:52.38
Well, when you eat
something that's been very hot
00:14:52.41\00:14:54.52
that had cholesterol in it,
you drop it into your stomach,
00:14:54.55\00:14:56.47
your stomach makes the acid,
00:14:56.50\00:14:58.39
and then changes
actually occur in your stomach
00:14:58.42\00:15:01.51
and that is absorbed and
can cause disease directly.
00:15:01.54\00:15:04.56
That is certainly a
dietary cholesterol that's of
00:15:04.59\00:15:07.29
great concern.
00:15:07.32\00:15:08.69
Well, there are other
things we need to talk about.
00:15:08.72\00:15:10.38
There is LDL, HDL...
00:15:10.41\00:15:12.67
I guess these are all
forms of cholesterol or whatnot,
00:15:12.70\00:15:15.64
and we need to talk
more about those. Okay
00:15:15.67\00:15:17.67
And figure out what's good,
what's bad, what's neither,
00:15:17.70\00:15:22.36
and we want to do
that when we come back.
00:15:22.39\00:15:24.05
We've been
talking about cholesterol,
00:15:24.08\00:15:25.72
and we hope that you
join us when we come back.
00:15:25.75\00:15:28.03
Have you found yourself wishing
00:15:29.27\00:15:30.68
that you could
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00:15:30.71\00:15:32.57
Have you been on a
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00:15:32.60\00:15:34.66
but not found anything that
will really keep the weight off?
00:15:34.69\00:15:37.96
If you've answered "yes"
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00:15:37.99\00:15:40.49
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00:15:40.52\00:15:43.52
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00:15:43.55\00:15:46.32
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00:15:46.35\00:15:48.35
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00:16:01.37\00:16:03.98
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00:16:04.01\00:16:07.45
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00:16:07.48\00:16:10.35
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00:16:10.38\00:16:12.90
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Welcome back, we've been
talking with Dr. George Guthrie
00:16:30.14\00:16:33.24
We've been
talking about CHOLESTEROL!
00:16:33.27\00:16:35.98
And those of you
who are watching,
00:16:36.01\00:16:37.54
I know many of you
know someone who has a
00:16:37.57\00:16:39.72
high cholesterol...
I'm sure YOU don't,
00:16:39.75\00:16:41.78
or maybe you DO.
00:16:41.81\00:16:43.67
We've been talking
about what that means,
00:16:43.70\00:16:45.17
how it can be dangerous
to us, why it's dangerous,
00:16:45.20\00:16:47.74
how to really
explain it in simple terms,
00:16:47.77\00:16:50.06
and helping us with all that is
00:16:50.09\00:16:51.47
Dr. George Guthrie, he
is the physician at the
00:16:51.50\00:16:54.90
Lifestyle Center
of America in Oklahoma
00:16:54.93\00:16:57.41
What do they do there
at the Lifestyle Center?
00:16:57.45\00:16:58.98
Well, we apply lifestyle
principles to people who have
00:16:59.01\00:17:03.78
high cholesterol and help
them bring those numbers down.
00:17:03.81\00:17:07.87
Risk factors down so they
won't have a heart attack,
00:17:07.90\00:17:09.79
and all those different things-
do you have good results?
00:17:09.83\00:17:12.64
I think so... we see peoples
cholesterol drop when they come;
00:17:12.68\00:17:15.46
their weight comes down,
blood sugars tend to improve.
00:17:15.49\00:17:18.91
Okay, we were
talking about cholesterol.
00:17:18.94\00:17:21.26
It has an essential role
in our body, you said. Yes
00:17:21.29\00:17:24.66
But we make ALL that we need.
00:17:24.69\00:17:26.73
The problem is we're
eating a bunch of things
00:17:26.76\00:17:28.78
that have extra
cholesterol that we don't need
00:17:28.81\00:17:32.18
and it gums up things?
00:17:32.21\00:17:33.58
It's not so much the cholesterol
00:17:33.61\00:17:34.98
it's that long, straight
fat that tends to make our
00:17:35.01\00:17:37.95
OWN body to make the extra
00:17:37.98\00:17:39.55
cholesterol or soap
- that's the problem.
00:17:39.59\00:17:42.89
Okay, so we're eating too much
00:17:42.93\00:17:44.30
saturated fat is
what you've said;
00:17:44.33\00:17:45.78
the long, straight stackable,
sort of like firewood inside...
00:17:45.81\00:17:50.05
and then it stimulates
that to make more of it.
