Is High Cholesterol a sign of Imbalanced Hormones?
There is a strong link between the health of your thyroid and high cholesterol. If you have high cholesterol, you may also have an imbalance of hormones.
Cholesterol is the building block of hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, cortisol (stress hormone), and aldosterone (responsible for our salt/water balance). Cholesterol is comprised of a number of particles that each serve a function such as:
LDL ('bad' cholesterol; but not really bad because it delivers cholesterol to cells. The real question is 'what predisposes it to oxidizing in a way that causes damage'.
HDL ('good' cholesterol; transports cholesterol molecules to liver to get metabolized. Yet over 75 is not so good as elevated levels can be an inflammatory marker).
Triglycerides (a marker of sugar/carbohydrate intake, as it's energy for later use).
There are a few more cholesterol markers such as particle sizes and the ratio, but these are the main ones.
Healthy cholesterol levels are commonly seen in premenopausal women as estrogen is in proper balance, however, LDL tends to increase and HDL tends to decrease upon peri/menopausal women due to estrogen decline. Estrogen helps blood vessels expand and contract, and cleans up free radicals (pro-inflammatory molecules) that can damage arteries and other tissues. However, too much can be a good thing as elevated estrogen can hinder thyroid function leading to hypothyroid, where cholesterol levels climb as metabolism slows. In addition, constipation (a common concern in an underactive thyroid) allows for toxins and estrogens to recirculate, creating additional stress on the body (which further throws off hormone balance). Progesterone helps balance the effects of estrogen, and helps improve cholesterol markers like HDL and LDL, but actual progesterone therapy can raise triglycerides.
In men, a healthy testosterone level is the main player to help keep optimal cholesterol numbers and mitigate risk actors for cardiovascular disease like stroke and heart attack, but testosterone replacement therapy in the case of low testosterone may actually have the opposite effect (lower HDL and raise LDL). Simple stated- too high or too low is not good!
Cholesterol-lowering medications, such as statins, decrease the formation of cholesterol (commonly will contribute to low testosterone in men, and can exacerbate heart disease risk in women) which we need to make hormones, and all around health as it is imperative for our cellular function. Statins also deplete CoQ10, a vital nutrient utilized by every cell of our body to help make energy (depletion can also lead to muscle and/or joint pain or soreness), and mess with blood sugar (which can raise certain lab values associated with diabetes, placing someone at even more risk for a cardiovascular event). Side note: if you're taking a statin and CoQ10, it does NOT reduce your risk for heart disease- you're literally just replacing a nutrient, and we know our body is so much more complex than working with a 'quick fix'.
In other words, you may not really have high cholesterol- it can be any combination of diet, sedentary lifestyle, hormone imbalance, stress, poor sleep (enter more stress/cortisol that throws off hormones), underactive thyroid, blood sugar issues (insulin messes raises estrogen), or low vitamin D. There is good news for all of this- your body is telling you something is not quite right, and there are so many ways to get to the reason(s) why! Understanding everything is a great place to start in coming up with a comprehensive plan.