Why Cholesterol May Not Be the Cause Of Heart Disease

Mark Hyman, MDPracticing physician and pioneer in functional medicine
Posted: September 20, 2009 08:02 AM BIO

Why Cholesterol May Not Be the Cause Of Heart Disease

Read More: C-Reactive Protein, Cholesterol, Functional Medicine, Health, Heart Disease, Homocysteine, Inflammation, Mark Hyman, Mark Hyman MD, Ultrawellness, Living News

We have all been led to believe that cholesterol is bad and that lowering it is good. Because of extensive pharmaceutical marketing to both doctors and patients we think that using statin drugs is proven to work to lower the risk of heart attacks and death.

But on what scientific evidence is this based, what does that evidence really show?

Roger Williams once said something that is very applicable to how we commonly view the benefits of statins. "There are liars, damn liars, and statisticians."

We see prominent ads on television and in medical journals -- things like 36% reduction in risk of having a heart attack. But we don't look at the fine print. What does that REALLY mean and how does it affect decisions about who should really be using these drugs.

Before I explain that, here are some thought provoking findings to ponder.

• 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 it what accounts for the benefits of statins, not their ability to lower cholesterol.

So for whom do the statin drugs work for anyway? They work for people who have already had heart attacks to prevent more heart attacks or death. And they work slightly for middle-aged men who have many risk factors for heart disease like high blood pressure, obesity, or diabetes.

So why did the 2004 National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines expand the previous guidelines to recommend that more people take statins (from 13 million to 40 million) and that people who don't have heart disease should take them to prevent heart disease. Could it have been that 8 of the 9 experts on the panel who developed these guidelines had financial ties to the drug industry? Thirty-four other non-industry affiliated experts sent a petition to protest the recommendations to the National Institutes of Health saying the evidence was weak. It was like having a fox guard the chicken coop.

It's all in the spin. The spin of the statistics and numbers. And it's easy to get confused. Let me try to clear things up.

When you look under the hood of the research data you find that the touted "36% reduction" means a reduction of the number of people getting heart attacks or death from 3% to 2% (or about 30-40%).

And that data also shows that treatment only really works if you have heart disease already. In those who DON'T have documented heart disease, there is no benefit.

In those at high risk for heart disease about 50 people would need to be treated for 5 years to reduce one cardiovascular event. Just to put that in perspective: If a drug works, it has a very low NTT (number needed to treat). For example, if you have a urine infection and take an antibiotic, you will get near a 100% benefit. The number needed to treat is "1". So if you have an NTT of 50 like statins do for preventing heart disease in 75% of the people who take them, it is basically a crap shoot.

Yet at a cost of over $28 billion a year, 75% of all statin prescriptions are for exactly this type of unproven primary prevention. Simply applying the science over 10 years would save over $200 billion. This is just one example of reimbursed but unproven care. We need not only prevent disease but also prevent the wrong type of care.

If these medications were without side effects, then you may be able to justify the risk - but they cause muscle damage, sexual dysfunction, liver and nerve damag,e and other problems in 10-15% of patients who take them. Certainly not a free ride.

So if lowering cholesterol is not the great panacea that we thought, how do we treat heart disease, and how do we get the right kind of cholesterol - high HDL, low LDL and low triglycerides and have cholesterol particles that are large, light and fluffy rather than small, dense and hard, which is the type that actually causes heart disease and plaque build up.

We know what causes the damaging small cholesterol particles. And it isn't fat in the diet. It is sugar. Sugar in any form or refined carbohydrates (white food) drives the good cholesterol down, cause triglycerides to go up, creates small damaging cholesterol particles, and causes metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes. That is the true cause of most heart attacks, NOT LDL cholesterol.

One of the reasons we don't hear about this is because there is no good drug to raise HDL. Statin drugs lower LDL -- and billions are spent advertising them, even though they are the wrong treatment.

If you're like most of the patients I see in my practice, you're convinced that cholesterol is the evil that causes heart disease. You may hope that if you monitor your cholesterol levels and avoid the foods that are purported to raise cholesterol, you'll be safe from America's number-one killer.

We are all terrified of cholesterol because for years well-meaning doctors, echoed by the media, have emphasized what they long believed is the intimate link between cholesterol and death by heart disease. If only it were so simple!