00:17:50.08\00:17:53.50
Well, we were talking about
that and we want to talk now
00:17:53.53\00:17:57.39
a little bit more about
these fat packages in the body,
00:17:57.42\00:18:00.28
and what we can do to
maybe get rid of them...
00:18:00.31\00:18:02.72
Or what's good about
them or bad about them.
00:18:02.75\00:18:04.37
When your doctor
does your lipid panel,
00:18:04.40\00:18:07.36
that is checking
the fats in your blood,
00:18:07.39\00:18:10.01
there are some numbers
that come back that are often
00:18:10.04\00:18:12.97
confusing to people.
00:18:13.00\00:18:14.73
Maybe you've
heard of LDL or HDL;
00:18:14.76\00:18:18.77
people have a hard time
understanding these things,
00:18:18.80\00:18:20.97
and I'd like to try
to make them, at least,
00:18:21.00\00:18:23.10
somewhat understandable today.
00:18:23.13\00:18:24.64
Okay, let's talk about then LDL
00:18:24.67\00:18:26.32
and see how can you
help us understand it.
00:18:26.35\00:18:27.94
Well actually BEFORE LDL,
00:18:27.97\00:18:29.45
to understand how
these things work,
00:18:29.48\00:18:31.32
we need to go back to
something called "chylomicrons"
00:18:31.35\00:18:34.67
It's not measured on the test,
00:18:34.70\00:18:36.32
and it's a big word that
you don't have to remember.
00:18:36.35\00:18:38.51
Chylomicrons - what are those?
00:18:38.54\00:18:41.40
What happens
is... we eat the fat,
00:18:41.43\00:18:43.76
it goes down into our stomachs,
00:18:43.79\00:18:45.95
it is absorbed, not
into the bloodstream,
00:18:45.98\00:18:49.81
but because these are
long, sticky fats that can clog
00:18:49.84\00:18:52.86
things up, it actually
goes UP the lymphatic system
00:18:52.89\00:18:56.11
behind the heart and
dumps into the blood just before
00:18:56.14\00:19:00.75
it enters the heart.
00:19:00.78\00:19:02.15
These large packages of
fat and cholesterol would
00:19:02.18\00:19:05.60
clog things up really
bad if they ended up going
00:19:05.63\00:19:08.19
directly to the liver.
00:19:08.22\00:19:10.20
That's the FIRST really PACKAGE,
00:19:10.23\00:19:12.69
again, not generally
measured in the blood test,
00:19:12.72\00:19:15.29
but it's fat that's
being brought into the body.
00:19:15.32\00:19:19.01
Okay, explain this again...
00:19:19.04\00:19:20.66
Chylomicrons - when you eat
a big thing of french fries,
00:19:20.69\00:19:25.03
are those turned
into chylomicrons?
00:19:25.06\00:19:26.92
OH BOY - they
are! I can tell you...
00:19:26.95\00:19:28.32
And then they go dump
right into your heart!
00:19:28.35\00:19:30.33
Right just before the
blood goes into the heart,
00:19:30.36\00:19:32.54
and these are BIG FAT globules.
00:19:32.57\00:19:35.36
They go along in your
bloodstream until they
00:19:35.39\00:19:38.22
actually run into a
place where it's too small...
00:19:38.25\00:19:41.91
And then they start
to let the fat go off
00:19:41.94\00:19:44.22
into the tissues around it.
00:19:44.25\00:19:46.79
I saw an electron
micrograph several years ago.
00:19:46.82\00:19:49.36
I wish I could find it
again, I would love to show you.
00:19:49.39\00:19:52.24
It shows one of these FAT
particles in the bloodstream
00:19:52.27\00:19:57.92
and right next to it
are some red blood cells.
00:19:57.95\00:20:01.50
They are really
small by comparison.
00:20:01.53\00:20:03.32
You know those
little tiny red blood cells
00:20:03.35\00:20:05.58
have to fold in 2 to
get through the capillaries?
00:20:05.61\00:20:08.28
Can you imagine what the big
00:20:08.31\00:20:10.48
FAT globules do
to the circulation?
00:20:10.51\00:20:12.56
They're just smashed in there
and they clog everything up.
00:20:12.59\00:20:14.46
They clog
everything up and the fat gets
00:20:14.49\00:20:16.59
kind of pushed off
into the tissues around.
00:20:16.62\00:20:19.04
It really clogs things up.
00:20:19.07\00:20:20.97
It is one of the reasons
why after you eat a FATTY meal
00:20:21.00\00:20:23.89
your brain feels so fuzzy...
00:20:23.92\00:20:25.72
And people even tell me
their joints hurt afterwards.
