Debunking Cholesterol Myths
'When a big, fat lie built around such a sensitive and health threatening issue becomes way too widespread, that even the authors start to believe it, it is really hard to turn the tide without major consequences.'
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Why Trans Fat Is So Bad – and What Is It, Anyway?
'We have been indoctrinated about fats for decades. Starting in the 1950′s, we were inundated with ads about how bad saturated fat is.
We were, and still are, advised by our doctors to avoid butter and use margarine, or better yet, avoid fats altogether. Fairly recently, conflicting information has been coming out.
Polyunsaturated fat is good...no, it's bad. Monounsaturated fat is good. Fat that's solid at room temperature is bad. No, coconut oil is good...and so forth.
So, what's the truth? Fat is good for you!'
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Coconut Oil and Alzheimer’s: The Low-fat Diet and Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Part of the Problem?
Photo Credit: marketplace.org
'2012 was the year that the news about coconut oil and Alzheimer’s disease started making it into the mainstream media. This is not surprising, as it coincided with news about the failure of drugs in treating Alzheimer’s also making headlines. In January 2012, drug companies Pfizer and Medivation admitted that the new drug they were developing for Alzheimer’s, dimebon, not only did not help patients in trials, but made patients worse.
The expensive drug had already reached phase III trials. (See story here on ABC News) So as the development of this drug has now been abandoned, and so many other potential drugs have also failed, many are beginning to look at the role of diet in Alzheimer’s and focusing on prevention. People are also beginning to see positive results in using coconut oil to reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s.'
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There Is Only One Type of Cholesterol: Here’s Why
We keep hearing about different types of cholesterol. It’s all nonsense. There’s only one cholesterol molecule, so there’s only one type of cholesterol. What started this nonsense of types of cholesterol?
'Just how many types of cholesterol are there? The more we’re indoctrinated with the cholesterol-as-poison myth, the more types they seem to find. HDL. LDL. VLDL. And those pesky triglycerides: Are they a type of cholesterol? Here’s the truth:
None of them are cholesterol, and there is only one type of cholesterol! That’s right. HDL, LDL, and VLDL aren’t cholesterol. And cholesterol isn’t a fat.
Cholesterol: It’s All Good
'However, the idea that there are "bad" and "good" blood lipids that contribute to heart disease is known as the "lipid hypothesis," or "cholesterol myth." The hypothesis is subject to much criticism and has been challenged often. The underlying causes of cardiovascular disease are more likely related to inflammation and other factors.
Riechman agrees that the common attitude to cholesterol is wrong. He prefers to focus on the very useful purpose that LDL serves. Without cholesterol, he points out, we would die. In fact, studies in the elderly have shown that those with the lowest levels of cholesterol are at highest risk of death from all causes.'
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How LOW Cholesterol Can Harm Your Health
'You've heard for decades about the dangers of high cholesterol, but did you know that LOW cholesterol can lead to violence towards self and other, and has been linked to premature aging, death and other adverse health effects?
In a world gone mad with anti-cholesterol anxiety, and where gobbling down pharmaceuticals designed to poison the body into no longer synthesizing it is somehow considered sane behavior, it is refreshing to look at some of the research on the health benefits of cholesterol, or conversely, the dangers of low cholesterol.'
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The Straight Dope on Cholesterol: 10 Things You Need to Know – Part 1
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The Straight Dope on Cholesterol: 10 Things You Need to Know – Part 2
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High Intake of Cholesterol Shown to Actually Repair Damaged Brains
'Including high-cholesterol foods as part of a healthy diet may not be the poor dietary choice we have all been told it is, suggests a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine. It turns out that cholesterol actually helps increase production of an important component of the nervous system that facilitates proper nerve cell communication, and prevents the onset of brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.'
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Statins Prevent Vitamin D Formation, Causing Muscle Pain & Worse
'The chutzpah of pharmaceutical science and medical practice in presuming to control the body’s processes, without any consideration for adverse effects that can readily be predicted—such as known disorders related to inadequate Vitamin D and CoQ10—needs to come to an end.'
Dangers Of Lowering Cholesterol Dates Back 20 Years
'Is cholesterol reduction a good thing? Many doctors and health authorities would answer an unequivocal 'yes' to this question, but what does the evidence show. Previously on this site I have shared evidence which strongly suggests that cholesterol reduction, per se, is not necessarily good for our health, and may even be hazardous. Last week's blog post reported on drugs that, although effective for cholesterol, have singularly failed to improve health and may even have hastened some people's demise.'
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“Bad” LDL Cholesterol May Protect Us Against Cancer
LDL cholesterol is demonized, but we’ve told you the other side of the story. Now a new discovery adds to the growing list of health benefits.
There may be a link between low levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—that is, not enough of it—and increased cancer risk, according to new research. Scientists at Tufts University looked at 201 cancer patients and 402 cancer-free patients. They found that cancer patients who never took cholesterol-lowering drugs on average had lower LDL cholesterol levels for an average of about 19 years prior to their cancer diagnosis. In other words, they were “healthier” according to the LDL demonizers in today’s medicine.
Previous studies, which looked at patients who did take cholesterol-lowering drugs, also suggested a strong link between low LDL cholesterol levels and higher cancer risk.'
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New Drug Increases HDL, Decreases LDL, But What About Heart Disease?
'A new study shows that so-called “good” cholesterol, HDL, is increased, and so-called “bad” cholesterol, LDL, is decreased by a new, as yet unreleased drug, evacetrapib. To be published this week in theJournal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the study demonstrates that HDL can be more than doubled compared with placebo and LDL decreases up to one-third.
That does, of course sound good.
Having higher HDL levels and lower LDL levels are good for us, right?'
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The Importance of Dietary Cholesterol
by Dr. Mercola
Why Limiting Dietary Cholesterol May Harm Your Health
Dr. Seneff actually believes it's difficult to get "too much" cholesterol in your diet, particularly in the standard American diet. But you may very well be getting too little, and that can cause problems.For example, 25 percent of the cholesterol in your body is in your brain, even though your brain is only two percent of your body's weight. The cholesterol is absolutely essential for neuron transport, so it's easy to understand why lack of cholesterol can negatively affect your brain function. But impaired memory and dementia are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to low cholesterol's impact on your brain. Having too little of this beneficial compound also:
- Increases your risk of depression
- Can cause you to commit suicide
- May lead to violent behavior and aggression
- Increase your risk of cancer and Parkinson's disease
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What Most Doctors Won't Tell You About Cholesterol
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Cholesterol Doesn't Cause Heart Disease

'The people with the highest cholesterol live the longest. It's a point that's generally ignored in modern medicine, but it is a fact. A huge industry in statins constantly promulgates the opposite notion, and has done such a good job that doctors routinely have people's cholesterol levels checked on a regular basis. They don't question the ever-lowering so-called healthy cholesterol levels, or the variations continually tacked on to the theory: It isn't total cholesterol that matters, it's HDL that counts. Well, no, actually it's the ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol. Hmmm...the latest research shows that it's oxidized LDL that does the harm.
It's all bunk.'
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More About: Cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease
You might be surprised to learn that neither of these statements is true. The first one is relatively easy to dispatch. In the Framingham Heart Study, which is the longest-running and perhaps most significant study on heart disease done to date, it was demonstrated that intake of cholesterol in the diet had absolutely no correlation with heart disease. If you look at the graph below, you’ll see that both men and women with above average intake of cholesterol had nearly identical rates of heart disease as men and women with below average intake of cholesterol.'