Dr Mikes Blog

Put down the french fries and lets talk about fats and cholesterol.  do you know what the term saturated fat means?   a fat molecule is nothing more than carbons and hydrogen’s in a long chain like formation.  A fat molecule is considered to be saturated when the linked chain of carbon molecules is saturated to the maximum with hydrogen’s and it’s molecular structure cannot adhere any more hydrogen’s to the carbons. These type of fats are animal fats like bacon, steak, chicken and the stored fat on our bodies. Our bodies prefer to use saturated fat for energy and our liver produces enzymes that float around our blood that react with unsaturated fats and turn them into saturated fats, so our bodies can store them or use them for energy. A unsaturated fat is missing one hydrogen ion from the chain. When one hydrogen ion is missing from the chain, it changes its ionic shape, (gets softer). These are fats like butter.  A poly unsaturated fat is missing 2 or more or many hydrogen ions so its shape changes drastically.  These are the fats in oils, margarine etc.  When you heat a fat molecule, like with cooking, it loses hydrogen’s very quickly and it’s shape changes from say a solid to a liquid. So when we eat foods that are fried in oils that are super heated over and over again they become super poly unsaturated. Foods like potato chips, french fries, donuts.  The reason this is so bad for us.. is because the inside of an arterial wall is lined with hydrogen ions, and areas in our body where blood is under little or no pressure and is  considered static (doesn’t move much) like around the heart and the neck,  the poly unsaturated fat molecules and the liver enzymes have time to react with, or steal the hydrogen ions off the artery walls to change unsaturated fats back into saturated fats. When enough hydrogen’s are missing from the arterial walls, our immune system begins to recognize this as damage (holes) in the artery. Our immune system fills in the holes left behind with blood platelets and cholesterol sticks to the platelets forming a layer of plaque. When this process happens over and over again, the plaque builds up and restricts the opening and the blood flow.  So i ask you, who is to blame, cholesterol or poly unsaturated fats. Plaque is not caused from excess cholesterol,  like TV adds want you to think. Actually Cholesterol is made in the liver from 3 saturated fat chains put together and our bodies use it to make our hormones. So even if you never ate any more cholesterol ever again, your liver would just make it’s own.  cholesterol medications are designed to slow down cholesterol production in the liver but the side effect is that it causes damage to the liver, that is why you have to have blood tests every 6 months to see if your liver enzymes are elevated. Elevated liver enzymes in the blood mean liver damage and now you’ll have to stop taking cholesterol medication and hope that your liver heals itself. Do you know that ina recent study over the past 5 years that there is no decrease in the rate of heart attacks. So what good is the medication. Besides liver damage there is a whole list of other side effects that these medications due to the rest of your body. so put down the french fries and go for a walk once and awhile.

Dr Mike
480 607 4436