Everything You Know About Cholesterol Is Wrong

Life

The Benefits of Cholesterol

Without cholesterol, you would die.

Simple as that.

That’s because cholesterol is the raw material your body uses for a whole host of functions. For example, did you know that the membrane of all your cells consists of a good amount of cholesterol? Without it, we’d be gelatinous blobs because our cells wouldn’t have any structure to them.

Besides keeping us from melting into puddles of goop, cholesterol also provides the following benefits:

Sex hormones are made from cholesterol. Testosterone — the hormone that puts hair on your chest and makes you strong like bull — is made from cholesterol. And it’s not just T. Estrogen, and the sex hormones needed for female sex traits, are made from cholesterol, too.

Because cholesterol is a precursor to testosterone, a common side effect found among men taking statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) is a drop in libido as well as an increase in erectile dysfunction. Several studies have confirmed the connection between lowered cholesterol levels and lowered testosterone levels.

So is the inverse also true? Will increasing your cholesterol consumption increase your testosterone levels? During my testosterone-boosting experiment, I assumed the answer was yes, which is why I wolfed down eggs and red meat for three months. However, after researching more, I haven’t been able to find a single study on whether or not increasing dietary cholesterol will indeed increase T levels, which is truly surprising. Researchers know that the Leydig cells in your testicles — the cells that create testosterone — have extra cholesterol requirements compared to other cells. Yet where they get that extra cholesterol isn’t entirely clear. Leydig cells can create their own cholesterol for testosterone when overall levels are down; however, when Leydig cells are forced to do so, T levels begin to drop. So perhaps dietary cholesterol fills the gap? (Note: one study has shown that olive oil allows Leydig cells to absorb more cholesterol, thus resulting in increased T levels. Be generous with that olive oil on your salad!)

Tim Ferriss experimented with increasing his T levels by ingesting large amounts of cholesterol — in the form of a shake made from whole milk and four raw eggs — right before he went to sleep. His personal experiment resulted in increased T levels in the mornings after he had drunk the shake compared to the mornings when he hadn’t. Yes, it’s an n+1 experiment and doesn’t have the authority of more rigorous studies, but it’s an interesting result to consider.

Bottom line: increasing dietary cholesterol may or may not increase T levels. (If you know of a study that has looked at that question, I’d love to hear about it!) But regardless of whether or not it does, eating a diet low in processed carbs and high in protein, which is also a typical byproduct of trying to ingest more cholesterol, may have other health benefits. This includes weight loss and muscle gain — effects which do conclusively raise your T.

Vitamin D is made from cholesterol. “Vitamin D” is actually a misnomer because it’s not a vitamin, but rather a hormone. And just as cholesterol serves as the precursor to sex hormones, it’s also necessary to the production of the hormone Vitamin D. Whenever the cholesterol in your skin is exposed to sunlight, particularly UV-B rays, a chemical reaction occurs which results in the production of Vitamin D3. Sure, you can take an oral supplement to get the same result, but if your body can make it free from just cholesterol and sunlight, you might as well take advantage of it.

Our bodies use Vitamin D for a variety of important functions such as immune response, regulation of calcium and phosphate, inflammation reduction, and even gene expression. Increased levels of it are associated with better mental and emotional health as well as increased testosterone levels.

So what are you waiting for? Put that cholesterol to use by catching some rays.

Bile acids are made from cholesterol. That steak you ate last night had to be broken down so your body could use it for nutrients. Bile acids play an important role in that breakdown process. And yep, bile acids are made from our handy friend, Mr. Cholesterol.

Cholesterol is vital for brain health. Your brain is filled with cholesterol. Not only does your noodle use it to make new neural cells, it’s also used to maintain their integrity and facilitate cellular communication by helping form the myelin sheaths that coat the cells.

Studies have found that low cholesterol levels (around 160 mg/dL or less) are linked to memory loss, depression, and aggression. Research has shown that cholesterol may play a role in the effective release of neurotransmitters; without it, your brain just can’t make all the cellular connections it needs to maintain its sharpness and vibrancy.

If you’re looking for a quick way to up your cholesterol intake to maintain a healthy brain, eat the brains of other animals. No, really. Apparently noshing on squirrel brains mixed with scrambled eggs is a thing. That’s a cholesterol mega-dose right there.

Cholesterol may help fight infections. Research has shown an inverse correlation between cholesterol levels and infections — the lower your cholesterol levels, the greater your vulnerability to getting sick. So how does cholesterol fight infections? Studies suggest that LDL (the so-called “bad” cholesterol — more on LDL below) plays a role in stimulating our immune system to fight off infection. When cholesterol levels are low, there’s a decrease in the production of certain antibodies.

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