The Biggest Lie in Medicine: The Cholesterol Conspiracy

We've been fed an enormous lie, with devastating consequences, when it comes to heart disease and cholesterol.

This is what we are told, over and over again: High levels of cholesterol clog arteries and lead to heart attacks. Lower the cholesterol, and you won't get a heart attack. Sounds simple enough, right? They complicate it up a bit with the idea that there is "bad" cholesterol (LDL, or low density lipoprotein), and "good" cholesterol (HDL, or high density lipoprotein). They recommend a diet low in saturated fat and high in grains, veggies and fruit to raise the HDL and lower the LDL. Triglycerides are thrown in the mix as well.

They tell us to take statins to lower cholesterol and prevent heart attacks. There has even been talk of dumping statins into our municipal water supplies to "protect us all". Although statins have a slew of side effects, they still claim it's worth the risk.

Let's examine what the function of cholesterol is in our bodies:

Repairing cells: Cholesterol is essential in the formation of new cells and in the repair of worn out cells or injured cells as it is an important component of the cell membrane. Thus cholesterol can rightly be called the building block for bodily tissues.*

Brain function: Cholesterol has a very critical role to play in the nervous system. Treating the neurons with a 10 mcg/mL solution of cholesterol increased synapse formation by 12 times and thus improved learning and memory.**

Manufacture of Vitamin D: Cholesterol is the precursor of Vitamin D. Sunlight converts cholesterol to vitamin D which is essential for calcium metabolism, blood sugar regulation, improving immunity and cancer prevention. Most foods that are cholesterol dense are also good sources of vitamin D – e.g. meat, poultry, egg etc.

Hormone Synthesis: Cholesterol helps in the synthesis of most steroid hormones. Cholesterol is the precursor of pregnenolone. Pregnenolone can either be converted to progesterone or testosterone (sex hormones). It also helps in the formation of glucocorticoids (help in blood sugar regulation) and mineralocorticoids (fluid balance and blood pressure regulation)*

Bile production: Body uses cholesterol for synthesis of bile which emulsifies fat. Liver helps in the conversion of cholesterol to bile acid. Higher the cholesterol to cholic acid ratio faster is the production of bile acids.**

Antioxidant: HDL cholesterol is a powerful antioxidant. It scavenges free radicals and prevent oxidative damage in the system. Thus, reduces the incidence of metabolic syndrome.
*

blog.caloricious.com...

So, it is obvious that cholesterol has some very important functions when it comes to our good health. So why is it considered a villain to be eliminated?

Here are some facts, courtesy of Mark Hyman, MD:

• If you lower bad cholesterol (LDL) but have a low HDL (good cholesterol) there is no benefit to statins. (i)

• If you lower bad cholesterol (LDL) but don't reduce inflammation (marked by a test called C-reactive protein), there is no benefit to statins. (ii)

• If you are a healthy woman with high cholesterol, there is no proof that taking statins reduces your risk of heart attack or death. (iii)

• If you are a man or a woman over 69 years old with high cholesterol, there is no proof that taking statins reduces your risk of heart attack or death. (iv)

• Aggressive cholesterol treatment with two medications (Zocor and Zetia) lowered cholesterol much more than one drug alone, but led to more plaque build up in the arties and no fewer heart attacks. (v)

• 75% of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol

• Older patients with lower cholesterol have higher risks of death than those with higher cholesterol. (vi)

• Countries with higher average cholesterol than Americans such as the Swiss or Spanish have less heart disease.

• Recent evidence shows that it is likely statins' ability to lower inflammation is what accounts for the benefits of statins, not their ability to lower cholesterol.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

According to this doctor (and many others), the true culprit behind the rampant heart disease phenomenon is INFLAMMATION! Inflammation causes coronary artery disease, by inflaming the arteries. Over time, the inside of the arteries become scarred-up, causing the cholesterol to stick to the artery wall, eventually blocking them. Inflammation in western cultures is most commonly caused by....wait for it....SUGAR.

One of the biggest cholesterol myths out there has to do with dietary fat. Although most of us have been taught that a high-fat diet causes cholesterol problems, this isn't entirely true. Here's why: The type of fat that you eat is more important than the amount of fat. Trans fats or hydrogenated fats and saturated fats promote abnormal cholesterol, whereas omega-3 fats and monounsaturated fats actually improve the type and quantity of the cholesterol your body produces.

In reality, the biggest source of abnormal cholesterol is not fat at all -- it's sugar. The sugar you consume converts to fat in your body. And the worst culprit of all is high fructose corn syrup.

Consumption of high fructose corn syrup, which is present in sodas, many juices, and most processed foods, is the primary nutritional cause of most of the cholesterol issues we doctors see in our patients.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

Here is why I believe there is a "soft kill" conspiracy happening. I did research all afternoon, and I couldn't find one single credible source which says that cholesterol is directly and solely responsible for heart disease. I believe that high cholesterol is a sign that our bodies are feeling under attack. Cholesterol manufactures vitamin D, which is an important vitamin for our immune systems. Blaming cholesterol for heart disease is like blaming firemen when they show up to fight a fire. Also makes you wonder why they don't want even children in the sunshine without sunscreen, as sunshine also helps create vitamin D...but I digress...

