The Biggest Lie in Medicine: The Cholesterol Conspiracy

Just went for checkup last week and my cholesterol is at 230
I have known I had a cholesterol issue for the last 12 years but always avoided statins.

But now with latest tests I think I have little choice....I don't know what else to do.
The pills along with high BP pills make me feel light headed and lethargic. But I don't want a stroke or heart attack and leave my wife and daughter in a bind.
I'm only 42
What to do.....

reply to post by FissionSurplus


WE believe this "lie" because when you go to the doctor for "bad cholesterol" he suggests a diet that improves the amount of "good cholesterol" in our bodies but he won't tell us that because nobody cares anyway, they care only to feel healthy and well and full of energy.

I had a huge amount of "bad cholesterol" when i was younger and the bad thing was that my blood was so dense it could clog any time and cause a heart attack, anevrism etc. It was visibly darker and more of the consistancy of liquid jello or something similar. So cholesterol is bad and good at the same time.

Oh and exercising lowers the bad stuff a lot so take up a sport or just walk everywhere (no driving).

Originally posted by The Great Day
Just went for checkup last week and my cholesterol is at 230

I have known I had a cholesterol issue for the last 12 years but always avoided statins.

But now with latest tests I think I have little choice....I don't know what else to do.
The pills along with high BP pills make me feel light headed and lethargic. But I don't want a stroke or heart attack and leave my wife and daughter in a bind.
I'm only 42
What to do.....

You do have a choice. There are natural, safe alternatives to statins.

"Why Animals Don't Get Heart Attacks but People Do" , Fourth Revised Edition (2003)
By Dr. Matthias Rath, M.D.

My ATS thread on this:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

“Dr. Rath’s research identifies the TRUE CAUSE of heart disease as a DEFICIENCY of VITAMIN C and other essential nutrients in the cells composing the heart and coronary arteries – NOT HIGH CHOLESTEROL.

I was told I had high cholesterol years ago, I refused to take the medication the doctor gave me. I few months ago I started having bad chest pain and no matter what I tried nothing made it go away. A co worker told me to take Niacin, D3, and omega 3-6-9, so I tried it with in a few days I stopped having the attacks of chest pain. I have been taking it for 2 weeks now and haven't had any more chest pain. I am so relieved the pains have stopped.

My opinion is that all Animal fat's are not good for the body in great quantities. Why? Because of the state of the fat under room temperature. Most animal fat's have to be processed by your body to digest! Think about it, what is better for your veins.

A. Natural Fat's (Olive Oil, Hemp Oil, etc) (I only buy cold pressed, if it is warmed it will loose a lot of the benefits!)

They are always in a liquid form and will be digested much more easily

B. Animal Fat's

You now got fat's that have to be processed because the fat's are in a solid form. I don't think a lot of people are keeping their butter warm at +35 degrees. Also I believe that there is no difference between white and red meat, it is all fat! The same goes for Fish.

Our intestinal system is build as a herbivore, It is long to process all the plant's. We have for a reason several meters of intestines, not like meat eaters that have a short intestine system to process all the meat! Also we do not have any incisor any more that we use to devour meat like a wolf does.

I cannot find the youtube link, prolly deleted again sigh.

case in point :
my wife went into the doctor's office for a checkup about 12 or so years ago and it was the last time she has been to a dr. I am 62 and haven't seen one fro any type of physical checkup since high school.
my wife was told she had high blood pressure and needed to start taking the anticholesterol (not sure what it is called.)stuff right away.
the dr. being another female would not listen to my wife attempting to say she was just nervous, white coat syndrome.
so on the way home she stopped and bought a home blood pressure kit - even got some pin pricking kit for testing blood.
she has always been under the average - some where around 120 over 70. about 70 beats pm.
dr'.s rely solely on the bell curve and try to squeeze everyone into this curve.
most folks are individuals - imagine.
since then we have both come to the same conclusion - cholesterol is the oil it takes to keep the parts working.

great post - s&f.

reply to post by davjan4


You are my age, I remember a long time ago, that the doctors used to give patients papers or brochures on proper nutrition, they don't do that anymore, I guess keeping the public uninformed is better for business, now they only offer a life time of prescription drugs to treat no cure because is not money on cures only on treatments.

