There are five major mineral connections to our cholesterol status. I dig into each one of these in detail in the episode cholesterol and your hormones on the Are You Menstrual? Podcast, but am covering the major highlights here as well.
When it comes to mineral imbalances that can lead to high cholesterol, these are the major 4:
👉🏼Low iodine
👉🏼Low copper or inadequate biounavailable copper
👉🏼High iron
👉🏼Low sodium
When it comes to low cholesterol, a manganese deficiency can be a major contributor along with autoimmune conditions and low fat diets.
Iodine:
Iodine deficiency can cause hypothyroidism, which can cause high cholesterol because of how T3 (active thyroid hormone) impacts our LDL receptor activity.
60% of women of reproductive age are deficient in iodine and iodine levels in the US alone have dropped by over 50% in the past 40 years. Iodine supplementation has been shown to decrease cholesterol levels in women.
Copper:
Low copper and low ceruloplasmin (bioavailable copper) lead to iron overload and contribute to high cholesterol. Copper deficiency or low bioavailable copper has been linked with inflammation and insulin resistance. Both of these can impact our cholesterol levels. Scroll above to learn how to optimize ceruloplasmin.
Iron:
This increase in oxidative stress and inflammation caused by iron overload can lead to high cholesterol levels. Excess iron can also deplete our copper stores.
Sodium:
While low sodium diets are often recommended for those with heart health concerns, they have not been shown to reduce cardiovascular events in those with normal blood pressure, pre-hypertension, or hypertension (high blood pressure).
Finally, low manganese can cause low cholesterol. Scroll above for more on this.
Are you interested in learning more about minerals? Check out my free mineral 101 guide here or if you are ready to dig even deeper you can sign up for one of my courses, the Replenish Your Minerals course or the Master Your Minerals Course.
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