{"id":1989,"date":"2010-12-28T17:47:24","date_gmt":"2010-12-29T01:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.functionalps.com\/blog\/?p=1989"},"modified":"2016-01-17T14:02:03","modified_gmt":"2016-01-17T22:02:03","slug":"high-cholesterol-and-metabolism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.functionalps.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/28\/high-cholesterol-and-metabolism\/","title":{"rendered":"High Cholesterol and Metabolism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Also see:
\nRay Peat, PhD on Thyroid, Temperature, Pulse, and TSH<\/a>
\nThyroid Status and Cardiovascular Disease<\/a>
\nProtect the Mitochondria<\/a>
\nPUFA Promote Cancer<\/a>
\nThe Cholesterol and Thyroid Connection
\n<\/a>High Blood Pressure and Hypothyroidism
\n<\/a>A Cure for Heart Disease
\n<\/a>Hypothyroidism and A Shift in Death Patterns<\/a>
\nThe Truth about Low Cholesterol
\n<\/a>Thyroid Status and Oxidized LDL
\n<\/a>Inflammatory TSH
\n<\/a>\u201cNormal\u201d TSH: Marker for Increased Risk of Fatal Coronary Heart Disease<\/a>
\nPUFA Decrease Cellular Energy Production<\/a>
\nFree Fatty Acids Suppress Cellular Respiration<\/a>
\nPUFA Breakdown Products Depress Mitochondrial Respiration<\/a>
\n\u201cCuring\u201d a High Metabolic Rate with Unsaturated Fats<\/a>
\nFat Deficient Animals \u2013 Activity of Cytochrome Oxidase<\/a>
\nPUFA and Liver Toxicity; Protection by Saturated Fats<\/a>
\nUnsaturated Fats and Heart Damage<\/a><\/p>\n

“In the last 20 years, there have been many studies showing that lowering cholesterol increases mortality, especially from cancer and suicide, and that people with naturally low cholesterol are more likely to die from cancer, suicide, trauma, and infections than people with normal or higher than average cholesterol.”<\/em> -Ray Peat, PhD<\/p>\n

“There’s almost no context in which I would speak of “an appropriate dose of T4,” since thyroxin is so effective as an antithyroid substance. It’s appropriate if you are also taking T3, or if you want to shrink your thyroid. Thyroid will dependably correct your pregnenolone production, if you have enough cholesterol, vitamin A, and protein. The cholesterol will be consumed to make pregnenolone and progesterone and bile acids. If cholesterol is below 160, fruit sugar helps to raise it. The protein is needed to detoxify estrogen, unsaturated oils, etc, and to maintain the T3. Protein deficiency gives antithyroid signals, and T4 will be used to make reverse T3 to inhibit T3’s effects. About 3 mcg of T3 especially if it’s taken with milk or gelatine-rich salty soup is effective for stopping the nocturnal alarm reaction.”<\/em> -Ray Peat, PhD<\/p>\n

“In other words, the thyroid has a profound effect on the liver. We have other evidence that a lack of thyroid is accompanied by a sluggish liver. In the first place, it has been apparents for a century that patients with myxedema (very low thyroid activity) have a yellowish tint to their skins. This has been found to be due to the presence of too much carotene in the blood. The liver converts carotene into vitamin A which is colorless. Under the administration of thyroid, the liver becomes more active and the carotene soon disappears. In the second place, the cholesterol level in the blood sis usually elevated in hypothyroidism. Thyroid administration will lower cholesterol, and if too much is given, the cholesterol will fall below normal. The liver converts cholesterol into bile salts which are eliminated in the bile; this process is the usual means of eliminating excess cholesterol. The liver is sluggish in this function among thyroid-deficient individuals…Since a sluggish liver is the most common cause of hypoglycemia, it should follow that the hypothyroid patient is highly susceptible to low blood sugar.”<\/em> -Broda Barnes, MD, PhD and Charlotte Barnes <\/p>\n

“The supply of cholesterol, thyroid and vitamin A must always be adequate for the production of steroid hormones and bile salts. When stress suppresses thyroid activity, increased cholesterol probably compensates to some extent by permitting more progesterone to be synthesized.”<\/em> -Ray Peat, PhD<\/p>\n

