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Boreades
In: finity and beyond
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Butter is richer in vitamin A and vitamin B12, while olive oil is higher in vitamin E, vitamin K, and iron. Butter also contains Cholesterol, olive oil has none.
Many allegedly-intelligent people are woefully ignorant about the workings of their own body. We could, for example, send the AEL Survey Team to the Notting Hill branch of Tesco Express, to ask a question of the Inner City Intelligentsia queuing for their quota of low-fat low-salt items.
Why do you need Cholesterol?
Cue a blank look from most of the queuers.
Let's ask some ortho-science why.
In our bodies, cholesterol serves three main purposes:
It aids in the production of sex hormones.
It’s a building block for human tissues.
It assists in bile production in the liver. |
Rarely (if ever) mentioned is where in our bodies Cholesterol is stored. The greatest concentration is around neural pathways, and c.30% is in the brain. It's like the insulation around electrical wiring. Too little, and you get short-circuits or signal interference.
| Cholesterol often gets a bad rap, especially when it comes to heart health. However, this essential molecule plays a crucial role in the brain, and emerging evidence suggests that higher levels of cholesterol are associated with better cognitive function and a lower risk of neurological disorders like dementia and Parkinson’s disease. | |
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Boreades
In: finity and beyond
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Why?
| 1. Neuron Function: Cholesterol helps form and maintain the myelin sheath, the protective covering that insulates nerve fibers and facilitates the efficient transmission of electrical impulses between neurons. Without adequate cholesterol, communication between brain cells slows down, leading to cognitive impairment. |
The myelin sheath is the electrical insulation.
| 2. Synapse Formation: Cholesterol is critical for the formation and function of synapses, the connections between neurons that allow for memory, learning, and overall brain plasticity. Studies show that low levels of cholesterol impair synaptic function and hinder the brain’s ability to form new memories. |
It's bad enough getting old and not remembering where you left things, without doing harm to your memory as well.
| 3. Neurotransmitter Activity: Cholesterol regulates the activity of neurotransmitter receptors in the brain, influencing mood, cognition, and overall mental well-being. |
"mental well-being" becomes mental health.
Those with higher Cholesterol levels are at less risk of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and dementia. That may be of most interest to the age-bracket of most AEL inmates.
I have yet to find much research on what low Cholesterol levels do to foetal, infant or adolescent children. Mental health might be an issue. The mention of sex hormones makes me wonder if it has a role to play in what would normally be adolescent sexual development. Could young people's sexuality get confused by low Cholesterol levels?
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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| Butter is richer in vitamin A and vitamin B12, while olive oil is higher in vitamin E, vitamin K, and iron. |
Personally I take a daily multivitamin tablet and ignore all this sort of thing.
| Butter also contains Cholesterol, olive oil has none. |
Is that good news or bad news?
| Many allegedly-intelligent people are woefully ignorant about the workings of their own body. We could, for example, send the AEL Survey Team to the Notting Hill branch of Tesco Express, to ask a question of the Inner City Intelligentsia queuing for their quota of low-fat low-salt items. |
They'd have a very hard job of it. I would back food manufacturers to come up with formulations that would entirely combobulate mere AE-ists. We are not experts in anything, remember.
| Why do you need Cholesterol? Cue a blank look from most of the queuers. Let's ask some ortho-science why. |
That's more up our street.
| In our bodies, cholesterol serves three main purposes: It aids in the production of sex hormones. It’s a building block for human tissues. It assists in bile production in the liver. |
That's the science bit over.
| Rarely (if ever) mentioned is where in our bodies Cholesterol is stored. The greatest concentration is around neural pathways, and c.30% is in the brain. It's like the insulation around electrical wiring. Too little, and you get short-circuits or signal interference. |
This sounds pretty important in the mysteriously unsuccessful battle against rampant Alzheimer et al afflicting our ageing population.
| Cholesterol often gets a bad rap, especially when it comes to heart health. However, this essential molecule plays a crucial role in the brain, and emerging evidence suggests that higher levels of cholesterol are associated with better cognitive function and a lower risk of neurological disorders like dementia and Parkinson’s disease. |
Oh, you got there before me. Congrats.