The truth is much more complex.

Cholesterol is only one factor of many -- and not even the most important -- that contribute to your risk of getting heart disease.

First of all, let's take a look at what cholesterol actually is. It's a fatty substance produced by the liver that is used to help perform thousands of bodily functions. The body uses it to help build your cell membranes, the covering of your nerve sheaths, and much of your brain. It's a key building block for our hormone production, and without it you would not be able to maintain adequate levels of testosterone, estrogen, progesterone and cortisol.

So if you think cholesterol is the enemy, think again. Without cholesterol, you would die.

In fact, people with the lowest cholesterol as they age are at highest risk of death. Under certain circumstances, higher cholesterol can actually help to increase life span.

To help clear the confusion, I will review many of the cholesterol myths our culture labors under and explain what the real factors are that lead to cardiovascular disease.

Cholesterol Myths

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.

So the real concern isn't the amount of cholesterol you have, but the type of fats and sugar and refined carbohydrates in your diet that lead to abnormal cholesterol production.

Of course, many health-conscious people today know that total cholesterol is not as critical as the following:

• Your levels of HDL "good" cholesterol vs. LDL "bad" cholesterol

• Your triglyceride levels

• Your ratio of triglycerides to HDL

• Your ratio of total cholesterol to HDL

Many are also aware that there are different sizes of cholesterol particles. There are small and large particles of LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. The most dangerous are the small, dense particles that act like BB pellets, easily penetrating your arteries. Large, fluffy cholesterol particles are practically harmless--even if your total cholesterol is high. They function like beach balls and bounce off the arteries, causing no harm.

Another concern is whether or not your cholesterol is rancid. If so, the risk of arterial plaque is real.

Rancid or oxidized cholesterol results from oxidative stress and free radicals, which trigger a vicious cycle of inflammation and fat or plaque deposition under the artery walls. That is the real danger: When small dense LDL particles are oxidized they become dangerous and start the build up of plaque or cholesterol deposits in your arteries.

Now that we've explored when and how cholesterol becomes more problematic, let's take a look at other factors that play a more significant role in cardiovascular disease.

Prime Contributors to Cardiovascular Disease

First of all, cardiovascular illness results when key bodily functions go awry, causing inflammation, (vii) imbalances in blood sugar and insulin and oxidative stress.

To control these key biological functions and keep them in balance, you need to look at your overall health as well as your genetic predispositions, as these underlie the types of diseases you're most likely to develop. It is the interaction of your genes, lifestyle, and environment that ultimately determines your risks -- and the outcome of your life.

This is the science of nutrigenomics, or how food acts as information to stall or totally prevent some predisposed disease risks by turning on the right gene messages with our diet and lifestyle choices. That means some of the factors that unbalance bodily health are under your control, or could be.

These include diet, nutritional status, stress levels, and activity levels. Key tests can reveal problems with a person's blood sugar and insulin, inflammation level, level of folic acid, clotting factors, hormones, and other bodily systems that affect your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Particularly important are the causes if inflammation, which are many, and need to be assessed. Inflammation can arise from poor diet (too much sugar and trans and saturated fats), a sedentary lifestyle, stress, autoimmune disease, food allergies, hidden infections such as gum disease, and even toxins such as mercury. All of these causal factors need to be considered anytime there is inflammation.

Combined together, all of these factors determine your risk of heart disease. And I recommend that people undergo a comprehensive medical evaluation to see what their risk really is.

Zeroing in on Key Factors for Heart Disease

There's no doubt about it, inflammation is key contributor to heart disease. A major study done at Harvard found that people with high levels of a marker called C-reactive protein (CRP) had higher risks of heart disease than people with high cholesterol. Normal cholesterol levels were NOT protective to those with high CRP. The risks were greatest for those with high levels of both CRP and cholesterol.

Another predisposing factor to heart disease is insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome, which leads to an imbalance in the blood sugar and high levels of insulin. This may affect as many as half of Americans over age 65. Many younger people also have this condition, which is sometimes called pre-diabetes.

Although modern medicine sometimes loses sight of the interconnectedness of all our bodily systems, blood sugar imbalances like these impact your cholesterol levels too. If you have any of these conditions, they will cause your good cholesterol to go down, while your triglycerides rise, which further increases inflammation and oxidative stress. All of these fluctuations contribute to blood thickening, clotting, and other malfunctions -- leading to cardiovascular disease.