“A person may have normal levels of thyroxin but not be converting it adequately to the active form of the thyroid hormone (triiodothyronine or liothyronine). High cholesterol is practically diagnostic of hypothyroidism. Why? Because thyroid hormone controls the conversion of cholesterol to important anti-aging hormones and to bile salts. However, many hypothyroid people have low cholesterol from a suppressed immune system, liver problems, or from eating a low protein (vegan) diet.”<\/em> -Lita Lee, PhD<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a><\/p>\n

By 1930 a clear relationship between thyroid hormone and cholesterol had been established. High cholesterol was formerly used as a reliable marker for hypothyroidism. Much of what we have learned about human and animal physiology continues to be blurred by marketing, special interest, existing pharmaceutical patents, and the pursuit of mega profits. <\/p>\n

When billions of dollars are at stake, it’s easy to have amnesia regarding cholesterol’s important role in human and animal physiology. The medical culture has done an exceptional job of firmly ingraining the idea that cholesterol is bad and the lower the serum cholesterol the better off you are. However, this anti-cholesterol sentiment isn’t warranted and such a stance is ignorant and harmful.<\/p>\n

Cholesterol<\/span><\/strong>
\nDespite being widely villainized, cholesterol is a protective substance and plays an important role in our physiology. Most cholesterol is not obtained from food but is manufactured endogenously by the the liver. Cholesterol serves two relevant functions as it applies to our discussion – it acts as the raw material for both bile salts<\/strong> and steroid hormones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Bile salts are made from cholesterol in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. The entry of dietary fats into the small intestine signals the release of bile from the gallbladder through the common bile duct into the small intestine. Bile salts serve two major functions:<\/p>\n

(1) excretion of fat-soluble toxins, bilirubin, and excess cholesterol <\/strong>
\n(2) transportation and absorption of dietary fats<\/p>\n

Steroid hormones are made in multiple tissues\u00a0from LDL cholesterol. These hormones include DHEA, pregnenolone, and progesterone as well as aldosterone, cortisol, testosterone, and the estrogens. Each of these substances plays a multi-faceted role in our physiology, and the inability to convert LDL cholesterol to these protective steroids and bile salts can produce detrimental effects if left uncorrected over a long period of time.<\/p>\n

Liver and Thyroid<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe liver performs many functions and its health is paramount to ridding the body of toxins, regulating blood sugar & estrogen, producing cholesterol, and supporting metabolism. The thyroid gland in located in the lower front portion of your neck and is responsible for making thyroid hormones that regulate metabolism and energy.<\/p>\n

Most of the hormone that the thyroid gland itself makes is a precursor hormone, known as T4 or thyroxine. T4 does NOT increase the metabolism; it must be converted into another hormone, T3 or triiodothyronine, to have this effect.<\/p>\n

Only about 10% of the hormone produced by the gland is T3, which is known as the active thyroid hormone. It\u2019s T3 that is deficient in hypothyroidism and its availability determines the intensity of the metabolic rate.<\/p>\n

The large amount of the precursor hormone T4 made the thyroid gland must be converted into T3 by the liver. The liver (if well nourished by a supportive diet and lifestyle) enzymatically converts T4 into T3 as T3 is consumed by the tissues. Most (~70%) of the body\u2019s T3 is provided by the liver, not the thyroid gland.<\/p>\n

The liver is an endocrine gland and produces more T3 than does the thyroid! Metabolic slow downs often occur due to poor liver health. Anything that adversely affects liver function will influence metabolism and the production of a majority of the body’s T3. T3 not only determines the intensity of the metabolic rate; but as discussed next, also determines the rate at which cholesterol is converted into steroid hormones and bile salts.<\/p>\n

T4, T3, and Cholesterol Metabolism<\/span><\/strong>
\nThyroid hormones are essential to a healthy metabolism but serve as more than metabolism stimulating hormones. One of their other functions is a role in the conversion of cholesterol into both bile salts and steroid hormones (steroidogenesis). <\/p>\n

A thyroid hormone deficiency will thus slow the turnover of cholesterol into bile salts and steroid hormones. The following is a list of factors that contribute to a thyroid hormone insufficiency:<\/p>\n