00:20:25.75\00:20:28.60
It's the poor
circulation from all that fat
00:20:28.63\00:20:31.33
coming into the system.
00:20:31.36\00:20:32.73
So if someone is eating a BIG
HUGE KING size thing of fries
00:20:32.76\00:20:35.99
right now, what
would you recommend?
00:20:36.02\00:20:37.39
STOP!
00:20:37.42\00:20:40.85
But that's interesting...
00:20:40.88\00:20:42.25
The body thinks the heart can
00:20:42.28\00:20:43.65
handle a little bit
better than the liver.
00:20:43.68\00:20:45.19
Because if it went
right into the liver,
00:20:45.22\00:20:46.83
it would just blow it up!
00:20:46.86\00:20:48.23
It would blow it
up, it would clog it up,
00:20:48.26\00:20:50.14
and could actually kill people.
00:20:50.17\00:20:52.33
I read an article about a
man who took the restaurant
00:20:52.36\00:20:56.93
fare of one of the BIG
HUGE fast food restaurant chains
00:20:56.96\00:21:01.23
and ate it for 30 days.
00:21:01.26\00:21:02.63
It just came out and he had to
check himself into the hospital.
00:21:02.66\00:21:05.76
He has all kinds of problems,
00:21:05.79\00:21:07.16
and he ate JUST
THAT for 30 days.
00:21:07.19\00:21:09.24
Just to kind of prove
that it wasn't good for you?
00:21:09.27\00:21:11.29
That's kind of interesting!
00:21:11.32\00:21:13.35
So anyway, then
there is this BIG,
00:21:13.38\00:21:14.86
HUGE, FLAT - not
flat but FAT globule
00:21:14.90\00:21:18.61
that you've talked
about - that's one thing.
00:21:18.64\00:21:22.17
What's the next thing
you wanted to mention to us.
00:21:22.20\00:21:23.85
Well the fat is taken
out of those and kind of the
00:21:23.88\00:21:25.50
remnants of it go
around and end up at the liver.
00:21:25.53\00:21:28.07
The liver ends up
being Grand Central Station
00:21:28.10\00:21:30.50
for managing
all kinds of food...
00:21:30.53\00:21:32.04
Cleaning it out.. Well,
changing it, adjusting it,
00:21:32.07\00:21:36.51
changing fats to
sugars or sugars to fats,
00:21:36.54\00:21:38.63
whatever the body needs...
00:21:38.66\00:21:40.03
The liver is kind of
Grand Central Station
00:21:40.06\00:21:41.93
So the liver
takes those remnants,
00:21:41.96\00:21:44.54
and any fat that
it may have made,
00:21:44.57\00:21:47.47
and turns around and puts
it out in a particle called,
00:21:47.50\00:21:51.50
"VLDL" or very low
density lipoprotein.
00:21:51.53\00:21:56.28
So it makes it
good when it was bad.
00:21:56.31\00:21:58.28
No, it's STILL
bad. It's still BAD.
00:21:58.31\00:22:00.43
It's full of fat - it's like the
one that came from the stomach,
00:22:00.46\00:22:02.68
but it's distributing it
around the body... I SEE!
00:22:02.71\00:22:06.10
Now these globules go out
just like the chylomicrons did,
00:22:06.13\00:22:10.19
and get stuck in the small
blood vessels and the fat is
00:22:10.22\00:22:12.91
left out or LET out.
00:22:12.94\00:22:14.89
What's LEFT when the
fat comes out is this thing
00:22:14.92\00:22:18.15
that we call "LDL"
00:22:18.18\00:22:20.25
And it's measured in your
lipid panel in your blood test.
00:22:20.28\00:22:23.76
The LDL is actually more
responsible for your having
00:22:23.79\00:22:30.09
a heart attack than
just the cholesterol level.
00:22:30.12\00:22:34.11
These are the very worst ones.
00:22:34.14\00:22:36.62
Someone said they
are called, "lousy"
00:22:36.65\00:22:38.46
Okay, sometimes it's
hard to remember the names
00:22:38.49\00:22:41.92
and one of the
things that I like to do
00:22:41.95\00:22:43.74
to make it a little easier
to remember is to call them
00:22:43.77\00:22:45.93
"little devil lipoproteins"
They're really BAD!
00:22:45.96\00:22:48.64
They are really bad,
so we want to get those
00:22:49.54\00:22:51.47
as low as possible...
