There appears to be a link between weight and cholesterol. A high cholesterol rate increases your risk of heart disease, as does carrying excessive weight. Conversely, losing weight lowers your risk of heart disease; lowering your cholesterol also decreases your risk of heart disease. Further, people who lose weight tend to have lower cholesterol. This may occur because they've changed their eating habits and are eating fewer foods with high cholesterol or perhaps the simple act of losing weight lowers cholesterol. The possibilities are boggling, but research helps to clarify the complex relations between cholesterol and weight loss.
Sources of Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a form of fat involved in the production and maintenance of every cell of your body. It acts as a gatekeeper, allowing certain molecules to pass through cell walls, and is a raw material used in the synthesis of varied compounds, including sex and stress hormones and vitamin D. Most of your blood cholesterol is generated by your liver. However, your liver tends to make more cholesterol if you're sporting a triple-X sized body instead of an extra-small, as noted by researchers in the 1971 edition of the journal "Circulation." You also obtain cholesterol from the food you eat.
Types of Cholesterol
LDL cholesterol is in your bloodstream for the purpose of creating, repairing and maintaining cells. HDL cholesterol is unused cholesterol that is being escorted to your liver to be eliminated. Problems arise when you have too much LDL and not enough HDL cholesterol. The LDL cholesterol collects in and adheres to artery walls, turns into plaque and blocks movement of blood through the artery.
Cholesterol in Food
Foods that come from animals, such as meats and eggs, tend to be high in cholesterol. Foods that are high in cholesterol tend to also have a lot of calories. This is in no small part due to the fact that cholesterol contains 9 calories per gram, more than twice as many calories as are contained in protein or carbohydrates, according to NutriStrategy. People who embark on diets restrict their caloric intake, and so tend to eat less high-cholesterol-containing foods.
Low-Cholesterol Food
Plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes, are low in cholesterol and tend to be lower in calories than foods high in cholesterol. Dieters are drawn to these foods because they can fill up on them without overloading on calories. These plant-based, low-cholesterol foods are filled with fiber and sterol, a compound that helps prevents cholesterol from being absorbed into the bloodstream. So, dieters not only consume less cholesterol, they also eat foods that reduce how much cholesterol is absorbed by their bodies, which reduces LDL cholesterol levels.
Low-Carb Diets and Cholesterol
This logic gets turned on its head, though, with low-carb diets. People who lose weight through low-carb diets also experience decreases in cholesterol, even though they may be eating high-cholesterol foods such as meat and eggs, according to research described at MSNBC.
Obesity and Cholesterol
Excess weight is associated with a greater production of cholesterol, and is also associated with metabolic complications that include imbalances in HDL and LDL cholesterol. Excess weight is also associated with vulnerability to the development of cholesterol plaque in arteries, a condition referred to as atherogenic dyslipidemia. Obesity contributes to insulin resistance, a condition where insulin is unable to effectively clear the bloodstream of glucose because it is unable to escort glucose into the cells which metabolize glucose for energy. Excessive blood glucose may participate in atherogenic dyslipidemia. When people lose weight, these metabolic issues improve and problems with plasma cholesterol can improve as well.
References
- American Heart Association: Good vs. Bad Cholesterol
- "Circulation": Cholesterol Production in Obesity
- CNN Health: High Cholesterol
- Endocrine: Metabolic Complications of Obesity
- Medical News Today: What is Cholesterol? What Causes High Cholesterol?
- MSNBC: Low-carb Diet Beats Low-fat on "Good" Cholesterol
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