It isn’t an accident that I started researching the relationship between diet and PTSD (PTSD and Inflammation). Many of the subjects that I write about are related to things that I am going through and rather than doing all this research and keeping it to myself, I share it with all my dear readers. Well, this post is another one of those. While I have been on my little hiatus, I have been having a lot of heart to hearts with myself, my sugar addiction, and risk of heart disease. I have tried to take good care of myself my whole life, but I haven’t always had access to healthy food or supplements.
All my life, I have struggled to get proper amounts of good sleep, and then there is the hell that my nervous system has been through. I, like many of you, am a worn-out survivor at this point in my life. If there were a farm somewhere that abuse survivors could retire to, I would be submitting the paperwork now instead of writing this post. Truthfully, it is impossible to know exactly how much anyone’s chance of anything is increased because doctors and scientists are only working with the best information, they currently have available. A chance (or likelihood) of an outcome does not mean that it will happen, and that is important for all of us anxious people to remember while reading what I’m about to write.
When we are recovering from any kind of health issue, the best place to start is always a checkup with our primary care doctors if it’s something we’ve been putting off. Any of the information that I have found and that I am relaying doesn’t apply to everyone, doesn’t replace professional medical advice, and I am relying on the expertise of the sources that I’ve found. Below I want to discuss just a few aspects of PTSD and cholesterol levels, and maybe some possible lifestyle changes that could help.
How is high cholesterol related to heart disease?
We can’t look at high cholesterol without mentioning its link to heart disease. High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease along with obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and other factors. Heart disease includes several different conditions that can all result in heart failure. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States (cdc.gov, n.d.). High cholesterol can lead to build up of plaque in the arteries causing narrowing and hardening of the arteries known as a condition called coronary artery disease, which is one of the diseases including under the umbrella of heart disease.
According to a review published in 2011 in the Open Cardiovascular Medical Journal that was led by Steven S. Caughlin, evidence shows that those diagnosed with PTSD suffer from higher rates of hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), hypertension (high blood pressure) and cardiovascular disease (Caughlin, 2011). While the reasons that those suffering from PTSD have a high rate of these diseases is not entirely certain, and different systems are affected in different ways, the effect that PTSD has on the HPA axis (hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis), and stress hormones released due to our fight or flight response seem to be a likely culprit. However, the tendency to attempt to self-medicate with negative health choices such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating sugary/fatty foods may also be a reason for increased chances of developing these diseases.
High Cholesterol and Stress
Unfortunately, there is an aspect of PTSD that we cannot control like we can with our diet and habits, and that is the chronic stress we all feel. When we are stressed out, our bodies respond by releasing cortisol which is a stress hormone. Our blood vessels constrict, blood pressure goes up, heart rate increases, along with other physical and emotional responses. According to this medically reviewed web md article, it is not a big deal for this to happen occasionally but having high levels of cortisol (also known as the stress hormone) for long periods of time has been linked to high cholesterol. This does include much of the information already mentioned in the previous review that I have mentioned, but it is written in a very easy to digest way and offers some tips on helping to reduce chronic stress.
For those of us with experience in cognitive behavioral therapy, we know them as “coping skills.” Part of the struggle with PTSD always seems to be struggling with some kind of a bad coping habit which is really not coping at all because it just makes more problems such as being obese, or a substance use disorder, shopping addictions, gambling, and other types of risky behavior. Even being stuck on the couch and unable to do anything is a bad coping habit which increases the chances of negative health outcomes associated with high cholesterol (Bernstein, 2023).
So now what?
I would like to note here that data does not mean anything on its own. A study, or a paper on a subject’s main goal is to take data and create meaning from it. Just because there is data that shows a correlation is likely, does not mean that the correlation is true. False correlations can happen even with the best intentions, and we must remember that as humans that it is our job to decide for ourselves and weigh the information ourselves. What has become apparent to me while doing this research is that PTSD on its own is not what causes any of these conditions, but much of it is ruled by our everyday decisions to either show up for ourselves and take care of our bodies, or not. We did not choose what happened to us, and sometimes we cannot control how our body responds to a situation and whether cortisol or other hormones are released, and if we have a flashback.
We can control what we do going forward, and how we recover. I believe that part of the answer is having the information on why we feel the way we do and how to combat it. Eat right, drink less, quit smoking, regular exercise seems to be the best answer on how to lower your cholesterol, lower your stress, and recover from trauma. However, that is easier said than done when a person doesn’t think they are worth better food, a better life, or is too anxious to go outside and take a walk. I can suggest better coping habits all day long, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is hard, and experiencing PTSD is hard. The exhaustion that traumatic experiences and high stress makes us feel is a real physical symptom, and we should not guilt ourselves more about how run down we feel sometimes.
I can attest though that when I am doing regular exercise and following a healthy diet my anxiety goes down, my energy goes up, and I do start to feel better. It can be hard to kick an addiction, but it is always worth it to make another attempt. It took me countless tries to quit smoking, but I finally did it a few years ago and it did lessen the anxiety attacks. Unfortunately, I think cigarettes was the only thing keeping me at a healthy weight so now I must solve the problem with my sugary food addiction and leaving the house a bit more often. Oh well, life is full of problems and solving problems and at least we can always count on there being another problem to solve.
References
Bernstein, S. (2021, June 22). Stress and cholesterol: Is there a link? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/stress-cholesterol-link
Coughlin SS. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Cardiovascular Disease. Open Cardiovasc Med J. 2011;5:164-70. doi: 10.2174/1874192401105010164. Epub 2011 Jul 11. PMID: 21792377; PMCID: PMC3141329. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3141329/
(2023, May 15). About Heart Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/about.htm
The Diary Of A Flopping Fish and any posts or articles published on Diaryofafloppingfish.com are not reviewed by a therapist or medical or mental health professional. Resources are cited and opinion is opinion. No advice or opinions in any articles replace professional advice from a doctor, therapist, or any other kind of health professional. The author is not a licensed professional of any kind.
Read more: PTSD and Cholesterol: Does PTSD really make it more likely to have high cholesterol?
Diary of a Flopping Fish 
Leave a comment