But is tons of information on the net about how to beat most ailments before they become chronic.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Yes interesting, that in another thread now after two generations of failing health in the American population the genetic link is born, now if anybody in your family have any health problem, with diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer you are at risk because is a genetic link.

Interestingly high blood pressure runs in my mother side of the family, but the females live long lives my grandmother and her sisters are all alive and well into their 80s.

Now because my mother was a heavy smoker for over 30 years and developed arteriosclerosis in her fifties and had a mild stroke and a stent the doctor decided that I am at risk, even when I am fit exercise at high impact and never had any other problems but what is call white coat hypertension, so the link to genetics with me was made when I told my doctor of my mothers problems.

So fascinating how the medical community does their business, so If I let my doctor get away with it, I will be on statins, two or three different blood pressure medications, anti depressants (because supposedly middle age women need them) and who knows what else.

The blood pressure scam is another topic, is not a single blood pressure pill in the market that will not give you side effects, the blood pressure measuring is a hoax, the big pharma found a way back in the days to get the numbers lowered so they could reach a more wider group on the community and tag them hypertensive.

Actually when the blood pressure of a healthy adult is lowered artificially the body can not really cope with that making the person ill and unable to feel his best.

And now big pharma is been working into lowering even more the cholesterol numbers again and the blood pressure also.

Actually a healthy and active adult with higher blood pressure numbers is actually and indication of a hart that is fit.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


That is so true, my husband at 54 had the most incredible blood pressure ever, I am the one with the (emotional one) I always tell him that is him the one that get my blood pressure boiling.

reply to post by marg6043


You have any links on the BP stuff? Very interested, if so!

Thanks.

Originally posted by Raxoxane
Quite synchronistic,that i see this thread for the first time today-i had to go to the doc for i the second time this year,i tend to avoid docs but a woman should have a Pap smear and gynae checkup once every 18 months at least,at my age,which is in my 40's.Now this time,i figured my heart was seriously acting up,fluttering like a bird in my chest,a sore "bruised" feel to it,and extending up into my neck+ear,left side,also a feeling of being about to hyperventilate.I felt that warranted a check-up.So,she listened to my heart,got me on the treadmill connected to the little ECG machine,with before and after-exertion result results(sorry :-) i know im describing it in a clumsy way). After perusing the readout she told me that my heart is strong,bt she's worried about my cholesterol.I told her i eat Lots of fruit,100% juice+water,hardly ever soda+suchlike,veggies,very little meat,usually wholewheat bread,etc-this is a way of life for us,i go out of my way to avoid anything with preservatives,chemicals and suchlike,in feeding my family.Our diet is based on simple,pure foods that a human body's genetic make-up is primed to recognise as nutrition,eg yoghurt as dairy,potato as carbohydrates,chicken as protein,i don't allow anything down our gullets,in general,thats not plain,simple and natural.Still,she said,healthy eating,while a wise thing, has in itself no bearing on one's cholesterol level-that is genetic.So im supposed to go for a blood test to check my Chol levels,also to check for iron+sugar levels and thyroid function.Im gonna have to find a homeopathic way to reduce my Chol levels then,if they Are bad. I try to avoid chemical medication like the plague,i only take headache pills,when i have bronchitis,eg i let it run its course.Takes longer than if i would treat it with antibiotics,but it does pass,leaving me none the worse for wear.

You may be pre-menopausal. It's not uncommon for estrogen fluctuations to cause heart palpitations. I have the same problem - felt like my heart was skipping beats, but the heart "fluttering" is a very common symptom. I went to the doctor about it - they put me on a 48-hour heart monitor. They told me my heart was fine, and that I had something called Premature Ventricular Contraction (PVC). It's harmless - it just feels really scary. Different things cause it, like stress, medications, diet, and hormone fluctuations (estrogen, thyroid, etc.). You don't have to take drugs for the palpitations, unless it is really hurting your quality of life, and of course the drugs have side affects. I don't take anything for it - I just live with it.