What's more, elevated levels of a substance called homocysteine (which is related to your body's levels of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12) appears to correlate to cardiovascular illness. Although this is still somewhat controversial, I often see this inter-relationship in my practice. While genes may play a part, tests done as part of a comprehensive evaluation of cardiac risk can easily ascertain this factor. Where problematic levels occur, they can be easily addressed by adequate folic acid intake, along with vitamins B6 and B12.

Testing for Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Heart disease is not only about cholesterol. It is important to look at many factors that contribute to your overall risk. And it seems that insulin and blood sugar imbalances, and inflammation are proving to be more of a risk that cholesterol.

If you want to test your overall risk, you can consider asking your doctor to perform the following tests:

1. Total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Your total cholesterol should be under 200. Your triglycerides should be under 100. Your HDL should be over 60. Your LDL should be ideally under 80. Your ratio of total cholesterol to HDL should be less than 3.0. Your ratio of triglycerides to HDL should be no greater than 4, which can indicate insulin resistance if elevated.

2. NMR Lipid Profile. This looks at your cholesterol under an MRI scan to assess the size of the particles, which can determine your cardiovascular risk. This is a very important test that can further differentiate the risk of your cholesterol and can be an important factor to track as your system improves and your cholesterol transforms from being small dense and dangerous to light and fluffy and innocuous. It is done by a company called Liposcience and is also available through LabCorp.

3. Glucose Insulin Tolerance Test. Measurements of fasting and 1 and 2 hour levels of glucose AND insulin helps identify pre-diabetes and excessively high levels of insulin, and even diabetes. Most doctors just check blood sugar and NOT insulin, which is the first thing to go up. By the time your blood sugar goes up, the train has left the station.

4. Hemaglobin A1c. This measures your average blood sugar level over the last 6 weeks. Anything over 5.5 is high.

5. Cardio C-reactive protein. This is a marker of inflammation in the body that is essential to understand in the context of overall risk. Your C-reactive protein level should be less than 1.

6. Homocysteine. Your homocysteine measures your folate status and should be between 6 and 8.

7. Lipid peroxides or TBARS test, which looks at the amount of oxidized or rancid fat. This should be within normal limits of the test and indicates whether or not you have oxidized cholesterol.

8. Fibrinogen, which is another test looking at clotting in the blood. It should be less than 300.

9. Lipoprotein (a), which is another factor that can promote the risk of heart disease, often in men. It should be less than 30.

10. Genes or SNPs may also be useful in terms of assessing your situation. A number of key genes regulate cholesterol and metabolism, including Apo E genes and the cholesterol ester transfer protein gene. The MTHFR gene, which regulates homocysteine is also important and may be part of an overall workup.

11. Get a high-speed CT or (EBT) scan of the heart if you are concerned that you have cardiovascular disease. This may be helpful to assess overall plaque burden and calcium score. A score higher than 100 is a concern, and a score higher than 400 indicates severe risk of cardiovascular disease.

Next week I will review how to lower your risk of heart disease and fix your cholesterol. We'll do this not by lowering the LDL, but by getting more light and fluffy LDL particles, which are protective and more HDL cholesterol, which is THE most important cholesterol.

Now I'd like to hear from you...

Have you been told that you need to lower your cholesterol?

If so, what were your told to do and how does that compare to what you've read here?

Does any of what you've read here come as a surprise?

Please share your thoughts by adding a comment below.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, M.D.

References

(i) Barter P, Gotto AM, LaRosa JC, Maroni J, Szarek M, Grundy SM, Kastelein JJ, Bittner V, Fruchart JC; Treating to New Targets Investigators. HDL cholesterol, very low levels of LDL cholesterol, and cardiovascular events. N Engl J Med. 2007 Sep 27;357(13):1301-10.

(ii) Ridker PM, Danielson E, Fonseca FA, Genest J, Gotto AM Jr, Kastelein JJ, Koenig W, Libby P, Lorenzatti AJ, MacFadyen JG, Nordestgaard BG, Shepherd J, Willerson JT, Glynn RJ; JUPITER Study Group. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein. N Engl J Med. 2008 Nov 20;359(21):2195-207.

