Your Brain needs Cholesterol

Did you know that?

After being a vegan for several years I returned to my doctor for a physical. When the results were in he jokingly asked, "why are you wasting my time". Everything checked good and my cholesterol was 140. I requested the results be sent to my naturopath and I made an appointment to see her for a follow up.

Can you imagine my surprise when she told me that my cholesterol was too low? She added that she would like to see a target range of around 170. This is when I learned that our brains require cholesterol to function properly. She told me to add healthy fats to my diet like avocados and nuts. Woo Hoo! How often does your doctor tell you to add fats to your diet?

Searching on cholesterol, brain, and good fats brought up all sorts of articles, studies and information. Most agree that you need healthy fats in your diet; the debate is, what fats are healthy? If you search just on "brain foods" you will get a certain list on varied sites. If you search on "good fats and brain foods" you will get a different list.

At home I use coconut oil, olive oil, hemp oil and flax seed oil. I choose to eat organic butter on toast or vegetables; if I can find it I use goat butter. There is a question whether any extracted oils are good for you and I tend to lean toward the belief they are not. I think the closer you eat food to its natural state the better.

In 2012 I made the decision to add organic free-range eggs and wild caught fish back into my diet. Both have higher counts of omega 3's than the conventional eggs and fish that have little or no omega 3 fatty acids. Having the proper amount of omega 3's and 6's in your diet is crucial to good health. At the same time I was reading conflicting information about soy and wanted to reduce the amount of soy I ate. One year later, I had my cholesterol checked again and it came back at 173. I enjoy plenty of fish, eggs, nuts and avocados along with other healthy fats.

Our bodies need fat to function properly. Michael Pollen's book "In Defense of Food" is a great book to bring awareness to the food we eat. I encourage you to give it a read.

I think this is probably a good brain food! Raw Pumpkin Spice Cookies from Rawmazing.com