Cholesterol and Heart Health - what you may not know about it...

I had a conversation at a supermarket outside the milk fridge about why I was buying the organic unhomogenised milk. It started something like this:

Middle Aged Man (MAM): "Is that organic milk really any good? It's pretty expensive..."
Me: "I buy this for my husband because he's diagnosed with high cholesterol and can't have the homogenised milk..." I shrug, "really he shouldn't be drinking this milk either, but its better than anything else on these shelves here."
MAM: "Oh...why's that? are you *all afraid of the chemicals man*" he grinned.
Me: "Well yeah, but its more than that...did you know that all of this milk is 'cooked' therefore all the fat molecules are mutated already?"

He looks at me blankly, and frankly, I was thinking that I'd began a conversation that should maybe not have gotten started...but regardless, I went on...
"Pasteurisation is when they cook the milk to a certain temperature to 'kill' all the 'bacteria' in it. Then they homogenise it so that it has a uniform creamy consistency. Homogenisation makes the fat molecules tiny so that they are suspended in the liquid, and so small that they can permeate the stomach lining and make it directly into the bloodstream,...which isn't good for anyone, but doubly not good for someone who has high cholesterol diagnosed."

MAM: "Really? why then does everyone drinking it not have high cholesterol?"
Me: "Actually, cholesterol is a current epidemic in mainstream western society because of the milk products being manufactured this way. Cholesterol issues like we have are not even known about in cultures without this method of food manufacturing"
MAM: "But cholesterol is a inherited thing...isn't it?"
Me: "Mmmmmmmm well, ... its kinda like a inherited pre-disposition to forming the condition....know what I mean? If you're parents had high cholesterol then you many also form this condition if you follow the same kind of lifestyle and diet choices they did...and most likely you do, yes?"
MAM: "Yep"
Me: "...um, do you have high cholesterol?"
MAM: "Yep!" and he sucks air through his teeth, as people do when they are wanting to 'chew on a topic'...
With this subtle 'tell' of body language I go ahead with...
"Cholesterol is actually your body's way of protecting your blood vessels...did you ever get told that?"
MAM: "No. I've always been told that cholesterol is bad"
Me: "Ah, well, that's not correct. Cholesterol forms in response to rancid fats, those cooked dairy fats for one, entering our blood stream and causing tears and cracks and general damage to the vessel walls. Cholesterol is like plaster on a cracked wall...its put there to make the surface smooth again. Cholesterol is the body's way of repairing the inside of our blood vessel walls...when it goes into overdrive, because our diet is shoving all this rancid, damage causing, fat into our blood, we get too much cholesterol forming and then we get blockages because damage is being repaired on top of damage already repaired..."

By this time the guy is really confused or worried or both. He's frowning and has his mouth open breathing quietly with a slightly shocked cast to his face. I'm not sure if I've upset him badly or if I'm producing an 'Ah hah' moment...so I smile and nicely say I've got to get on with the rest of the shop...but he stops me with one last question...

MAM: "So my cholesterol tablets are helping me to get rid of the stuff in my blood that is actually trying to help me heal up?"
Me: "Yup....but you've got to understand that the only way to stop the body over producing cholesterol is to stop putting in the rancid oils and fats that are causing the damage...its that old 'cause and effect' thing, you know? Gotta get going now..."

MAM: "Oh sure, not a problem. Thanks for the info eh?"
Me: "You're welcome" I say with another smile and walk away, leaving him staring at the fridges full of 'cut price', 'discounted', 'budget' milk products...He looks completely bemused.

If you are on cholesterol tablets and your doctor hasn't explained why you're on them and how they work, go and ask for a detailed breakdown of what you can do to reduce your cholesterol without taking statin drugs. These are a 'mass medication' kind of drug and do not take into account your personal cholesterol pre-disposition, or your personal metabolic condition. Statin drugs are also muscle wasting, which means you may have the side effect of cramps and muscle spasms...which is kinda disconcerting when you consider they are 'heart medication'...and the Heart is a pretty important organ made of... muscle...

To get great Heart Health:

• Remove dairy from your diet (including goat, sheep and other mass produced mammal milks) unless of course you consume the milk raw and fresh from the animal, and you know it is being treated with respect and being farmed without the use of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics or other toxins.
• Remove meat from your diet as this contains animal fats that are going rancid.
• Remove fried foods not cooked in either coconut oil or ghee, as all other fats are rancid by the time they are cooked.
• Look into supplement therapy like B1 (Niacin), Rice Bran, Vitamin E (Tochopherols).
• Add a high potency antioxidant to your daily intake. Something like Berry Radical would be excellent.
• Research using Herbal treatments like Hawthorn Berry Extract or Red Rice Yeast.
• Make Spirulina and Chlorella a part of your diet every day.
• Eat fresh and organically grown Garlic, Ginger, Chilli, and Turmeric, plus heaps of green leafy foods. If you're not a big green food eater you might consider taking a green food powder each day. Deep Greens covers both green foods and Spirulina and Chlorella too!
• Research for yourself any food based therapy that specifically targets lowering the 'bad' cholesterol in your body. Do not leave it up to your GP or Cardio specialist to give you this information. Its most likely that they don't even know what you've read here. They are trained to use pharmaceutical medicine, not food, so its safe to assume they would not know what foods and food habits help Heart Health... 
• Bach Flower Remedies of Holly, Vine, Beech and Star of Bethlehem may be VERY beneficial for anyone with Heart issues of all kinds. These do not interact with any medications so are very safe for anyone 'beginning' a new way of living, and help to promote healing on all levels.
• Exercise gently every day. Use upper body exercises to gain great blood circulation around the heart.
• LOVE more things and avoid hatred or anger. Process and grow! Progression towards peace and harmony promotes Longevity.

Blessings for Great Health
Jannette
xxx

PS: I am not a qualified heart health professional. I in now way want you to put yourself at any risk by taking advice that you have not thoroughly researched and discussed with an independant health professional. Making correct choices can only be achieved when you've been given ALL the information you want and need. Blessings for having doors open and avenues appear for your greatest good! :)