(iii) Abramson J, Wright JM. Are lipid-lowering guidelines evidence-based? Lancet. 2007 Jan 20;369(9557):168-9

(iv) IBID

(v) Brown BG, Taylor AJ Does ENHANCE Diminish Confidence in Lowering LDL or in Ezetimibe? Engl J Med 358:1504, April 3, 2008 Editorial

(vi) Schatz IJ, Masaki K, Yano K, Chen R, Rodriguez BL, Curb JD. Cholesterol and all-cause mortality in elderly people from the Honolulu Heart Program: a cohort study. Lancet. 2001 Aug 4;358(9279):351-5.

(vii) Hansson GK Inflammation, Atherosclerosis, and Coronary Artery Disease N Engl J Med 352:1685, April 21, 2005

Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.

Follow Mark Hyman, MD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markhymanmd

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We have all been led to believe that cholesterol is bad and that lowering it is good. Because of extensive pharmaceutical marketing to both doctors and patients we think that using statin drugs is pro...
We have all been led to believe that cholesterol is bad and that lowering it is good. Because of extensive pharmaceutical marketing to both doctors and patients we think that using statin drugs is pro...
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All comments on this article are pre-moderated. This means that every comment submitted will be reviewed by a moderator before it is posted to the site. Unfortunately, depending on the volume of comments, it may take timePage: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next › Last » (8 pages total)
- + indywoman I'm a Fan of indywoman I'm a fan of this user 21 fans permalink
I was on zocor for a year, and I was losing my short term memory!!! I didn't know what was going on, but you know when you go upstairs for something and when you get there you can't remember why you went? Well, I was having those moments every day several times.

One day my husband came home from work and said in the car on the radio he heard a story about how statins can cause memory deficits. It was like a light turned on. I stopped taking zocor that next day, and after a few weeks was back to my old self. Phew!! I was afraid it might have done permanent damage. I wonder if I had taken it for 3 or 4 years what would have happened.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:37 PM on 09/22/2009
- + Oldtt I'm a Fan of Oldtt I'm a fan of this user 30 fans permalink
Because cholesterol produced by the liver or reabsorbed from the digestive tract cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, cholesterol is synthesized within an area of the brain specifically to build and maintain nerve cells. Statins are able to cross the blood-brain barrier and lower cholesterol production. Bingo! Some doctors have advocated giving statins to small children as a preventive measure, which would create a population of zombies. Then Pharma could market an anti-zombie drug. Americans should seriously consider selling their Pharma stock and taking charge of their own health.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:07 PM on 09/22/2009
- + midwestblues I'm a Fan of midwestblues I'm a fan of this user permalink
I'm a 68 year old female in good health. My cholesterol level was 257. Doctor prescribed statins. Now, I'm not well educated, but common sense told me that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Popping pills unnecessarily doesn't make sense. Years ago, this same doctor wanted to put me on medicine for Menopause; but I was fine. Doctor was very upset with me; but I listened to my body. Years later studies came out that showed most of that medicine was not effective.