I think that, by lowering cholesterol, all they are doing is hastening our deaths. Rather than address the real cause of heart disease, which is our poor western diet, the entire medical community wants our cholesterol levels way down. Without addressing and removing sources of inflammatory-causing foods that are rampant in our diet, they just want us to take a statin pill instead, even though the studies show it has no effect on preventing heart disease.

I find it terribly disturbing that this myth is pushed so heavily by the very people we rely on to keep us healthy. I've never seen one doctor who inquired about my diet, or given me any nutritional advice. Medical students only get a week of nutrition education in medical school.

Seems to me that TPTB really don't want us to be healthy, do they? So they lie to us, tell us to use sunscreen, statins, and conveniently forget to warn us that things like sugar, HFCS, white refined flour, etc., are making us all completely inflamed, and ripe for an early demise.

I contend that it is a conspiracy. Wide-spread, insidious, and just plain evil.

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
There has even been talk of dumping statins into our municipal water supplies to "protect us all".

Oh crap !! Don't say that !! There is a huge amount of medicinal runoff in our water supply now that reclaimation can't get out ... we don't need to add statins! Holy freakn' you know what!! That's horrid!

Statins make people ditzy. I know a few people on them and they'll tell you that their cognitive abilities have slipped since getting on them. I wouldn't touch them for anything ....

reply to post by FlyersFan


Statins do make people ditzy. Along with nasty liver damage, when you lower cholesterol, you lower the body's ability to make neurotransmitters. My 87 year old mother-in-law was sharp as a tack, despite her age, until the doctor forced statins on her last year. I begged her not to take them, but she said the doctor told her "I take them, they're harmless, and you should too, to keep you healthy."

She's now having some cognitive troubles and is becoming forgetful. This happened as soon as she started taking those damned statins.

Thanks so much for posting this.

I was diagnosed with high cholesterol several times in the past few years and despite my doctor's protests, I refused to go on statins.

I went home and did my own research and came to the conclusion that the cholesterol crap is a myth, designed to have us buy medicine we don't need.

Did you know some Harvard med students had a protest---because they were angry that their teachers were taking money from drug companies? Most of the professors then were pushing statins on their students, touting their benefits, and in the meantime, these professors were taking money on the side to deliver this information to their students.

At Harvard!

WTF?

Ah, it's so hard to to discern what is true or not anymore.

cool to come across this thread now, in my life.

Just a couple of days ago, I was told I had high cholesterol levels, at 280, and they prescribed statins.

I will not take them, though, because a dear friend of mine, who is a doctor, herself, and works exclusively with older patients, has said many times in the past that statins are about the worst thing that you can do to your body and to take them only if you feel like dying.

I believe her when she speaks, for sure.

Then the info in this thread comes along

Interesting info and thank you very much!

I've also heard that anyone taking statins needs to be taking CoQ10.
I think it's mostly for proper heart function, but I've heard it's also for proper brain function.

Our body makes this naturally, but that process declines as we age. Plus statins block production of it.

It's one of the more expensive supplements, of course.
Easier to stay healthy if you're rich enough to afford the supplements.

i'm with ya sista!! i was just talking to my wife about this very issue. i have, for the thrid time now, not gone in for my cholesterol tests my Doctor so eagerly pushes. he had me on statins for about 4 months until i said hell no, they made my forgetfulness rise markedly and gave me aches and pains like nothing else. i have never had heart disease problem's anytime in my entire life nor has anyone on both sides of my lineage and we all have high cholesterol.

FissionSurplus

I'm glad you did this thread..My doctor put me on a statin to lower cholesterol and i took it for 3 months and that drug was a nightmare i felt sick every joint in my body hurt never again..

I think the pharmaceutical industry has capitalized on the slogan of "bad cholesterol" and has produced toxic to the body chemicals that minimally lower the level of cholesterol in the body and in the process cause liver damage to thousands of people, some who die as a result of using the medications.

And thinking about dumping statins into our municipal water supplies to "protect us all". lord save us all I'm so glad I'm on my own well and not dependent on public water supply's ..Your right the whole thing is just plain evil!

As far as I'm concerned they can take every statin drug to the garbage dump that drug i believe would have killed me..peace,sugarcookie1

Very interesting. Thank you for taking the time to put all this together, and share it. High cholesterol runs in my family. I have it. I don't really care for drugs. I don't even like taking Tylenol. My doctor gave me a prescription for these pills, and I went to have it filled. I read the paper that came with it, saw the side effects, and decided not to take them. The side effects are terrible. I decided I'd make some changes to my diet instead. The side effects aren't worth taking those pills.

reply to post by MRuss


I have read that most medical schools are heavily funded by Big Pharma, and the professors are to spend a great deal of time "educating" the students on the newest drugs and how to prescribe them. Our medical schools have been infiltrated and corrupted, so it is no wonder that they crank out a bunch of ill-informed docs who only repeat what was drilled into their heads in school. They've become walking prescription pads, and very poor at diagnosis and critical thinking. Only the smartest docs can see through the deception. Those are the ones that care!

