THE TRUTH ABOUT CHOLESTEROL

Compiled by Owen R. Fonorow, Doctor of Naturopathy, Ph.D. 2003
"At Framingham, we found that the people who ate the most saturated fat, the most cholesterol and the most calories weighed the least, were more physically active and had the lowest serum cholesterol levels."
- William Castelli, M.D., Director of the Framingham Study. The Archives of Internal Medicine, July 1992, Vol. 152, pages 1371-72

Everything we know is wrong...

Much of what we are told by our most trusted authorities turns out to be the exact OPPOSITE of what is true and what should be heeded. "Avoid foods that are high in cholesterol." This is yet another example of thoroughly misguided advice from our so-called health authorities.

-- Thomas E. Levy, MD JD

Cholesterol Primer

Far from being a health destroyer, cholesterol is absolutely essential for life.

Although most people think of it as being "fat in the blood," only 7 percent of the body's cholesterol is found there. In fact, cholesterol is not really fat at all; it's a pearly-colored, waxy, solid alcohol that is soapy to the touch. The bulk of the cholesterol in your body, the other 93 percent, is located in every cell of the body, where its unique waxy, soapy consistency provides the cell membranes with their structural integrity and regulates the flow of nutrients into and waste products out of the cells.

"In addition, among its other diverse and essential functions are these: Cholesterol is the building block from which you body makes several important hormones: the adrenal hormones (aldosterone, which helps regulate blood pressure, and hydrocortisone, the body's natural steriod) and the sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone). If you don't have enough cholesterol, you won't make enough sex hormones."

-- Michael R. Eades, M.D., and Mary Dan Eades, M.D

Cholesterol is the body's natural detoxification mechanism High cholesterol levels develop in response to the presence of toxins; the toxins are neutralized by the cholesterol. When patients with high cholesterol levels (over 240 mg%) had their mercury amalgams and sources of dental infection removed, these levels usually dropped dramatically within a few days When toxin levels have been minimized, most people's cholesterol levels will be between 160 and 220mg%.

-- Thomas E. Levy, MD JD, OPTIMAL NUTRITION FOR OPTIMAL HEALH

The concept that cholesterol can inactivate or neutralize a wide variety of toxins is not new; researchers have identified cholesterol as an inactivator of multiple bacterial toxins. Other researchers have shown that elevation of serum cholesterol actually served as a marker for various toxic exposures. The toxicity of pesticides reliably elevates the cholesterol levels of those exposed individuals and one researcher showed that dogs exposed to low levels of methylmercury developed progressively higher levels of cholesterol in the blood over time."

-- Thomas Levy, MD, JD, Optimal Nutrition for Optimal Health, pg. 89-91

Roles in the body

"A quick review of this list should give a better idea of what cholesterol does and to dispel any notion that it is a destroyer of health to be feared and avoided at all costs. Far from being a serial killer, cholesterol is absolutely essential for good health; without it you would die. Without cholesterol we would lose the strength and stability of our cells, rendering them much less resistant to invasion by infection and malignancy. In fact, a grave sign of serious illness, such as cancer development or crippling arthritis, is a falling cholesterol level. "

- Michael R. Eades, M.D., and Mary Dan Eades, M.D., PROTEIN POWER, 1996.

Cholesterol does not cause heart disease

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics, a steadily growing group of scientists, physicians, other academicians and science writers from various countries are questioning the common dogma that dietary saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease. Not only is there no proof to support this hypothesis, says spokesman Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, of Lund, Sweden, but the available scientific evidence clearly contradicts this claim.

Ravnskov says that the accumulated evidence from nine dietary trials, presented by a group of British researchers in the 31 March, 2001 issue of British Medical Journal showed that not a single life has been saved by dietary changes to reduce fat intake that went far beyond the official recommendations.

Dr. Walter Willet, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, is the spokesman for the ongoing longest-running, most comprehensive diet and health study ever performed that involves nearly 300,000 subjects. As he recently noted, data from this study clearly contradict the low-fat-is-good-health message, and "the idea that all fat is bad for you; the exclusive focus on adverse effects of fat may have contributed to the obesity epidemic.''

