You hear about it from your doctor and there are ads for it all over TV, radio, and social media. But … is cholesterol bad for you?
There is no denying that heart disease is one of the most serious health problems affecting modern men.
Thousands of Americans have heart attacks every year, and heart disease ultimately kills 1 in every 4 US adults.
Here’s the strange part about heart disease — some people who have heart attacks are overweight. Some are thin. Some are old, and many others are in their 30s and 40s.
Even stranger: many heart attack victims even have PERFECTLY NORMAL cholesterol levels.
High cholesterol does not equal heart attacks.
Drinking, smoking, eating processed foods, having high levels of belly fat, and not exercising are the more likely risk factors for a heart attack.
LDL cholesterol is not all bad; it actually helps cells get energy from the foods we eat. The LDL oxidized sub-type, however, is dangerous.
Another thing to note: eating cholesterol does not necessarily lead to higher cholesterol.
Our body balances cholesterol consumption by decreasing internal production. Eating a high sugar and carbohydrate diet is the fastest way to stimulate cholesterol production in the body.
So, back to the original question, is cholesterol bad for you?
Let's answer that now by busting the three biggest cholesterol myths that add so much confusion to this very important question.
Learn more about cholesterol and what you can do to lower high cholesterol.
Is Cholesterol Bad For You? Busting The 3 Biggest Myths
Myth 1: High Cholesterol Causes Heart Attacks
Let’s start with the most common assumptions: high cholesterol = increased heart attack risk.
This is common knowledge preached by many doctors, nutritionists, and personal trainers, so it has to be true, right?
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
New data is showing that roughly 50% of all heart attack patients happen to have completely normal cholesterol levels.
Spurred by these controversial findings, researchers from the Harvard Medical School crunched some more data and found out that roughly 81% of all heart attacks are actually related to other lifestyle factors such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, and obesity.
Cholesterol is not the main culprit.
So, is cholesterol bad for you? It’s already seeming less scary, and we’re just getting started!
Myth 2: LDL Is “Bad” Cholesterol
High total cholesterol may not be the cause of heart attacks, but you’ve probably also heard that LDL cholesterol (commonly referred to as BAD cholesterol) will clog up your arteries.
Again, it's not that simple.
When it comes to analyzing your health, I’d caution you to be wary when anybody vilifies something that our bodies naturally produce in large quantities (like cholesterol).
Our bodies always produce things for a specific reason.
LDL is no exception. As a transport protein, LDL carries fat and cholesterol into our metabolically active cells for use.
Our cells require fat and cholesterol to build hormones and burn for energy.
Put simply: LDLs help our cells get key nutrients when they need them.
That said, large amounts of LDLs that float around the bloodstream for an extended period of time are a bad thing.
These floating LDLs can be oxidized (kind of like how metal rusts when it sits outside for a long time).
The “rusting” of LDL transforms these normally healthy particles into a dangerous secondary subtype called LDL oxidized (LDLox).
This is where we get into trouble. LDLox are hard, dense molecules that stiffen arteries and reduce blood flow, and we definitely don’t want these guys floating around.
So, the right amounts of LDL are good for our normal functioning, but when oxidized into LDLox, heart disease can result.
Side note: One of the fastest ways to ensure that you have plenty of LDLox floating around in your body is to consume trans-fats found in almost all processed foods.
Unfortunately, most normal blood panels don’t differentiate between the beneficial types of LDL and the LDL oxidized subtype.
Next time you get blood work, consider asking your doctor for an expanded VAP cholesterol test that will measure the different LDL subtypes.
You may have high LDL levels with perfectly normal LDL oxidized levels, which would mean you are at a lower risk of heart disease from an LDL cholesterol perspective.
Cool, right?
Always check with your doctor when making medical decisions about your health, as this is NOT medical advice.
This is simply information for you to start doing your own research.
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Myth 3: Eating Cholesterol Leads To High Cholesterol
Our bodies love cholesterol.
Among its many functions, cholesterol helps build hormones such as testosterone and estrogen, create healthy cell membranes, and even aids in energy production.
Our bodies love cholesterol so much that we actually internally produce 75% of the total cholesterol level.
Your liver is actually making cholesterol right now as you read this.
Now, the average diet adds roughly another 300-500mg of cholesterol from foods such as meats, dairy, or eggs.
But here’s the cool part: when we eat cholesterol, our bodies decrease their own internal production.
This is yet another example of beautifully orchestrated human biology that maintains a balance between our internal and external environments.
Our ancient ancestors ate large amounts of cholesterol from animal meats that they trapped.
They didn’t experience the rampant heart disease that is leading to over 1,000,000 heart attacks each year.
So, what the heck is going on? Where is the real culprit?
The true culprit: the high carbohydrate, high sugar diet.
That soda? That favorite pastry of yours? That bag of chips? Yep. They all stimulate cholesterol production in the body far beyond the effects of actually consuming cholesterol from animal sources.
And the ironic part about this scenario is that these foods contain no cholesterol themselves — just sugar.
What Happens To Your Body When You Eat Sugar
Your body releases a hormone called insulin in response to high carbohydrate, high sugar meals.
While floating around, insulin’s primary function is to transport sugars into our cells for use.
One of insulin's many secondary functions is to actually stimulate your body’s own cholesterol production in the liver.
In fact, if you eat a very high carbohydrate diet with lots of sugars, you can stop eating cholesterol for the rest of your life and still have high cholesterol.
Doctors in Europe have practiced this for years: the fastest way to lower cholesterol and improve triglyceride levels is to cut back on the carbs.
American medicine is a bit slower to catch on.
My recommendation: keep eating whole eggs and start cutting out refined, processed sugars.
If you are still skeptical, you can check out Vince Gironda's story. He ate 36 eggs a day for 2 weeks then had blood work taken to prove this very point!
The results of his blood work after that egg fest?
Great HDL (good cholesterol) levels and normal LDL (“bad cholesterol”).
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*Please know that weight loss results and health changes/improvements vary from individual to individual; you may not achieve similar results. Always consult with your doctor before making health decisions. This is not medical advice – simply very well-researched info on is cholesterol bad for you.
