BLOG: The myth and the mystique of cholesterol

Cholesterol is a misunderstood molecule. Many people might not be aware of it, but, for a long time, there has been a vocal minority of doctors, researchers and health professionals who believe that cholesterol and fat have been wrongly convicted as the primary promoters of heart disease. Along with many of our fellow health professionals, we believe that this emphasis on cholesterol has caused us to take our attention off what we believe to be the true promoters of heart disease – inflammation, oxidative damage, stress and sugar. Therefore, blaming cholesterol for heart disease is like blaming the fireman for the fire.

According to cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, MD, and naturopathic doctor Jonny Bowden, ND, the evidence against cholesterol as a causal factor in heart disease is much weaker than was previously believed. They make their case in their book, The Great Cholesterol Myth, complete with hundreds of medical references from peer-reviewed journals. They also believe that the statin drugs given to lower cholesterol are being over-prescribed and are not without significant side effects.

Cholesterol is needed for life. Cholesterol is the parent molecule for all the major sex hormones, including estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. It’s needed for the immune system and it’s needed for the brain. In fact, one of the most serious side effects of cholesterol-lowering medication is memory loss. Cholesterol also combines with UV light to make vitamin D in the skin (which many people are low in), helps with neurotransmitter function, lubricates the skin and protects us from infectious disease of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs. We need this stuff. According to some studies in Europe, the higher your cholesterol, the longer you’re going to live.

Cholesterol is the wrong target for heart disease. “Trying to prevent heart disease by lowering cholesterol is like trying to reduce calories by taking the lettuce off your [hamburger],” says Bowden. It’s not that the lettuce doesn’t have any calories – it’s that it’s the wrong target. And cholesterol is the wrong target if you’re trying to prevent heart disease. Neither cholesterol nor fat is the major villain in the American diet – sugar is. We also believe that the case against cholesterol, which was made nearly 30 years ago, was based on faulty evidence. The case needs to be reopened, and the evidence needs to be re-examined.

Thus, everything we’ve heard about cholesterol is wrong. Many people with normal and low cholesterol have heart attacks, and 50% of people with elevated cholesterol have normal, healthy hearts. Nutritionists see high “bad” cholesterol as the body’s response to inflammation, so rather than seek to control cholesterol, they seek to find and eliminate the root cause of the inflammation so your body can find its own balance of healthy cholesterol. And the LDL is not really “bad” cholesterol until it becomes oxidized, which disrupts the membrane and causes “spikes” that create localized injury to the intima of the blood vessels.

Reading and interpreting the labs

It is helpful to learn how to read and interpret nutrition scores. Total cholesterol is an almost meaningless number. To get valuable information from cholesterol numbers, you have to look at them more closely: HDL, LDL (including particle size) and triglycerides.

The traditional message to avoid fat and cholesterol must fall apart, because while it might lower your cholesterol somewhat, it will turn what you have into more harmful cholesterol. Eating a low-carb, high fat diet might raise your total cholesterol a tiny amount (on average), but it also raises your HDL cholesterol (the good one), lowers your triglycerides and increases the size of your LDL particles (very good for your health). The smaller the particle size, the worse the LDL is for your health. So relax, and let the fear of cholesterol melt away. Remember, eating fat doesn’t make you fat.

See the guidelines below to achieve healthy cholesterol and a healthy heart.

Avoid or reduce:

all trans-fats and hydrogenated oils (fractionated oils). Eliminate any product that has “hydrogenated” in its food label from your pantry and refrigerator. This includes margarines, shortening and most commercially produced cakes, cookies and crackers. Watch out for nondairy creamers. Many of these products also have “0 mg” under the trans-fat section on the label, so that is not a good indicator.
all GMOs – soy, corn, cottonseed, canola oil and sugar from sugar beets
fried foods
pasteurized dairy products and gluten/wheat
the use of iodized salt; replace with Himalayan pink salt or Celtic sea salt
coffee intake
high-sugar foods such as cakes, candies, cookies and processed desserts
smoking

Add to your diet:

legumes and beans: mung, adzuki, black, garbanzo, lentils, tempeh
gluten-free grains: quinoa, millet, amaranth, brown rice, buckwheat (assuming you still want grains)
vegetables (especially fat-busting veggies such as onion, leek, daikon and red radish, scallions, shallots and chives)
dark, leafy greens
fruit: organic berries, apple, grapefruit and other citrus fruits
spices: cinnamon and turmeric (½ teaspoon of each per day)
fish: wild coldwater fish like salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel and sardines
pasture-raised animal meats
good fats: avocado, raw nuts and seeds, ghee, grass-fed butter, duckfat (yes, duckfat), grapeseed oil and coconut oil

Supplementation:

fish oil capsules (two to three with breakfast, typically containing 600 mg EPA+DHA)
greens complex capsules (two with breakfast and two with lunch)
turmeric capsules (two with breakfast and two with lunch)
CoQ10 (one upon waking and one mid-morning)