Don’t Fall for the Cholesterol Myth – Revealing the Truth About Heart Health
Could you be falling for the cholesterol scam and not even know it? The idea of cholesterol creating cardiac problems has caused obsessive cholesterol count blood testing for decades. Two other outcomes of the cholesterol myth was individuals obsessively avoiding fat in our diets, especially saturated fats – and ultimately turning to dangerous cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statin drugs.
The food industry responded with low and no fat foods from milk to cottage cheese and more. Processed foods promoted their low or no fat contents as though they were the healthiest foods in the freezer.
Healthy fats such as coconut oil and palm oil were spurned and replaced by very unhealthy trans-fat, processed and heated cooking oils. Relatively healthy whole butters were replaced by plastic margarines.
However, this myth of cholesterol dangers lurking in saturated fats waiting to clog your arteries and cause you to die of cardiac arrest is beginning to unravel.
Unraveling the Cholesterol Scam
A meta-analysis of properly performed previous studies on heart health and saturated fats concluded there was no association between cardiac issues and saturated fats. This was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) on January 13th, 2010. (1)
Meta-analysis is a statistical method of proving or disproving varied epidemiological studies within a set topic. The AJCN meta-analysis covered studies involving 350,000 subjects who were followed for 5 to 23 years.
The trend set by the saturated fat high cholesterol scam a few decades ago has resulted in many Americans eating less fat and showing lower blood cholesterol levels. Yet, heart disease rates have continued to rise along with diabetes, pre-diabetes and obesity. (1)
Dr. William Davis explains in his article “A Headline You Will Never See: 60 Year Old Man Dies of Cholesterol” that cholesterol doesn’t kill “any more than a bad paint job on your car could cause a fatal car accident.” (1)
He explains the cause of most heart attacks and coronary problems is atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries, which can build up and rupture or clog the arteries. He goes on to describe other factors that can cause plaque ruptures, including inflammatory pneumonia.
Though there can be some cholesterol in the plaque, cholesterol itself is waxy and pliable. Cholesterol is important for brain cells, nerves and other cellular structural components.
Calcium deposits (calcification) in artery interiors are the much worse components of plaque; calcium belongs in your bones, not in your arteries. Vitamin K2 helps transport calcium out of your blood and into your bones.
Taking calcium supplements may be worse than just unnecessary. Those who supplement with calcium could be more likely to have cardiac issues as they age with perhaps even weaker bones.
Dr. Davis recommends avoiding cholesterol panels for heart health concerns and opting for a measure of coronary atherosclerotic plaque.
The Cholesterol Myth Continues Despite Overwhelming Contradictory Evidence
Despite more and more published journals and doctors proving coronary heart disease (CHD) is not caused by high saturated fat diets and cholesterol, the cholesterol myth persists. Many people with low cholesterol have died of CHD while in their 40s, while many with high cholesterol never have CHD issues.
Several studies of heart attack cadavers have also revealed the disinformation of cholesterol dangers, yet the common advice from cardiologists upon seeing high cholesterol is to get an angiogram, a diagnostic test that is expensive and not so safe. (2) Then there are those pricey statin drugs meant to lower cholesterol while wreaking havoc on overall health. Shockingly, statins have actually been linked to over 300 different adverse affects in peer-reviewed research, including cancer and liver damage.
The truth is, cholesterol is vital for many functions. For example, it helps convert sunlight into vitamin D3. If you’re not getting enough with your food, the liver is forced to manufacture it. Low cholesterol has been linked to higher stroke risks as well.
Oxidized cholesterol from hydrogenated and refined polyunsaturated cooking oils and margarine can lead to complications that result in CHD. This comes not only directly from the oils themselves, but indirectly from the oxidation process those oils initiate.
These toxic oils and butter substitutes were created to replace the wholesome saturated fats that should be consumed.
Additional Sources:
many of my patients who came off their statins, improved within a week to 10 days – an increase of energy, no sore muscles and other symptoms disappeared – many of them who went on a proper, healthy diet eliminating trans fats, sugar etc and started regular excercise got their life back and cholesterol levels within the ( so called) normal range.
Bearnairdin……I am a real skeptic when it comes to these numbers. What would say is the normal range? My mothers side of the familly has high cholesterol no matter what they do and it seems I am the same. My total was 270 last I checked. That was also the first time I checked it. I am 47.
Thanks in advance for your feeback.