00:22:51.50\00:22:53.54
But what you're saying is,
00:22:53.57\00:22:54.94
even before they're
able to be MEASURED,
00:22:54.97\00:22:56.63
those chylomicrons
are already in the blood,
00:22:56.66\00:22:59.89
and they are
already wreaking havoc.
00:22:59.92\00:23:01.78
That comes from
the meal, that's right,
00:23:01.81\00:23:04.17
and the LDLs are
actually coming from the liver.
00:23:04.20\00:23:07.09
But both of them are,
in essence, globs of FAT
00:23:07.12\00:23:10.87
and cholesterol that are moving
around in the bloodstream.
00:23:10.90\00:23:13.34
So then what is HDL?
00:23:13.37\00:23:14.76
Ahhh, if we think
of chylomicrons as the
00:23:14.79\00:23:18.26
delivery system, and we think of
00:23:18.29\00:23:20.31
LDLs as the distribution
system for cholesterol and fat,
00:23:20.34\00:23:24.83
HDLs are the
GARBAGE COLLECTION SYSTEM!
00:23:24.86\00:23:28.94
In essence, the HDLs
are in charge of going out
00:23:28.97\00:23:32.04
gathering the extra cholesterol,
the waste cholesterol,
00:23:32.07\00:23:35.39
the waste soap,
bringing it back to the liver
00:23:35.42\00:23:38.02
for recycling.
00:23:38.05\00:23:39.42
Now it so happens
that the HIGHER the HDL,
00:23:39.45\00:23:43.76
the LOWER your
risk of heart attack.
00:23:43.79\00:23:46.10
You body is
recirculating the stuff,
00:23:46.13\00:23:50.50
bringing it back for recycling!
00:23:50.53\00:23:52.15
Now that's the
word I was looking for.
00:23:52.18\00:23:53.55
So then the LDL is really
bad and you want to get it low,
00:23:53.58\00:23:56.51
but the HDL - you
want to get it UP!
00:23:56.54\00:23:57.91
You'd really like to have it UP!
00:23:57.94\00:23:59.31
And the higher you get it,
why the better off you are.
00:23:59.34\00:24:03.05
Because it's
out there mopping up
00:24:03.08\00:24:04.45
all the junk that's
in your system. Sure
00:24:04.48\00:24:07.52
So what's another name for HDL?
00:24:07.55\00:24:08.98
Do you have a pet
name for that? Oh yeah...
00:24:09.02\00:24:11.15
I've got a pet name
for HDL too. What's that?
00:24:11.19\00:24:12.56
There's the "little
devils," those are the bad ones.
00:24:12.59\00:24:14.41
And the HDLs are
the... are you ready?
00:24:14.44\00:24:16.73
"Heavenly darlings"
00:24:16.76\00:24:19.31
You want those as high as
you can get them. NICE - nice!
00:24:19.34\00:24:21.16
So what's the best way to...
I assume then a good thing to do
00:24:22.10\00:24:25.89
would be to really
seek to RAISE the HDL. Right
00:24:25.92\00:24:29.17
So what's the
best way to do that?
00:24:29.20\00:24:30.57
Well, there are several things
people can do to raise the HDL
00:24:30.60\00:24:34.09
One of those is to exercise.
00:24:34.12\00:24:35.59
I think you have
a graphic on this.
00:24:35.62\00:24:36.99
Okay - exercise.
00:24:37.02\00:24:38.39
Exercise, then DECREASE the
amount of stress in your life.
00:24:38.42\00:24:43.46
Now, I don't particularly care
for the decreasing the stress
00:24:43.49\00:24:47.73
because of a lot of people
respond differently to stress.
00:24:47.76\00:24:51.49
I like to say it this way...
00:24:51.52\00:24:53.41
A positive thankful attitude
tends to help the HDL come down.
00:24:53.44\00:24:57.77
Of course it would be
helpful to help the HDL go up.
00:24:57.80\00:25:01.07
Another thing that is
beneficial is estrogen.
00:25:01.10\00:25:05.36
And there are some of us
who don't have that advantage.
00:25:05.39\00:25:08.30
The HDL in ladies
tend to be higher.
00:25:08.33\00:25:12.61
And uh, let's see, there were...
00:25:12.64\00:25:17.15
Stop smoking? YES!
00:25:17.18\00:25:18.69
That's right, you
could stop smoking!
00:25:18.72\00:25:20.38
Because smoking
tends to depress the HDLs.
00:25:20.41\00:25:23.01
Okay, so estrogen, stop smoking,
00:25:23.04\00:25:24.68
and have a thankful attitude.
