Oxidized Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s Disease

[rudolph marcus]

Interesting post from Dr Greger : https://nutritionfacts.org/2022/04/26/oxidized-cholesterol-and-alzheimers-disease/?utm_source=NutritionFacts.org&utm_campaign=979887baf1-RSS_BLOG_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_40f9e497d1-979887baf1-28418550&mc_cid=979887baf1&mc_eid=35e390afc1

 

"Oxidized cholesterol can be a hundred times more toxic than regular cholesterol, raising additional concerns about foods such as ghee, canned tuna, processed meat, and parmesan cheese.

Too much cholesterol in the blood “has long been considered to act as a primary risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease and, possibly, Parkinson’s disease.” Striking images on autopsy show that the brain arteries of Alzheimer’s victims are clogged with fat and cholesterol, compared to non-demented elderly controls, as you can see at 0:16 in my video Oxidized Cholesterol as a Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease. But “cholesterol cannot be directly exported across the blood-brain barrier,” so it can’t get directly into—or out of—the brain. What if the brain has too much cholesterol and needs to get rid of some? As a safety valve, an enzyme in the brain can oxidize cholesterol. So, in that form, it can exit the brain and eventually the body. There’s a catch, though. “Although this fact means that the brain can eliminate excess amounts of these oxidation products,” it could be a two-way street. “t could conversely allow toxic amounts of oxysterols [oxidized cholesterol], present in the blood stream, to accumulate in the brain”—that is, to go the other way. "

[Ron Put]

It makes sense to me. I have cut my total fat intake significantly since I've been on this forum, based on what I've learned.

And I can still remember my password...

[rudolph marcus]

As I understand it, the source of oxidated cholesterol is not perse oils or fats but rather:

 Cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) are produced during thermal processing of animal origin foods and are considered to have negative health impacts.

 

Monitoring the formation of cholesterol oxidation products in model system using response surface methodology

• July 2015
• Lipids in Health and Disease 14(1)

DOI:10.1186/s12944-015-0074-6

 

Results The level of cholesterol oxidation products decreased significantly at higher pH (above 5.8) and shorter heating time (3 h). The presence of unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and oleic acids) significantly increased the amount of COPs under low-temperature heating conditions (100 °C and 1 h) but did not affect the production of COPs at higher temperature (150 °C). Increasing the temperature to 200 °C significantly increased the amount of COPs during the first hour of heating and this amount decreased upon further heating.