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(Niall) I don't know exactly how to ask it. Did the AfD really come second in the general election that took place in Germany last week?
A: No.
Q: (Joe) Did they get most votes?
A: Yes.
Q: (Niall) It was rigged.
(Joe) Surprise, surprise...
(Niall) So that's interesting. That gives us an idea that the vox populi in Europe is the same, roughly, as in the US.
(Joe) Right. I think it's just being expressed.
(Andromeda) Yeah.
A real plague?(hlat) Are reports of a new coronavirus, HKU5-CoVs, an attempt to bring back covid lockdowns?
A: They are trying everything but may be trumped by the real deal!
Thanks so much. Really interesting about the Elher Danlos, think I have that too.
Tried a carnivore type diet but my cholesterol went through the roof, it's still high. I wonder if it just doesn't suit some people. Been eating less meat and more oily fish, dahl, oats and more fibre generally. Sorry to make a personal comment but it's so confusing, I just don't know what to eat. And most of the so called "heart healthy" or cholesterol lowering foods like beans, wholegrains etc aren't good from what we know.
You Are What You Eat
Another basic premise crucial to understanding why fat plays such an important place in our health comes from its role. You see, our bodies are made of cells (trillions of them), which are the units of life. Every cell is enclosed in a membrane that provides the waterproofing that protects it from its surroundings. This cell membrane is made of an uninterrupted fabric, made for the most part of fat.
Whatever fats you eat become your fat. If you eat rusted fat which is the plastic and highly oxidizing fat that passes now as “healthy low fat”, the waterproofing of your life units will be made of a rusted coating. Try living with the trillions of life units that compose your body when they are coated in rust. This is where disease comes.
If you were to eat only plastic fat (i.e. margarine), then your cell membrane’s fatty composition would reveal the distinctive characteristics of the plastic fats in margarine. If you eat chicken fat, your cell membrane’s fat reflects the fatty acid composition of the chicken. But if you eat a highly oxidizing fat - which invariable means low fat in our modern world - you can count on its oxidation in our bodies. It is highly inflammatory and we already live in a high-inflammation environment.
You are what you eat, literally. Or rather ate…. now would be a good time to take a close look at what you have eaten for most of your life and its consequences on your health.
Fats also provide raw material for building-up a variety of crucial hormones and hormone-like substances in our bodies. Cholesterol, our body's vital fat, acts as a precursor to essential corticosteroids: hormones made by the adrenal glands that help us deal with stress and protect the body against disease. Thanks to the unprecedented amounts of stress we are being subjected to nowadays, we now suffer what is called Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome (Wilson, 2001). Keep in mind that a low fat diet will only make this problem worse as we deprive ourselves of much needed building blocks for stress-coping hormones.
Cholesterol is also the raw material for making sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. Most people have an imbalance of some sort with these hormones including diseases like polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, infertility, PMS, heavy menstrual bleeding, hypo or hyper androgenism and so forth. You need enough of the good fats to balance your hormonal system in a proper way. Ladies’ menstrual problems usually correct themselves on a low carb diet, while others report not noticing menopause. Gentleman recover their libido.
The hormone DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is also made from cholesterol by the adrenal glands. You might say that it is a "chemical cousin" of estrogen and testosterone as it helps form these hormones. It is also responsible for body functions such as fat and mineral metabolism, and stress control.
More recently, a number of health claims have been made for DHEA. For instance, it might be an "anti-aging" agent, because restoring its levels to those found in 20-year-olds appears to have a rejuvenating effect. It is also said that DHEA can prevent or delay the onset of cancer, the hardening of arteries, lethal viral infections, lowered immunity, obesity, and diabetes. Some of the more interesting research and theories on DHEA have come from C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., who has been studying this hormone for years. In his research, he has discovered that low levels of DHEA (along with low levels of the mineral magnesium) are found in nearly all diseases. In one of his studies, Shealy identified DHEA deficiency in chronic pain and depression (Shealy et al., 1996).
Cholesterol is also a precursor to vitamin D: a crucial fat-soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and brain tissue, proper growth, mineral metabolism, muscle tone, insulin production, reproduction and immune system function, the latter having a crucial role in combating disease. It is not surprising that people with various autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, type I diabetes and Sjögren's syndrome usually have low cholesterol values (Miettinen et al., 2004; Lodde et al., 2006). Rheumatoid arthritis patients even show low cholesterol levels 5 years prior to its diagnosis (Myasoedova et al., 2010).
It is really a no brainer since cholesterol is a potent anti-inflammatory fat which inhibits the formation of pro-inflammatory chemicals such as leukotrienes and thromboxanes through inflammatory pathways (Aleksandrov et al., 2006; Zagryagskaya et al., 2008).
Moreover, research suggests that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant (Smith, 1991), protecting us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer. Sally Falllon Morell and Mary G. Enig, PhD, authors of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, refer to cholesterol as the body’s repair substance, manufactured in large amounts when the arteries are irritated or weak. They put forward the analogy that blaming heart disease on high serum cholesterol levels is like blaming firemen who have come to put out a fire for starting the blaze. In view of cholesterol's vital role in our bodies, this makes a lot of sense!