I'm glad I didn't take it and am healthier now than everyone I know. If my body indicates I need medicine, I will take it. What I would say is listen to your body and not pill pushing doctors just because they say so.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:30 PM on 09/22/2009
- + AdamFletcher I'm a Fan of AdamFletcher I'm a fan of this user permalink
Great to see you on Huffington Post,
I'm 42, 5 yrs ago found out that my cholesterol had reached mid 200's. My doctor at the time immediately had me on lipitor. I never felt comfortable with the idea of ingesting this pill for the rest of my life, esp with no real history of heart disease, weight problems, or any physical ailment requiring any medication whatsoever. Little doctor work, just take this pill and you'll be fine. Well, I find myself in a different town with a new doctor who convinces me that a different pill, welchol, which is not a statin, is the answer to elevated cholesterol levels. Of course, these medications do lower overall levels. I exercise pretty hard 6 days a week, cut out sugar and white flour, the usual suff. However, I know that my efforts alone will not lower total cholesterol, triglycerides and ldl so i remain perpetually confused with the issue. looking forward to your ideas on a different fix.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:15 PM on 09/22/2009
- + Darlen I'm a Fan of Darlen I'm a fan of this user permalink
Excellent article. Never gave up butter, eggs and cheese. Eggs, by the way, contain lecithin which is counteracts bad cholesterol. Cholesterol is really the lubricant for arteries, keeping them healthy and flexible.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:58 AM on 09/22/2009
- + Laurie66 I'm a Fan of Laurie66 I'm a fan of this user 2 fans permalink
I went on a weight loss diet that involved eating a lot of raw fruit, and I got dramatically high good cholesterol, extremely low bad cholesterol and triglycerides. I continue to eat a lot of raw fruit and cooked and raw vegetables, and I still have excellent numbers. This is not because of good genes, because I am the exception in my family. I think it is what you do eat, not what you don't.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:05 AM on 09/22/2009
- + ChristinaO I'm a Fan of ChristinaO I'm a fan of this user 2 fans permalink
I have like others read about statins and have been prescribed statins. Took them briefly (six months) and I had muscle aches. Stopped them and I did not have muscle aches. It seems impossible to me that the side effect of muscle aches can be reported so little, when 2 other people I know also felt muscle aches when using statin. This would mean that 3 out of the 5 people I know using them developed muscle problems. That's a lot! I have no history of heart problems in my family. Think about 15 years ago when you never heard about high cholesterol and were never tested. How did everyone before us ever live?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:54 AM on 09/22/2009
- + trevorBclever I'm a Fan of trevorBclever I'm a fan of this user permalink
Mark,

I watch my weight carefully and if it goes up at all I correct it by severe calorie reduction (about 1000 calories a day for 180 lb man). This works very well for me but the side effect is an increase in cholesterol (skyrocketing cholesterol from starvation is a widely recognized phenomenon). Should I be concerned about this?

Trevor

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:36 AM on 09/22/2009
- + fumes I'm a Fan of fumes I'm a fan of this user 55 fans permalink
why not just live a healthy lifestyle??

you know healthy lifestyle:

1. no alarm clock start to your day

2. and get off your butt and be active

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:29 AM on 09/22/2009
- + Anthony Anderson - Huffpost Blogger I'm a Fan of Anthony Anderson I'm a fan of this user 15 fans permalink

See Anthony Anderson's Profile Great, BUT LONG article.

Vegetarians that have a high bread and pasta intake will often suffer from clogged arteries. All that processed starch and sugar will cause internal inflammation. In the attempt to soothe and heal that, the body will lay down a layer of healing cholesterol.

Because people dont see much wrong with eating refined starches, the body keeps trying to heal the inflammation. After many years, clogged arteries.

I was a vegan for the longest time because I bought into the cholesterol myth. Little did I realize that the results that support the "Lipid Hypothesis" were COMPLETELY cherry picked to support the manufacturers of processed carbs (breads, cereals, cookies, crackers...almost everything people eat these days) and the vast amounts of results that supported no correlation between animal fats and heart disease were simply ignored.

Lies. Just like everything else. Enjoy your grass fed cream, butter, and pastured eggs. There were no heart disease in cultures untouched by western food. Many ate nearly 3/4 of a pound of butterfat a day.

But alas, no processed sugars or carbs. That is the key. Cut those out and EVERYTHING changes.

Anthony at Rawmodel.com

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:23 AM on 09/22/2009
- + mollymac I'm a Fan of mollymac I'm a fan of this user 10 fans permalink
I believe he is going to follow up in his next article with how to reduce these signifiant numbers. This article is extremely enlightening and makes a lot of sense.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:09 AM on 09/22/2009
- + JudgeCCrater I'm a Fan of JudgeCCrater I'm a fan of this user 5 fans permalink
While this is a good article I'm astonished that the author never mentions the benefits of exercise on blood lipid profiles. Ditto for niacin usage. Both of these issues support his contentions regarding the motivation and practices of Big Pharma.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:08 AM on 09/22/2009
- + sheine I'm a Fan of sheine I'm a fan of this user 4 fans permalink
After reading this article, it seems that the simple change of getting people to drink coffee and tea without sugar would do much more good than the billions of dollars worth of statins sold. How much would this save on our national health bill while making us healthier?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:35 AM on 09/22/2009
- + Anthony Anderson - Huffpost Blogger I'm a Fan of Anthony Anderson I'm a fan of this user 15 fans permalink

See Anthony Anderson's Profile Aim for the tea...the coffee is just going to tax your adrenal glands, leaving you tired after about 4-5 hours.

