Body Weight
Avoiding bad cholesterol may help burn fatty deposits
By David Liu, Ph. D.
Nov 20, 2008 - 10:58:22 AM

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Thursday Nov. 20, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Want to burn some fat?   Cut your intake of bad cholesterol.   A new study published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE suggests that the so-called bad cholesterol or low density lipoprotein inhibits the breakdown of fat in cells of peripheral deposits.

The study led by researchers from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet discovered a novel function of LDL as a regulator of fat turnover besides its well-established detrimental effects in promoting atherosclerosis.

From the study, Dr Johan Björkegren and colleagues found LDL cholesterol slows the rate of fat breakdown (i.e. lipolysis) in adipocytes, the peripheral cells responsible for fat storage.

Early studies have shown the fatty acids released from the peripheral fat to the blood boost the synthesis of LDL precursors in the liver. The current study seems to have proved that high levels of LDL could inhibit the releasing fatty acids of the peripheral fat, a health observer commented.

"The results of our study provide evidence of a reciprocal link between the liver and peripheral fat regulating fat turnover", says Dr Björkegren.

The finding of the study could suggest that lowering cholesterol in the blood may also affect buildup of peripheral fat.

The study was conducted on cell cultures and tissue from humans as well as in animal models with different levels of LDL. But how LDL binds to the fat cells to inhibit the breakdown of the intracellular fat remains to be researched, said project leaders Dr. Dr Josefin Skogsberg.