Eat Meat And Stop Jogging: 'Common' Advice On How To Get Fit Is Keeping You Fat And Making You Sick (4 page)

“Many of today’s physicians, originally trained decades ago, don’t have a firm grasp of nutrition and its effects on your health…My hope is that our next generation of doctors will be better equipped to swing the pendulum to the side of prevention rather than focus so much on treatment.”

― Dr. David Perlmutter

Mistake #4

Th
inking Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease

The misleading advice on cholesterol stems from similar begi
nnings to the misleading research on fat we just discussed.  In 1856, a German scientist named Rudolf Virchow theorized that blood cholesterol levels are associated with the development of heart disease.  With the added support from Ancel Key’s tainted science on saturated fat, our increase in heart disease could finally be explained:

Saturated Fat = High Cholesterol = Heart Disease

It all made sense, saturated fat raises total cholesterol and this rise in cholesterol is what causes heart disease.  Nearly 98% of doctors were on-board with this ‘lipid hypothesis’ in 1978, and in 1984 the National Institute of Health gathered 14 experts who voted unanimously that lowering cholesterol levels reduces coronary heart disease and risk of heart attack. The lipid hypothesis became fact and unfortunately the majority of the population still believes it today.

High Chole
sterol Does NOT = Heart Disease

Despite the support from the medical community, there is signif
icant evidence providing proof that high cholesterol levels do not cause heart disease.  As many well-respected doctors and scientists have pointed out, the original data supporting the lipid hypothesis, and countless experiments since are based on “inaccuracies, misinterpretations, exaggerations and misleading quotations in this research area."  Furthermore, any scientific support proving a lack of association between mortality and heart disease have been conveniently excluded, and research suggesting a correlation between cholesterol and heart disease are heavily promoted.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the billions of dollars in profits from the sales of cholesterol lowering statin drugs.

If you’re like me you’re a visual learner, so let’s take a look at a study from 2005 study showing the Total Cholesterol and Risk of Heart Disease in 86 countries:

Clearly there’s no correlatio
n, and if you look hard enough you can draw an association in favor of Higher Total Cholesterol.  The other notable research is from the Lyon Diet Heart Study, which attempted to lower heart disease risk using a diet-intervention instead of drugs (statins) on individuals who had already experienced 1 heart attack.  Since saturated fat was the alleged contributor to heart disease at the time, one group was put on a low-fat diet while the other group was told to follow a low carbohydrate diet with no restriction on fat.

In only 6 weeks, the group on the
low-carb plan had cut their mortality risk in half (down 56%), and reduced their heart disease risk by 72%! 

But the most intriguing part is that Cholesterol levels did not budge!

If cholesterol levels determine heart disease risk, how is it possible to lower your risk of heart disease by 72% with no reduction in cholesterol? 

The reality is, half of the people with heart disease have low ch
olesterol, and half the people with high cholesterol have perfectly healthy hearts.  Cholesterol has NO ASSOCIATION with heart disease, and study after study will continue to prove this.  However, as long as there’s billions of dollars riding on the alternative, we will likely continue to be sheltered from it.

Dietary Cholesterol Does NOT = Blood Cholesterol

Somewhere along the line the assumption was made that the cholesterol you eat raises the cholesterol in your blood.  Perhaps it has something to do with the foods highest in cholesterol also being high in saturated fat.  It was demonstrated as early as 1937 that dietary cholesterol has very little effect on blood cholesterol, and this fact has never been refuted.  However, many still believe that an egg white omelet is ‘healthier’ for them than eating the yolk.  Limiting foods with cholesterol in our diet in an attempt to lower caloric intake and risk of heart disease is a huge mistake.  Other than accomplishing no change in blood cholesterol, it puts our long-term health at risk.  Our cells, especially those in the brain, require new cholesterol and essential fats for proper functioning. We utilize 1200-1800mg of new cholesterol each day to add stability to membranes, and promote the proper synthesis of hormones.

The Framingham Study from Harvard University Medical School is a perfect example of blood cholesterol remaining unaffected by cholesterol ingestion.  Despite dietary intakes that varied by as much as 400mg, the researchers found very similar blood cholesterol levels:

In fact:

80% of the individuals from the Framingham Study that went on to develop heart disease had the same total cholesterol as those that didn’t.

Similarly, the popular Tecumseh Study of 1976 looked at dietary cholesterol intake and total blood choleste
rol levels and concluded that:

L
ess dietary cholesterol produced higher blood cholesterol levels.

Perhaps the most impactful research study was the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MR FIT) from 1982 t
hat took over 360,000 participants and spent $115 Million.  To see if dietary cholesterol and saturated fat had any impact on heart disease, the experiment had participants reduce their by 42% and 28%, respectively. Not only was heart disease risk not reduced, but:

B
lood cholesterol levels barely moved!