Back on topic - I am really confused - when you look at charts showing the cause of death for Americans from early 20th century on, the number one cause of death is heart disease (with the exception of pre-1910, when tuberculosis and influenza/pneumonia were leading killers). It's pretty much stayed that way for over a hundred years - despite the differences in our diets over the years. And yet, life expectancy has gotten longer over the years. I know that part of the longer life expectancy average includes birth mortality rates, which have greatly improved, but that's not all of it. So, are the old ways of eating any better than the new ways of eating? Does diet not affect us as much as we think?? Is it really just genetics?? I don't know the answers.

www.cdc.gov...

i'm unsure if it's been mentioned but there is more to add to the mix, as if we didn't have enough already.

low level radiation is causing a great deal of heart disease post Chernobyl and post Fukushima.

www.sciencedaily.com...

agreenroad.blogspot.ca...

we still have isotopes in our atmosphere from Chernobyl and of course the ongoing Fukushima with Cesium 137 and 134 being the main culprits along with Iodine 131 in some area's of Japan, Iodine 131 being a much shorter lived isotope.

i think what we're seeing is the possible compounding of several issues on today's human being. you take poor diet, bad habits, lack of exercise, bacterial and viral mutation/resistance, pollution and radioactive fallout and you have the makings of a severe health risk.

worth a look into for anyone interested.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


THANK YOU! Thank you so much for posting this. I have been trying to tell people this for years, but the lie is so deeply ingrained into everyone's brains, no one will believe it. The idea that full-fat dairy products, meat, and eggs are bad for you, while empty foods like graham crackers or rice cakes are good for you is a joke! I addressed this issue in a past thread about egg consumption supposedly being as bad for you as smoking: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Many people will not give up on the cholesterol lie. Google "Ancel Keys flawed study" for more info on where this stupid cholesterol myth came from. It's killing us, but I'm sure big pharma doesn't mind that one bit.

Think of all the kids in public school who are being fed Michelle Obama's new "healthy" lunches--devoid of meat or fat. Just empty carbohydrates to fill their bellies. It's no wonder so many are overweight and malnourished.

Yes, Americans are malnourished. Because without fat--good fats, mind you--you cannot absorb many vitamins. There are a wide range of vitamins (A, D, E, and K most notably) that are fat soluble. Meaning, without fat, your body cannot absorb them. Deficiencies in these vitamins can cause all sorts of problems--unhealthy immune system, lowered fertility, high blood pressure, cancer, depression, and other mental disorders.

reply to post by violet


I am sorry you are having health problems, my mother had a mild stroke that she didn't even felt until a test was done and it showed on the test her hart had mild scaring from it.

That is when the test showed that one of the main veins of the hart was almost close and that is what it prompted the stroke she had a stent put in this was when she was 59, she didn't have high cholesterol just hypertension, but she was a heavy smoker.

She was put on Lipitor for cholesterol, well she developed bruises all over the bodie and her liver enzymes went over the roof.

So she can not take any statins, she is now 68 and her stent is still good and her hart has improved and she doesn't take statins.

The best way to fight hart disease is becoming active beside the change in diet, so mild cardiovascular exercise is the best way to keep your hart strong even after a stroke or hart attack if you are physically well and up to the challenge.

I really don't know if I should even make the attempt, but too many have binary, either/or thinking. You can't think about a single cause (IE cholesterol) for coronary artery disease. There are many factors that work together to increase the risks of CAD and cholesterol is just one of them.

Yes, yes, cholesterol does have a normal function in the body but what we are talking about are excessive amounts and genetic and dietary and activity levels all affect those amounts. Sodium is an essential electrolyte, but too high levels of sodium can kill a person. Free water excess can kill a person. Too much of anything can be detrimental to your health.