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Boreades
In: finity and beyond
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Recommended reading:
| Cholesterol in Brain Development and Perinatal Brain Injury: More than a Building Block |
Abstract
| The central nervous system (CNS) is enriched with important classes of lipids, in which cholesterol is known to make up a major portion of myelin sheaths, besides being a structural and functional unit of CNS cell membranes. |
That much we knew already.
| Unlike in the adult brain, where the cholesterol pool is relatively stable, cholesterol is synthesized and accumulated at the highest rate in the developing brain to meet the needs of rapid brain growth at this stage, which is also a critical period for neuroplasticity. |
That says babies need lots of cholesterol
| In addition to its biophysical role in membrane organization, cholesterol is crucial for brain development due to its involvement in brain patterning, myelination, neuronal differentiation, and synaptogenesis. Thus any injuries to the immature brain that affect cholesterol homeostasis may have long-term adverse neurological consequences. |
That says if babies don't get lots of cholesterol, there's trouble ahead.
Link: [Here]
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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| Why? 1. Neuron Function: Cholesterol helps form and maintain the myelin sheath, the protective covering that insulates nerve fibers and facilitates the efficient transmission of electrical impulses between neurons. Without adequate cholesterol, communication between brain cells slows down, leading to cognitive impairment. The myelin sheath is the electrical insulation. |
OK
| 2. Synapse Formation: Cholesterol is critical for the formation and function of synapses, the connections between neurons that allow for memory, learning, and overall brain plasticity. Studies show that low levels of cholesterol impair synaptic function and hinder the brain’s ability to form new memories. It's bad enough getting old and not remembering where you left things, without doing harm to your memory as well. |
I'm intrigued (because of the Mind & Body stuff). Your phrase 'low levels of cholesterol' stands out. One gets the impression that the official position is 'the lower, the better'.
| 3. Neurotransmitter Activity: Cholesterol regulates the activity of neurotransmitter receptors in the brain, influencing mood, cognition, and overall mental well-being. "mental well-being" becomes mental health. |
Yes, that is a modern shiboleth.
| Those with higher Cholesterol levels are at less risk of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and dementia. That may be of most interest to the age-bracket of most AEL inmates. |
Being highly impressionistic, this AE-ist associates the inmates of care homes as being exceptionally thin, or at any rate exceptionally normal-sized. High cholesterol levels are associated with fatties.
| I have yet to find much research on what low Cholesterol levels do to foetal, infant or adolescent children. Mental health might be an issue. The mention of sex hormones makes me wonder if it has a role to play in what would normally be adolescent sexual development. Could young people's sexuality get confused by low Cholesterol levels? |
All good stuff.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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Recommended reading: Cholesterol in Brain Development and Perinatal Brain Injury: More than a Building Block Abstract
The central nervous system (CNS) is enriched with important classes of lipids, in which cholesterol is known to make up a major portion of myelin sheaths, besides being a structural and functional unit of CNS cell membranes.
That much we knew already. |
Phew, I'd hate to have to read it.
Unlike in the adult brain, where the cholesterol pool is relatively stable, cholesterol is synthesized and accumulated at the highest rate in the developing brain to meet the needs of rapid brain growth at this stage, which is also a critical period for neuroplasticity.
That says babies need lots of cholesterol |
Is this recognised by, for example, milk formulations and baby food manufacturers? I assume mother's milk contains plenty of the needful.
| In addition to its biophysical role in membrane organization, cholesterol is crucial for brain development due to its involvement in brain patterning, myelination, neuronal differentiation, and synaptogenesis. Thus any injuries to the immature brain that affect cholesterol homeostasis may have long-term adverse neurological consequences. |
When, presumably, the infant is at the mercy of their parents' food beliefs. Until they can safely go off to uni and live on Pot Noodle, kebabs, fried chicken and Mars Bars.
| That says if babies don't get lots of cholesterol, there's trouble ahead. Link: [Here] |
You're our link, Borry.