Cholesterol = Beneficial NOT Harmful

When we eat more cholesterol our body simply manufactures less or absorbs more.  By getting adequate amounts in our diet, we either give our liver a break from assisting in cholesterol manufacturing or we get more of the substance that acts as a building block for cell membranes and a precursor for important hormones (vitamin D, testosterone, androgen).  Cholesterol also provides fuel to neurons that can’t generate cholesterol on their own.  Perhaps the biggest benefit from cholesterol is seen in the brain, as it contains 25% of the total cholesterol in the body. It is an antioxidant that supports cell membranes and facilitates communication and transmission of key nutrients and hormones.  This is likely why we see cholesterol levels naturally increasing as we age to provide additional protection and nourishment for the brain.

Researchers at Boston University took 789 men and 1,105 women to test for a relationship between total cholesterol and cognitive performance - verbal fluency, attention/concentration, and abstract reasoning. Participants with good levels (under 200) according to the current recommendations performed poorly compared to those with levels regarded as ‘high’ (200-239) and ‘very high’ (>240).  Likewise, a report from the National Institute of Health found the elders that do not have dementia or Alzheimer’s had better memory function with HIGHER levels of cholesterol. The researchers write:

“It is possible that individuals who survived beyond age eighty-five, especially those with high cholesterol, may be more robust.”

Lower Cholesterol = Bad

Given all the support that cholesterol provides, I suppose it’s not surprising that scientists are finding a deficiency in cholesterol
and fat in diseased brains.  Research is also suggesting an increased risk of neurological disorders with lower cholesterol levels.

A
2008 study from the journal Movement Disorders reported a 350% increased risk of Parkinson’s Disease in participants with the lowest cholesterol.

Likewise
, in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2006, researchers from the Netherlands proved that higher levels of total cholesterol were associated with a decreased risk of Parkinson’s.  Various research studies have also determined a correlation between low cholesterol and depression:

S
cientists in a 1993 journal in the Lancet finding a 300% greater risk in the group with the lowest cholesterol, compared to the group with the highest.

Research from Sweden in 1997, and the Netherlands in 2000, came to the
same conclusion, in both men and women.  Sadly, a 2008 report in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that:

T
hose with a total cholesterol under 160, were 200% more likely to attempt suicide.

Although speculative, one could hypothesize that the i
ncrease in depression over the last 50 years is associated with our questionable efforts to lower cholesterol.

Unfortunately, it’s not just our mental health, as low cholesterol has been linked to disrupted hormones, nutrient deficiencies, and even early death.

A 2009 study that followed 4,500 U.S. veterans for 15 years, showed that those with low cholesterol had a
7-FOLD increased risk of dying.

This is more than likely because of the protection and su
pport that cholesterol provides for cell membranes and the hormonal and nutrient deficiencies are not surprising, given that cholesterol is a precursor for steroid hormones.

The average testosterone level
in males is down 22% compared to 20 years ago!

An adequate intake of essential fats combined with a ch
olesterol lowering medication can seriously disrupt the production and transport of steroidal hormones, like testosterone.  In spite of their prevalence, statin medications prescribed to lower cholesterol are known to diminish testosterone levels.  This is likely why decreased libido is the most common complaint doctors hear from statin users.

Those on statins are more than twice as likely to have low t
estosterone.

Statins =
Harmful to Health

Although cholesterol has very little to do with heart disease and having low cholesterol can be detrimental to your health, doctors continue to
recommend statins to their patients.  In fact, the standards for prescribing this pharmaceutical drug to lower cholesterol have been adjusted significantly over the last 30 years.  Statins used to be suggested for someone with a total cholesterol level of 240 that smoked and was inactive.  In the mid 80’s, the second two risk factors were removed and doctors were able to prescribe cholesterol-lowering meds to anyone with a level of 200.  It’s now 180, and sadly:

The American Academy of Pediatrics now suggests prescribing statins to 8 year old children, and recommends scre
ening children as young as 2!

Remember,
this is for a drug to lower cholesterol, which has ‘NO ASSOCIATION’ with heart disease.  Furthermore, it’s evident that this drug has been unsuccessful in doing what it was designed to do:

“The incidence, per capita, of heart failure has more than doubled since cholesterol-lowering statin drugs were introduced in 1987.”

The drugs designed to prevent heart disease don’t prevent heart disease because the problem is not high cholesterol.

Aside from the over diagnosis and ineffectiveness, a recent review study identified over 900 research papers showing adverse effects from statin use (HMG-CoA reductase), including:

• Suppressed immune system
  
• Increased cancer risk
  
• Diabetes
  
• Liver damage
  
• Muscle degeneration
  
• Anemia
  
• Cataracts
  
• Neuropathy
  

Other than low testosterone, the most well-known side effect of statins is memory loss.  Early death may be a possibility too, as a study in the American Journal of Cardiology followed 300 adults, determining that: