Debunking The Cholesterol-Heart Disease Myth By Paul D. Tortland, D.O.
The Cholesterol “Problem” M
ost everything we’ve been taught about cholesterol and heart disease is wrong.
The second most commonly pre-
scribed drug in America in 2010 was Zo- cor® (simvastatin). More than 94 million pre- scriptions were filled. Second only to the pain killer, Vicodin®, Zocor is used to treat high cholesterol. It’s a member of the class of medications known as statins. Two other statins, Lipitor® and Crestor®, ranked in the top 10. Statins are prescribed to treat high cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. There’s only one problem. They don’t work! A 2010 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine
analyzed 11 randomized controlled trials covering 65,229 subjects. The authors concluded that statins do not reduce death rates in people who don’t have established heart disease. And they have no benefit for most people who take them. In fact, there has not been even one single legitimate study dem-
onstrating any benefit from statins in people who haven’t already had heart attacks; little benefit for men who had suffered heart attacks; and no benefit for women – ever. Statins also supposedly reduce cholesterol, but there’s no proof of that, either. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the pressure to take statins.
Even more significantly, it has never been shown that reducing cholesterol is actually beneficial. Nonetheless, it’s been ingrained in modern medicine, not to mention in the public’s mind, that choles- terol is a great evil, and that we all need to go on low-fat diets and eat statins to cut cholesterol. Twenty to thirty years ago, in an attempt to reign-in heart dis- ease, leading medical societies, in concert with the federal govern- ment, began pushing low-fat and fat-free food. The thinking went like this: Cardiovascular disease is caused by cholesterol deposits. Cholesterol comes from dietary fat. Therefore, reducing the dietary fat will reduce heart disease. Surprise – it didn’t work either! In fact, since the push for low- fat diets began (coupled with the admonition to eat a diet “high in whole grains”), people have been getting fatter, and heart disease continues to skyrocket, in spite of lowered cholesterol levels. The problem is that the association of cholesterol with cardio-
vascular disease is just that – an association, not a causation. Reduc- ing cholesterol intake to stop heart disease is like saying, “In high crime areas there are more calls to the police. Therefore, to reduce crime, stop calling the police.” Sounds ridiculous, right? So is the push to lower dietary cholesterol.
10 Natural Nutmeg February 2012
What Is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines, or ingested. It’s required to build and maintain cell walls. It helps keep the cell wall fluid or pliable over the
range of physiological temperatures. Cholesterol is the direct precursor for key hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, vitamin D
(yes, vitamin D is a hormone, not a vitamin!), and the blood pressure modulator aldosterone. Bile, which is stored in the gall bladder and secreted to help digest fats and aid in the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K, is made from cholesterol. Healthy nerves and brain development depend on cholesterol.
Many nerves are encased in myelin, a waxy substance that enhances nerve transmission (like the insulation around an electrical wire. Myelin is rich in cholesterol. In other words, cholesterol is essential for all animal life. If
you don’t get enough, your body will make it anyway, in some cases stealing it from other important areas (such as hormone production).
Sources of Cholesterol
By far, the most abundant source of cholesterol is animal fat. All foods containing animal fat contain cholesterol to some extent. Major dietary sources of cholesterol include beef, poultry, pork, fish, shrimp, cheese, and egg yolks. Human breast milk is also cholester- ol-rich.
Cholesterol is not found in significant amounts in plant sourc-
es. In fact, plant products such as flax seeds and peanuts contain cholesterol-like compounds called phytosterols that may actually block cholesterol absorption in the intestines.
Cholesterol Metabolism Contrary to popular belief, HDL (high density lipoprotein) and
LDL (low density lipoprotein) are not respectively “good” and “bad” cholesterol. In fact, they’re not cholesterol at all! They are proteins, specifically, lipoproteins. Since cholesterol is insoluble in blood (fat & water mix poorly), it is carried in the blood by HDL and LDL. It’s a simple and elegant system. LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to where the body needs it for repair and maintenance purposes. HDL carries the un- used or old cholesterol back to the liver for recycling or excretion.
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