I was also diagnosed with high cholesterol and triglycerides in my 30s, almost 20 years ago. Right after that, I came down with fibromyalgia and rhematoid arthritis. I believe the cholesterol was rising to combat the inflammation and immune dysfunction that was occuring. It seems so obvious to me now, high cholesterol is due to a disease process or injury occuring within the body.

reply to post by Jomina


Yes. Statins are not the harmless miracle drug they were touted as, for sure. They put my mother on them, her liver almost failed and she became deathly ill. The statins were stopped, and her liver function returned as well as her feeling a lot better.

I seriously think it is conspiratorial to try to lower cholesterol, rather than attack the source of the problem, which is inflammation.

reply to post by snowspirit


I take CoQ10. It's not horribly expensive, but it's not cheap, either. CoQ10 is used in all cells of the body for energy production. How weird that statins affect that as well!

Wheat and other grains are also equally as bad as sugar when it comes to inflammation.

reply to post by LittleBlackEagle


You did good to stop the statins! I think perhaps it may behoove you to adjust your diet, and cut out all the things that cause inflammation. I personally have gone to a "paleo" diet. Oh, how I miss bread, tortillas, sugar, etc., but I do feel so much better. I suspect that, with my current way of eating, if I were to get my cholesterol checked, it would be closer to a normal range. I doubt I'll ever get it down to where they say it's supposed to be, because I have an inflammatory auto-immune disorder....and, according to what I've read in the past, they've changed what is considered a "normal range", so that it is much lower than it used to be.

Therefore, people who used to be within normal limits, are now being flagged as having high cholesterol, and then pushed on statins. What a sick racket.

reply to post by sugarcookie1


I imagine there's a whole bunch of drugs that are prescribed to combat the side effects of statins. When they came out with statins a few years ago, I remember all these doctors going on news shows talking about what a "miracle" drug it was, and how it would change the face of heart disease and cure millions of people!

LMAO! Any time I see TV quacks crowing over something and calling it a "miracle", my B.S. meter goes off the scale. There are no miracles in medicine anymore. We have to rely on curing ourselves with what we eat and how we live our lives.

My mother, who tried statins and got really sick, now takes niacin (a B vitamin) instead. It is apparently working very well for her.

reply to post by CatrionaBeldame


Excellent for you! Diet is the key.

reply to post by KatieVA


That is true. I didn't "go there" with this thread, but I no longer eat grains, especially wheat. My diet is rather spartan, but my joints aren't as inflamed, and I no longer have the bloated "wheat belly".

I eat meats, veggies, some dairy, and eggs. I also drink a lot of water. Very, very boring, but I feel so much better.

It becomes one of those "eat what you want and enjoy it now, then pay for it days afterwards", versus "eat what is good for your body now, and feel good for days afterwards" type of thing. I've had a lifetime of grains and sugars, and poor health starting in my late 30s was the result.

Stunningly brilliant thread OP.

I have always had sugar "issues" my entire life...despite having a horrible sweet tooth.
Consider it banished.
Oh, what's that?
TURKEY.

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
I eat meats, veggies, some dairy, and eggs. I also drink a lot of water. Very, very boring, but I feel so much better.

I also have autoimmune (Sjogrens) and high cholesterol (259). I eat a ton of meat and veggies. Plain yogurt. Water. That's about it. If I even take one bite of bread or pasta or anything with sugar ... BAM! .... cascade!

I sure miss coffee.

anyways ... I won't go near the statins.

reply to post by AccessDenied


Thanks, Access! I actually came across an article about a year ago, that there has never been any definitive proof that cholesterol causes heart disease, and I was floored. Then, I did a lot of thinking about why they tell us to slather our children in sun screen, and why middle-aged and older people are being pushed on statins, and it dawned on me that it is another front on their "soft kill" war.

I also have a sweet tooth that is very difficult to tame. I used to eat so many sugary things, it was insane. Now it is no surprise that I am "pre-diabetic" and have terrible blood sugar problems when I eat something sweet, or eat grains.

I made a wonderful turkey salad with Thanksgiving left overs, with lots of yummy mayonnaise, on a bed of lettuce. Well, it's not as awesome as a big hunk of cheesecake, but I'll live a lot longer, and not have type II Diabetes, so I'll live with the deprivation.

If I'm dying for something sweet, I take two tablespoons of cocoa powder, two packets of Stevia sweetener, then add hot water and mix. Then, two tablespoons of heavy cream. It tastes wonderful and keeps me from eating something much worse.