Cholesterol, Chlorine and You

Cholesterol is a hot health topic right now, but many of us don’t have a very clear grasp of what cholesterol actually is and how it impacts our health.  So let’s start with a few quick facts.  Cholesterol is a soft, waxy-type substance found in the bloodstream, and is actually an important part of our health.  The body uses cholesterol to produce cell membranes and even some hormones.  Another really interesting function of cholesterol is its ability to safeguard the body’s cells against losing vital water content.  It actually serves as a kind of shield against cells becoming dehydrated in the body’s normal process of sharing water through cell membranes.

However, when cholesterol levels in the blood become too high, it becomes a major risk for coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke.  There are two kinds of cholesterol – LDL and HDL.  LDL is “bad” cholesterol and can clog your arteries.  HDL, though, is “good” cholesterol because it carries cholesterol away from your arteries and can reduce your risk of heart attack.

The pros and cons of chlorinated water have also been the subject of much discussion lately.  Adding chlorine to drinking water is standard in water treatment, but not because it’s safe or because it’s the best disinfectant method available.  Chlorination is simply the cheapest.  Chlorination is basically pouring bleach into our water before we drink it.  Now, what does this have to do with cholesterol?  Quite a bit, actually.

An article in Chemical Research In Toxicology discusses the fact that when chlorinated water is consumed, it alters and destroys essential fatty acids.  The body can’t produce these essential fatty acids, yet must have them to survive.  Hardly a day goes by without new reports of incredible health benefits associated with essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.  Both have shown an amazing ability to help reduce the risk of heart problems by lowering high LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure, while offering a wealth of other healthful benefits.  Each and every day, as we drink and cook with chlorinated water, these precious nutrients that our bodies require are being destroyed or altered into harmful free radical cells.

It’s really just common sense to realize that, while the purpose of chlorine is to kill harmful biological organisms, it also must have a damaging effect upon the body’s cells, which are also living biological organisms.  Dr. Joseph Price, M.D., wrote a book several years ago entitled Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine and in it he concluded that chlorine is the basic cause of high cholesterol and other conditions leading to heart attacks and stroke. 

The bottom line is that chlorination of our water has been directly linked to cardiovascular disease.  While it has saved millions of lives by preventing waterborne disease, we’ve paid a heavy price for this protection in the form of increased heart disease.  So what can be done to help protect your health?  Consider investing in a water filtration system that targets chlorine or you can buy chlorine-free drinking water from your local grocery store.  Either approach will definitely help minimize the damage caused by chlorine.