Shanghai Jiaotong University study: lower cholesterol, higher cancer risk? 3 ways to stabilize blood lipids

Mr. Chen is a senior salesman. He has worked in this industry for many years. Due to his career, he has a lot of entertainment, and he is full of meat. Nowadays, people are obviously fatter before they reach middle age.

Half a year ago, he went to the hospital for examination due to physical discomfort, and was found to have high blood lipids and fatty liver. The doctor advised him to control his diet. As a result, Mr. Chen, who is not fond of meat, made up his mind, prepared to be a vegetarian, and tried to restore his health as soon as possible.

After 6 months of insisting on this, he re-examined with confidence, but the results were not satisfactory: although various indicators in blood lipids had dropped a little, triglycerides remained high, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( bad cholesterol) is also high .

This makes Mr. Chen very puzzled. Isn't it because of eating too much meat that blood lipids rise? Why does he stop eating meat now, and his blood lipids rise instead of falling?

1. The lower the cholesterol, the higher the cancer risk?

Cholesterol is an important indicator for judging blood lipid levels. If the cholesterol level is too high, it means that there is a problem with blood lipids.

According to statistics, the number of dyslipidemia patients in China has reached 400 million, and the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases induced by this have resulted in more than 3 million deaths each year. The danger of dyslipidemia can be seen.

Many people may use various means to reduce blood lipid levels, especially cholesterol and triglycerides, after they find dyslipidemia in the physical examination. They think that the lower the better, but some studies have subverted the public's cognition.

The team of Prof. Weiqing Wang from Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine recruited 138,000 participants to evaluate the interaction between serum cholesterol, blood sugar status and cancer risk, and conducted a follow-up survey for an average period of 3.8 years.

The final finding: Too low cholesterol doubles the risk of cancer .

Researchers believe that cholesterol also plays a positive role in the immune system's fight against cancer cells, activating immune signaling and regulating immune function. The findings have been published in the American Journal of Cancer Research.

In fact, cholesterol is not a "bad thing", it is also an essential nutrient for the human body, and has various effects on the human body , such as maintaining the structure and function of cell membranes, and participating in the composition of brain and nerve tissue.

If cholesterol is controlled too low, it will cause many harm to the human body. A study by Fudan University pointed out that if the blood cholesterol level is too low in the elderly, the incidence of Alzheimer's disease can be increased and life expectancy will be affected.

2. Blood lipids are elevated, do you know the head? Don't ignore these signs

Elevated blood lipids are a very common manifestation in life, and the harm caused by high blood lipids is multi-faceted, which can not only cause hypertension, but also a key factor in accelerating the formation of arteriosclerosis. Therefore, timely lipid-lowering is very important and necessary.

When blood lipids rise, the skin of the body will send out early warning signals. When these signs appear on the head, you should be vigilant and seek medical examination as soon as possible.

1. Flat xanthoma

If you find inexplicable orange-yellow, soft, well-defined, flat papule-like or sheet-like tumors around the eyelids, which are slightly higher than the skin surface, you should be alert to hyperlipidemia.

2, the eyeball appears gray ring

If you find that there is a gray-white circle around the edge of the black eyeball with a width of about 1 to 2 mm, you should also be alert to hyperlipidemia.

3. Dizziness

If you feel dizzy, chest tightness and shortness of breath from time to time; you can’t sleep well, your mind won’t wake up the next day, and you’re easy to get sleepy in the afternoon, but you’re awake at night, you should also be careful about hyperlipidemia.

4, earlobe folds

If the skin in front of the earlobe has many folds and is uneven, also be careful of dyslipidemia.

3. High blood lipids, just eat less meat?

When blood lipids rise or have high blood lipids, many people will reduce blood lipids by eating less meat and only vegetarian diets. In fact, this approach is likely to backfire.

First of all, we need to make it clear that if you want to control blood lipids, adjusting your diet is the key point. However, simply eating vegetarian food and not eating meat can easily lead to B vitamin deficiency, which may lead to metabolic disorders and further increase blood lipids.

In addition, some vegetarian foods are not low in fat, and if you eat too much fat, it will also lead to increased blood lipids.

Moreover, it is easy to not be full by being a vegetarian. At this time, you may need to eat more staple foods (carbohydrates) to fill your stomach, but if you take too much carbohydrates, the excess carbohydrates will be converted into fat, thereby increasing blood lipids. That is to say, blind vegetarianism is not conducive to controlling blood lipids.

Can hyperlipidemia patients eat meat?

Of course you can, but you need to pay attention to the method. It is recommended to choose "white meat" (ie fish and poultry meat) first , which is lower in fat than "red meat" (pig, beef, mutton), but higher in unsaturated fatty acids, especially Fish, help prevent dyslipidemia.

But also pay attention to control the amount, the daily intake of meat food is best controlled within 75g, the best way is to mix meat and vegetables.

So what is the real effective way to lower blood lipids? In addition to taking lipid-lowering drugs reasonably, it is very important to do the following daily:

1. Diet control

• Pay attention to controlling the intake of dietary cholesterol, and eat less food with high cholesterol content such as egg yolk, crab roe, and various animal offal;
• Limit the intake of fat, the daily cooking oil should be less than 30g, and polyunsaturated fatty acids should be given priority;
• Limit total calorie intake, eat more dietary fiber and vitamins, and control weight.

2. Keep exercising

Continuing to exercise can promote the body's consumption of calories and fat, thereby reducing triglyceride levels. It is recommended to maintain an exercise frequency of 5-7 days a week, and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity metabolic exercise once a week.

3. Stop smoking and limit alcohol

Harmful substances in cigarettes can increase plasma cholesterol and triphenolglycerol levels; and alcohol can stimulate the body, causing cholesterol to take the opportunity in the body and induce arteriosclerosis. Therefore, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol is also very important to control blood lipids.

Blood lipids, cholesterol and other values ​​are the healthiest only if they are maintained at normal levels. Excessive and high levels may pose a threat to health. If blood lipids and cholesterol levels are abnormal, it is recommended to seek medical treatment in time.

References:

[1] "A study involving 138,000 people in China: Low cholesterol doubles cancer risk". Life Times. 2020-06-04

[2] "Be careful! These 5 signals appear on the skin, indicating that your blood lipids are high! ". Health Times. 2017-10-10

[3] "The doctor said that eating less meat and eating more vegetarian food can really lower blood lipids? not necessarily! Be careful that blood lipids are higher the more you eat! 》.The Road to Health.2021-04-21

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