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How statin drugs and vegetarian diets affect your mental health
Where do you find the highest concentration of cholesterol in the whole body? In your brain, your brain is rich in cholesterol because it needs large amounts of cholesterol to function properly.
So, what does that mean for an increasing number of people who naturally choose cholesterol-free plants? And what about 15 million Americans taking statins like Lipitor to lower their cholesterol levels?
People who try to lower their cholesterol levels have concerns about heart health, but how does lowering cholesterol affect mental health?
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a naturally occurring waxy substance in our membranes, and in the flexible packaging surrounding each cell in our bodies, cholesterol contributes to the structural support of the membranes and keeps them from collapsing.
Membranes are not just objects encased in protective cells. They are dynamic, highly intelligent structures involved in cellular signaling and transfer of substances inside and outside cells.
Cholesterol is also an essential ingredient in the synthesis of vitamin D and many other hormones in the body, including estrogen and testosterone.
All animal foods (meat, seafood, poultry, milk, eggs) contain cholesterol because all animal cells need cholesterol.
Why does the brain need cholesterol?
Although the brain accounts for only 2% of the total body weight, it contains 20% of the body's cholesterol.
What is the effect of cholesterol?
Lattices - The magical regions where connections between brain cells occur are lined up by cholesterol-rich membranes responsible for passing neurotransmitters such as serotonin, and dopamine back and forth. Myelin, the white substance that secludes brain circuits, is made up of tightly sealed membranes containing 75% cholesterol in the brain.
Cholesterol also helps to direct the nerve endings that are evolving to their destinations on "floating fat".
If the cholesterol in the brain is too low, its membranes, nerve points, myelin and floating paints can not form or function properly, making all brain activity - including mood regulation, learning and memory - at risk of stopping.
Do vegetarians need to worry about low cholesterol in the brain?
Fortunately, although plant foods contain zero gram of cholesterol, vegetarian food probably does not cause low cholesterol in the brain.
This is because the cholesterol in our brains does not come from the cholesterol we eat! Cholesterol is too large and massive to cross the blood brain barrier of the blood vessels in the body into the brain tissue, so the brain makes all of the cholesterol in situ.
Cholesterol can be manufactured from anything - carbohydrates, protein, or fat, so no matter what we eat, we can always get a lot of cholesterol.
Case in this regard: Many vegetarians have high levels of cholesterol despite eating a cholesterol-free diet. See for yourself, simply search on Google under the title "Vegetarians with high cholesterol" to read individual stories or see this interesting study.
We do not have any way to measure the levels of cholesterol in the brain directly in living humans, so we can not compare the levels of cholesterol in the brain of vegetarians and carnivores, but there is no reason to believe that people who choose a vegetarian diet will have lower cholesterol in the brain at low levels More than anyone else.
There are other nutrients not to worry about.
Does low cholesterol cause mental health problems?
Most likely, it will not make sense that low cholesterol causes psychological symptoms, because the brain produces its own cholesterol regardless of the amount of cholesterol in the blood. Simply: Low cholesterol does not cause low cholesterol in the brain.
Some studies suggest poorly that people with low blood cholesterol levels may be more prone to depression, violence or suicidal thoughts, but there are no other studies. All studies on both sides are "epidemiological" studies, which are unable to show the cause and effect of relationships - they can only point to potential things.
So, even if each epidemiological study showed a link between low cholesterol and psychological problems, the apparent link between the two could simply be a coincidence. At this point in time, there is no clear scientific support for the idea that low cholesterol increases the risk of depression, violence, or suicidal thinking.
Do people who take statins need to worry about low cholesterol in the brain?
Yes indeed, "statins" are drugs designed to lower your cholesterol level, which is called "bad cholesterol".
It works by reducing the hemoglobin reduction activity, the enzyme our cells use to build new molecules of cholesterol.
Unfortunately, statins cross the brain's blood barrier and enter brain cells, reducing the ability of the natural brain to produce the beautiful cholesterol molecules the brain needs to do its important work.
We thought that some drugs and not just statins could cross into the brain, but it turned out that it did not do all of that; it's just that some reach higher levels within the brain than others.
Even Bravastatin (Bravashol), which has the most difficult image of a trip, is penetrating the brain enough to interfere with the cholesterol plant.
There have been many human trials in the test of the effects of statins on brain function, but experiments