with UVB exposure from the sun, cholesterol forms another
hormone, vitamin D, which is involved in the expression of
nearly one thousand genes in the body, many of which are
directly involved in healthy brain function.
So at this point, you may be thinking: where do I find
this cholesterol stuff? I want all the cholesterol! Could we
really have been so negligent to have wrongfully accused a
nutrient that does so much for us?
The Cholesterol-Disease Connection
Many animal-based foods contain cholesterol, and for many
years we were warned that we should limit consuming this
fatty substance. Yet the foods we’d worried about for so
long, such as egg yolks, shrimp, and other shellfish, actually
have a negligible effect on our circulating levels of
cholesterol. This is because the body creates cholesterol in
amounts much larger than what is found in food. Just to
give you a sense, the average person will create the
equivalent of four egg yolks’ worth of cholesterol in their
bodies daily!
DOCTOR’S NOTE: CHOLESTEROL HYPER-
ABSORBERS
If we were to write applicable disclaimers before every
recommendation we’ve made in this book, it would become
completely unreadable–just keep in mind that we try to