00:25:24.71\00:25:26.11
And if you could do
it all at the same time,
00:25:26.14\00:25:27.71
it's probably better. Oh yes
00:25:27.74\00:25:29.11
Except us males, we
don't take the estrogen.
00:25:29.14\00:25:32.77
Okay, so what's the
best number we should look at
00:25:32.80\00:25:35.12
in terms of telling us
then what our cardiac risk is
00:25:35.15\00:25:38.44
or our risk of
dying from a heart attack?
00:25:38.47\00:25:40.31
If you're
looking at just the LDL,
00:25:40.34\00:25:43.62
we want that
number less than 100
00:25:43.65\00:25:45.51
Then they're arguing
now, maybe it would be better
00:25:45.54\00:25:47.26
to have it LESS than 80
00:25:47.29\00:25:49.47
But the truth is,
the total cholesterol
00:25:49.50\00:25:52.17
is not the best number.
00:25:52.20\00:25:53.80
The truth is the LDL cholesterol
is not the best number.
00:25:53.83\00:25:59.21
And the HDL number are
not the best way of telling...
00:25:59.24\00:26:03.25
The BEST way to check
is actually use a ratio...
00:26:03.28\00:26:05.74
That's the total cholesterol
divided by the heavenly darlings
00:26:05.77\00:26:10.93
and if that ratio is less than 4
00:26:10.96\00:26:13.25
you can pretty much say the
cholesterol in your arteries
00:26:13.28\00:26:18.85
is not worsening.
00:26:18.88\00:26:20.69
If you can get
that ratio less than 3,
00:26:20.72\00:26:23.17
you're actually taking
the cholesterol off the walls
00:26:23.20\00:26:26.23
and decreasing your risk.
00:26:26.26\00:26:27.71
People that are watching
that are total vegetarian;
00:26:27.74\00:26:32.25
that means they have
no animal products at all,
00:26:32.28\00:26:34.29
do they have to
worry about this at all?
00:26:34.32\00:26:35.69
Yes.
As-a-matter-of-fact they do.
00:26:35.72\00:26:38.13
Because the fats they
eat, those long straight ones,
00:26:38.16\00:26:41.85
the saturated fats can
RAISE their cholesterol
00:26:41.88\00:26:45.18
EVEN if they're
eating only plants,
00:26:45.21\00:26:47.47
and avoiding any animal products
00:26:47.50\00:26:49.65
which have the
cholesterol or soap in them.
00:26:49.68\00:26:51.60
So if they're just eating
coconuts... they're in trouble.
00:26:51.63\00:26:55.20
Especially just coconut oil.
00:26:55.23\00:26:57.83
I think God put something
in the coconut that may help
00:26:57.86\00:27:00.20
to protect against
some of these problems,
00:27:00.23\00:27:02.38
but certainly when they pull
the saturated fat out of the
00:27:02.41\00:27:05.23
coconut and then
put it in things we eat,
00:27:05.26\00:27:07.89
it's likely to make us worse.
00:27:07.92\00:27:09.29
So what's the BEST
thing for us to eat,
00:27:09.32\00:27:11.14
just real quickly
in the next 30 seconds?
00:27:11.17\00:27:13.44
What would we EAT to AVOID this,
00:27:13.47\00:27:15.35
and REVERSE the problem if
we do have high cholesterol?
00:27:15.38\00:27:18.73
A plant-based
diet is generally best.
00:27:18.76\00:27:21.58
The fats, when they're
mixed with the food itself,
00:27:21.61\00:27:24.40
don't seem to
stimulate the soap production
00:27:24.43\00:27:27.10
or cholesterol
production in our body,
00:27:27.13\00:27:28.70
and the plants have
other protective elements that
00:27:28.73\00:27:31.53
help decrease
inflammation in the body
00:27:31.56\00:27:33.62
which is also
important, help to lower the LDL
00:27:33.65\00:27:36.92
and to raise the HDL.
00:27:36.95\00:27:39.24
Guess you can't really
improve on God's method
00:27:39.27\00:27:42.07
with foods as grown,
can you? That's correct
00:27:42.10\00:27:44.27
You've been watching
"Health for a Lifetime"
00:27:44.30\00:27:46.45
and we've
attempted to make the complex
00:27:46.48\00:27:49.19
a little more simple today.
00:27:49.22\00:27:50.59
We hope it has
been helpful to you,
00:27:50.62\00:27:51.99
and we hope that as a
result of today's program,
00:27:52.02\00:27:54.96
you have Health that
lasts for a Lifetime!
00:27:54.99\00:27:56.88