Of the many risk factors for CAD, there are some you cannot control:age, genetics, gender. It is thought that estrogen in females protects them from developing CAD as bad as men. There are some risk factors you can control: behavior such as smoking (nicotine is a vasoconstrictor and causes arteries to clamp down so they are more likely to occlude/develop plaques, diet (reduce the stuff that plaques are made of --cholesterol and increase anti-oxidants. Inflammation is part of the risk factors), exercise: regular exercise reduces cholesterol, promotes angiogenisis, and reduces metabolic demand of the resting heart. Good dental health is essential. Remember that chronic inflammation is a risk factor in CAD. People with bad teeth and gums are always in a low state of inflammation and have higher levels of inflammatory markers and have higher risk for CAD.

As for statins, they have been proven to be lifesaving in people who have very high levels of cholesterol: consider Familial hypercholesterolemia where homozygotes have cholesterol in the 400 to 500 range and have their first MI in their twenties and thirties. As the levels of cholesterol go down, the value for statin use goes down. I'm befuddled when I see an 80 year old on statin. Why give her a med with known side effects just to reduce her chance of CAD 20 years down the road?

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Thank you for this thread; it is very enlightening and verifies some theories I have had.

White flour and sugar in all its forms and names are really what we all should eliminate from our diets.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


So what do you suggest as an alternative solution to lowering cholesterol? What kind of foods are better? How do we maintain the right balance of sugar and cholesterol?

reply to post by NavyDoc


I tend to think you have a better grip on this than most of us. The problem with statin use is very simple: It doesn't address what caused the problem in this first place (diet and inactivity). Blaming statins for heart attacks is silly when most people don't change their diet. This idea that american's aren't eating enough fat is ridiculous. Amercian's eat more meat than almost anyone else on the planet. They get enough fat and protein, that's not even an issue.

But I understand what is going on here, it's called confirmation bias. You can find data to twist and back up whatever it is you believe. I used to be a cholesterol denialist myself, so I do understand it. I did the reading myself and figured out I was being a a freaking idiot.

reply to post by LadyGreenEyes


Here are some articles,

Sorry to say that the article I refer about healthy blood pressure was from back in 96 when I was first diagnosed as hypertensive, occurs it was from a book I bought call blood pressure myths, a book that I no longer have

I did found some articles the net.

What You Must Know - if You're Diagnosed With High Blood Pressure

articles.mercola.com...

High blood pressure increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Not necessarily. There is no direct connection between high blood pressure and heart problems. In a recent article for the Virginia Hopkins Health Watch, John R. Lee, M.D. writes: "heart problems (due to high blood pressure) are not related with any specific or absolute blood pressure reading; it is correlated with an observed rise in blood pressure from whatever the earlier blood pressure was". (italics mine)

In other words, if your blood pressure is normally around 120/80 and rises to 140/90 your risk of heart problems is about the same as that of someone whose blood pressure increases from 140/90 to 160/90. It also means that if your blood pressure is a steady 160/90 and shows no sign of rising, it is not a sign of impending heart disease without other risk factors involved.

www.control-your-blood-pressure.com...


www.davidicke.com...

It's not the "total Cholesterol" number that matters. People see tha numbner and panic. My last one was 230. Perfectly good. In fact, great. Here's why: It's the ratios and the particle size. Like this:

Total/HDL. Ideally less than 5

Triclgycerides/HDL. Ideally less than 2

LDL/HDL. Ideally 4.3 or less

If your numbers with these ratios are good, then that's a pretty good indicator that you have the large "fluffy" cholesterol particles. If not, then they are the smaller type. It's these small type that get stuck in the inflamed areas in the arteries.

Using these ratios, my cholesterol was as good as it can possibly get. I don't have the umbers with me, but I was WAAAAY under those "ideal" numbers. I do recall that my triglycerides were 40... This in spite of eating fat like it's going out of style.

The most accurate test is the NMR test or the VAP test. These will tell you the size and number of the cholesterol particles. Very few docs use these tests. Most don't even know about them. But like I said the ratios will give you a good idea.

Here's a clip from a movie called "FatHead". I highly recommend it.

www.youtube.com...