Can cholesterol and its products serve as biomarkers for ojas?

Ojas is essential for human heath and vitality. In 1995, Walton et al. proposed an equivalence between ojas and cholesterol, and linked specific dhatus with steroid hormones derived from cholesterol. This paper examines five links between cholesterol and ojas. First, properties of ojas suggest a complex, mobile or immobile lipid. Only cholesterol has these properties. Insoluble, unesterified cholesterol maintains cell membranes. Cholesterol synthesized by the liver is converted into soluble cholesteryl lipoprotein esters (LDL-C and HDL-C), which circulate like apara ojas. Interestingly, cholesteryl-esters and apara ojas respond to diet and drugs. Second, eight biomolecules (five steroid hormones, bile acids, vitamin D, and myelin), which can only be synthesized from cholesterol, function at twelve physiological sites of ojas activity. Third, cholesterol and its products explain key functions of ojas. Thus, cholesterol controls reproduction, fertilization (shukra), and has a morphogenetic role in foetal development (garbhasara). Cholesterol and its products control stress responses, brain functions, and the musculoskeleton (bala). Cholesterol immunometabolism and vitamin D regulate immunity (vyadhi kshamatva). Fourth, oxidized LDL-C contributes to plaque formation in atherosclerosis, which is the leading cause of global deaths. Conversely, hypocholesterolemia and depleted ojas (ojo kshaya) significantly increase risk of mortality. Fifth, long term studies suggest that HDL-C can be a surrogate marker of healthy apara ojas. These facts indirectly prove that cholesterol homeostasis and robust ojas are absolute requirements for health and survival. We explain how these five links provide correlative, potentially causal, and clinical evidence for our hypothesis that cholesterol and products of cholesterol, are candidate biomarkers for ojas.