The so called "bad cholesterol," AKA LDL cholesterol, cannot be that bad if it is essential to transport cholesterol to the cells and various tissues of our bodies. LDL also carries powerful and essential antioxidant nutrients into the body such as vitamin E and the DHEA discussed above. Studies have also shown that "bad" LDL cholesterol has the ability to reduce pathogens and infectious bacteria. In fact, many researchers have written about the key role of fat in the immune defense system. High cholesterol protects us against infections (Ravnskov, 2003). People with autoimmune diseases (i.e. rheumatoid arthritis) are at an increased risk of developing infections compared to the “normal” population (Doran et al., 2002).
Bacterial products such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS) - the coat material in some bacteria, i.e. gram negative bacteria - act as endotoxins in our bodies, making our immune system fire wildly. One of the first lines of defense against the ill effects of these endotoxins are both "bad" LDL and "good" HDL cholesterol which binds to LPS, and when bound to it, they become inactive and removed from circulation (Harris and Kumwenda, 2000). In this way, uncontrollable pro-inflammatory cytokines are not triggered. LDL and HDL cholesterol are really a part of the innate immune/defense system. Some even argue that HDL cholesterol’s main role is infection fighting, not cholesterol transport.
Fat also is raw material for lung surfactant which protects our lungs from pollution and damage by oxidative stress. Government agencies are too quick to blame cigarette smoke for lung emphysema when it is actually a low fat diet which could be the main problem! Saturated fat also protects the more vulnerable essential fatty acids (i.e. Omega-3s of heart health fame) from damage and rancidity.
In view of this information, it is comprehensible how a person with low cholesterol levels is at an increased risk for infection, autoimmune diseases and the much dreaded chronic inflammation which has a role in invariably every single disease. In fact, you'll likely die if you go through a septic blood poisoning event with low cholesterol levels (Chien et al., 2005).
Our body’s total cholesterol content is about 35g, primarily located within all the membranes of all the cells of the body. Our livers are also capable of producing cholesterol - roughly 80% of the cholesterol circulating in the blood. We have to produce enough of it since it is really that important as you are discovering. If we are not eating enough of it or if our livers are overburdened with the task of detoxifying the body from a most polluted environment like the one we live today, or if the liver is overburdened with so much toxic food (or the tons of pills and drugs consumed every year), then we will not have or produce enough cholesterol. Those who have low cholesterol level might want to rethink their health status!
Low cholesterol levels may also reflect decreased bile output which in itself might mean that we are eating too much of the wrong foods and not enough of the good old fats. You see, cholesterol is the precursor to bile salts, which are vital for digestion and assimilation of fats and fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) in the diet. People on a very low fat diet end up damaging or clogging their gallbladder sooner or later (use it or lose it!) and the modern-day solution to this problem is the surgical resection of such an important organ that helps absorb much needed nutrition.
Gallbladder surgery is one of the most detrimental and aggressive surgeries done in the world today. The 10 year outcome from this mutilation is fat malabsorption along with its increased risk of pretty much every known disease due to subsequent deficiencies of fat, vitamins A,D,E and K and essential omega-3 fatty acids.
Cholesterol is also needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain. Serotonin is the body's natural "happy" chemical. This is why low cholesterol levels are linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicidal tendencies (Virkkunen, 1979; Engelberg, 1992; Golomb, 1998; Repo-Tiihonen et al., 2002). Low serotonin in the spinal fluid is associated with suicide, impulsive acts, hostility, and aggression - and yes, low serotonin in the spinal fluid is associated with low cholesterol.
Cholesterol is also needed for the formation of myelin – the coat that insulates the nerves and that facilitates effective and fast conduction of the electrical impulse in nerve tissues.
Furthermore, cholesterol is required for various other brain chemicals whose signalling disruption is associated with anxiety, depression, and aggression. People start losing their memories with cholesterol lowering drugs because the brain gets hungry for cholesterol in order to maintain its basic functions. Learning disabilities in children are directly related to lower cholesterol levels. A lack of the appropriate fats during pregnancy or early development is also a factor behind epidemics such as autism, ADHD and other neurological syndromes. People with lower cholesterol levels have shorter lifespans.
Cholesterol is not only found in nerve sheaths, but also in the white matter of the brain and in the adrenal glands. Dietary cholesterol is also essential for our gastrointestinal lining, where it keeps cell-membrane integrity and can prevent excessive gut permeability.
Mother's milk is especially rich in cholesterol. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system. It is not surprising to find that more and more children are diagnosed with ADHD and autism in our low-fat world. Hopefully they will finally find out about the ketogenic diet!
As you can see, fat and cholesterol are the most valuable nutrients for health and for coping with stress. Fat is essential to make your stress-coping and mood-regulating sex hormones and brain chemicals!
Also I'm v grateful for what the C's said about agents of chaos. I feel like something along these lines is probably happening with a person surrounding me and I'm exhausted from it, and I'm too afraid to share network about it online, been wanting to for ages but it's very personal and I'm concerned about it being more public. . (Even in the swamp). Also it's a long story going back years, and I don't feel great about putting anyone through reading it lol.