It really is the processed carbs that are causing the inflammation, check out Weston Price's work and his book titled "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration". This book will change EVERYTHING you think about the food we in the western world eat all the time.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:12 AM on 09/22/2009
- + TakeSake I'm a Fan of TakeSake I'm a fan of this user 15 fans permalink
Where is the boundary between processed and unprocessed? For instance, white rice is a staple in much of the world. Does that count, or is it things like bleached and enriched flour?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:41 AM on 09/22/2009
- + shanedr I'm a Fan of shanedr I'm a fan of this user 3 fans permalink
A big problem is that a lot of the tests listed are not performed by most doctors (cost?). If a full evaluation is not done - then how accurate are the results you receive?

Worse - Dr. Hyman still lists high cholesterol as a major problem in this story. According to his figures I am inclined to believe that I am about to drop over dead. Yet I feel extremely healthy, especially as I haven't taken a statin in over four weeks. Which has almost eliminated all the aches and pains I was suffering, I continue to feel improvement in my general health since eliminating the statin. Never again will I permit that poison in my system. There has to be a better way!

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:01 AM on 09/22/2009
- + mig9911 I'm a Fan of mig9911 I'm a fan of this user permalink
Very good article. I too was told to take a statin drug. My total cholesterol was 242, with my LDL being 172. I am overweight but by no means out of shape. I exercise daily and play on a woman's ice hockey team for recreation. I do not eat right which I assume, like most Americans, is my problem.

I figured if I research my cell phone or my IPOD before I buy it, I was going to look into this as well. I did not like what I found, specifically a NYT article that mentioned a lot of these points. Especially that some cholesterol is good and that statin drugs can really affect your memory.

I have been reading a lot about how eating the right kinds of foods can do just as much as any drug to lower my LDL and raise my HDL levels. I am just getting started, 5 servings of fruits/vegatables a day, beans, fiber, and most importantly no processed foods, but can't wait to test again in about 6 months to see if it works.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:48 AM on 09/22/2009
- + Anthony Anderson - Huffpost Blogger I'm a Fan of Anthony Anderson I'm a fan of this user 15 fans permalink

See Anthony Anderson's Profile To me you really seem to be on the right track (not like my opinion matters or anything though). Dr Hal Huggins (the famous anti-mercury dentist) found the healthiest amount of hdl was 221. As long as the white flour, sugar, and refined oils are out of your system, all the inflammation will go down and the body will heal. I wouldnt cut out the grass-fed animal fats like cream or butter though. That stuff is gold.

If youre a white guy, Ive learned that we sometimes go too heavy on the fruit, which is still high in sugar and something our genotype isnt really accustomed to. Obviously its nothing like corn syrup, but the blood sugar can move around a bit making for peaks and valleys that cause some discomfort.

Check out the interviews on oneradionetwork.com for some awesome resources and ideas.

Anthony at Rawmodel.com

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:16 AM on 09/22/2009
- + 1StepBeyond I'm a Fan of 1StepBeyond I'm a fan of this user permalink
>>Dr Hal Huggins (the famous anti-mercury dentist) found the healthiest amount of hdl was 221

1. I've never heard of an HDL level that high, What units are you talking about? Normally the units are mg/dL.

2. Why take lipid profile recommendations from a dentist?

Respectfully submitted.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:07 AM on 09/22/2009
- + BlueZoo I'm a Fan of BlueZoo I'm a fan of this user 39 fans permalink
Moderation in all things and waaaaaaaaaaaaay less drugs for everything ailing you! You can take all the statins in the world and then fall out from a heart attack! What good are those pills if you don't understand how you got to that point to begin with? Statins are no more miracle drugs than hormones are! My brother-in-law takes statins by the handful but still heavily salts all of his food, doesn't exercise and grazes all day long. Jim Fixx ran tens of miles everyday and didn't know there was heart attack lurking in his body that would kill him! There has to be a shred of common sense in all this pill taking we Americans are so fond of! Find out if there's anything wrong with you and learn the best way to go about fixing it! Taking pills is not always going to save you but your common sense just might

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/why-cholesterol-may-not-b_b_290687.html