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Boreades
In: finity and beyond
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In tonight's AEL cookery programme, we will be showing viewers how to make Eggs Benedict.
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Brian Ambrose
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Cure High Blood pressure (without drugs)
About 15 years ago I had a ‘conversation’ with a GP. In short, he finally said, Mr Ambrose there is no point asking what disease is causing your high blood pressure - hypertension is the disease. But he must have been aware that there are many things that can cause hypertension, and he also knew that a pill will hide the symptoms.
Over the years I have tried to fix my own hypertension. I have read at least five books, many articles, seen herbalists, a homeopath, used nitric oxide, chased down my adrenals, still exercising, reduced alcohol, taken every surefire supplement, and even spoken to doctors. If you have tried something else, I have probably tried that too
Before I continue, I’m not saying don’t try these things that might work for you - lose weight, walk, go to the gym, fresh food, fish oil/krill, sunshine, reduce stress, take NO, try a few supplements. They just didn’t work for me. If anyone here is (was) in the same place, this may be of interest to you.
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Brian Ambrose
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My hypertension was diagnosed as idiopathic (which roughly translates as, don’t ask me, I haven’t got a clue what’s causing it.) For ten years I have been on the pharmaceuticals, the most recent version being Eplerenone (which is quite nice to you until it destroys your kidneys.)
Approximately 4 months ago my BP was around 145 - 150 / 100. A GP didn’t like those figures so in addition to the Eplerenone he prescribed a calcium channel blocker. That messes with the heart so I wasn’t keen on it. In any case, after a few weeks I noticed that I would sometimes get a bit woozy, so I reduced the dosage, and then I stopped it altogether. Surprisingly, my BP seemed to be improving. And after a few more weeks, I needed to reduce the Eplerenone too. Two days ago the figure was 128/84.
Obviously, you ask, what changed? It was something new I was taking.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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Take your time, Bri. I'm 145 - 150 / 100. And that's after I've taken all their pills.
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Brian Ambrose
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I can’t take the risk Mick - if I don’t finish the story now some bugger will mission creep it.
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Boreades
In: finity and beyond
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Brian - have you tried sunshine?
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Brian Ambrose
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See what I mean? Yes, I tried sunshine (I think I mentioned it.)
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Brian Ambrose
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So what changed? It changed when I came across an article about a fibrinolytic enzyme and its effect on the blood circulatory system. It’s called Lumbrokinase and you’ll be pleased to hear it is derived from earthworms (but not just ordinary earthworm.) You can get it from Amazon, it’s not expensive, and a pot lasts two months, plenty to find if it works for you. It is important to use the pill on an empty stomach, at least an hour before food - I take it as soon as I wake up. Alternatively, three hours after food.
If you have high blood pressure it is not a disease. It’s not something you were born with (unless you were born with it). It’s not even that it’s gone wrong. It’s doing what it’s supposed to do, which is to deliver your blood and nutrients to every part of your body. If there is a constriction, your body reacts by raising the pressure. The BP reading is telling you do something to fix it. If not, something unpleasant may happen. And a drug to mask it only makes sure that something else unpleasant will probably happen. That is probably why in a group of people with hypertension, some on a drug and some without, the mortality rate is the same.
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Brian Ambrose
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Why I don’t (always) trust doctors
I also have a high blood ferritin level so I used to quietly wonder if it is linked to my hypertension. I have asked several doctors what are the symptoms of high ferritin and they’ve all smiled (mostly on the phone) and said your other bloods are fine so don’t worry about it, call us if you get really ill, bye. As I am not a don’t worry sort of guy, I do worry. Now clearly, ferrin and ferritin is suspiciously similar. So today, in a blinding thought I turned to Grok and asked it if there is any evidence for a link between hypertension and ferritin. Can you believe it, guess what it said?
And to think I only used to distrust doctors holding a tube with the words this may be a little bit uncomfortable.
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