-- www.redflagsweekly.com/Thursday_report/2002_sept05.html

Dangers of cholesterol lowering (statin) drugs

There is little evidence that lowering cholesterol protects human beings from heart disease. According to the Life Extension Foundation, of those who suffer heart attacks under age 50, more than 50 percent have no recognized risk factors.

-- www.lef.org

According to noted nutrition expert Earl Mindell in his recent book Prescription Alternatives, "There is absolutely no evidence anywhere that normal cholesterol floating around in the blood does any harm. In fact, cholesterol is the building block for all your steroid hormones, which includes all the sex hormones and the cortisones. Even slightly low levels of cholesterol are associated with depression, suicide, and lung cancer in older women. . . For most people, eating high cholesterol foods does not raise cholesterol."

While a cholesterol-lowering drug will usually do a very good job of lowering your cholesterol, there's scant, if any, evidence that it will help you live longer or reduce your risk of heart attack If the American public had even a clue of how destructive these drugs are, they wouldn't touch them. . . Every information sheet on the most commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs will tell you that they cause cancer in rodents when taken long term in relatively normal doses. It's also well-known that they can cause severe emotional imbalances in men, along with a wide array of life-threatening side effects. . . The wisest course of action is to avoid these drugs... "

- Earl Mindell

Cholesterol drugs - a death sentence?

Lipid lowering drugs inhibit the formation of cholesterol by the liver. This mechanism also has other unwanted effects. The same enzymes that are involved in the production of cholesterol are also required for the production of an essential compound called coenzyme Q10; not surprisingly, lower cholesterol levels in statin users are accompanied by reduced levels of CoQ10.

Coenzyme Q10 -- also called ubiquinone, which means "occurring everywhere" -- plays an important role in the manufacture of ATP, the fuel that runs cellular processes. Although it is present in every cell in your body, it is especially concentrated in the very active cells of your heart. Depriving the heart of CoQ10 is like removing a spark plug from your engine -- it just won't work. Low levels of CoQ10 are implicated in virtually all cardiovascular diseases, including angina, hypertension, cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure.

In 1990, the drug manufacturer Merck sought and received a patent for Mevacor and other statin drugs formulated with up to 1,000 mg of coenzyme Q10 to prevent or alleviate cardiomyopathy, a serious condition that can cause congestive heart failure. However, Merck has not brought these combination products to market, nor has this drug company educated physicians on the important of supplementing CoQ10 to offset the dangers of these drugs to the heart. Because they hold the patent, other drug companies are prevented from coming out with a statin/CoQ10 product.

In the last 15 years (roughly the time that statins have been on the market), the incidence of congestive heart failure has tripled.

Peter H. Langsjoen, MD

Cholesterol lowering drugs linked to cataracts

Richard Cenedella, Ph.D., announced today that a recent multinational scientific study supports his hypothesis that brief exposure to very high levels of some statins may irreversibly damage the lens of the eye. The study by Christopher Meier's of the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland, suggests that taking the antibiotic erythromycin in combination with the popular statin-cholesterol lowering drugs may increase the risk of cataracts. Erythromycin slows removal of most statins from the body and can greatly increase blood levels of these drugs. The study results published in Archives of Internal Medicine, indicate that a single course of antibiotic, typically 10 days, appeared to double the risk of cataracts and two or more courses tripled the risk.

Richard Cenedella, Ph.D.

Cholesterol lowering drugs increase cancer risk

All members of the two most popular classes of lipid-lowering drugs (the fibrates and the statins) cause cancer in rodents, in some cases at levels of animal exposure close to those prescribed to humans."

-- JAMA on-line

New research indicates that besides lowering levels of cholesterol, the statin drugs may also promote the growth of new blood vessels, which may not necessarily be such a great thing. Although this effect may help to prevent heart attacks and other forms of heart disease, it may have the potential to promote cancer growth as well.

-- Joe Mercola,


The Cure For Heart Disease