So what's the big deal? We have already been told EVERYTHING we need to know about
Cholesterol right? There are good and bad versions, (the latter which can cause heart attacks
and strokes)? We control our "bad levels" through diet and when that fails, there is always
statins to count on?
Does that about sum up what you know on the subject?
What if I was to tell you, some of this isn't true, and there is far more to the story than that?
It is very true there is "bad cholesterol", however, it is rare people are told to look for the
reasons your Cholesterol has become "bad".
If you are told you have high levels of "bad cholesterol", and your levels are above either
200 for total Cholesterol, or 100 for LDL Cholesterol, the first port of call your doctor will
suggest is Statins!
He might also suggest looking at your diet, weight or even, god forbid, some sort of exercise
programme! But I doubt it very much.
I am going to try and get you to look at Cholesterol in a different way altogether, then consider
fixing any problem you may have with an holistic, naturopathic approach.
What does this actually mean?
As with previous posts, and embedded in my website "Mission Statement", when you become
ill, you should always approach the cure from a Terrain Theory perspective, and NOT the Germ
Theory methodology.
There are three main reasons a body will become ill:
- Inflammation
- Insulin Resistance
- Oxidative Stress
Yes, there are many reasons a person will fall ill with any or all of the above, for example:
- Poor Diet
- Lack of exercise
- Obesity
- Exposure to toxins and poisons
- Stress
- EMF exposure
- Poor Sleep
- Trans Fats
- Prescription or illegal drugs
However, ALL diseases and illnesses can be overcome and reversed by following some very
simple protocols:
- Remove the "Root Cause" (remove the fuel source from the fire)
- Cleanse the body of residual cause (clean out your fuel tank)
- Be of positive mindset (think blue skies, free from smoke and pollution)
- Feed your body wholesome, natural foods and water (clean, best quality fuel)
This is no difference with regards to "Bad Cholesterol".
Statins should only ever be prescribed to a person when the above protocols have been
tried and have failed.
This means, when diagnosing a person with dangerously high levels of Cholesterol, removing
the cause, correcting the diet and ascertaining an exercise programme should ALWAYS come
before prescribing statins.
As part of my research, I have talked to many people on statins and they all told me the same
thing regarding the initial consultation with their doctor.
Root Cause removal, correcting the diet and agreeing an adequate exercise programme was
given little or no emphasis during the consultation.
Diet was the most popular topic of conversation prompted by the doctor,
and even then, some of the advice given was incorrect and out of date at best.
Before we go on, this has to be done:
Disclaimer:
I am not a doctor.
I am not suggesting you take this blog post as medical advice.
I am not suggesting you don't visit your doctor.
I am not suggesting you use this information to go against your doctors advice.
What is Cholesterol?
The first myth we need to dispel is:
Cholesterol IS NOT fat, and fat IS NOT Cholesterol!
LDL is not cholesterol & cholesterol is not LDL.
Cholesterol is an organic molecule known as a LIPID.
It is not water soluble, meaning it cant move freely in your blood.
Not being water soluble means it cant mix with water, think of olive oil and water!
Cholesterol doesn't move around your body as a single cell, it is always packaged up
with lipoproteins (LDL).
These are a group of soluble proteins that combine with and transport fat or other lipids
(like protein) in the blood plasma.
So, LDL is the transport mechanism for cholesterol.
Lipoproteins are waxy, flexible particles which makes travel through the blood very easy.
Cholesterol, as a lipid, could not do this alone.
Cholesterol is therefore vital in ensuring enough vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and
proteins are transported quickly, to the right place in the body for maintenance and
even more importantly REPAIR.
Think of cholesterol as the first responder when your body needs fuel for energy or
proteins to repair muscle damage.
Cholesterol is biosynthesised (made up and used) by every cell in the body.
Without it we would die in literally minutes.
No cholesterol = No life.
The membranes of every cell in the body contain cholesterol.
It is what makes them fluid and flexible. 30% of all cell membranes are made from it.
Cholesterol is the backbone to our main hormones such as Oestrogen, Testosterone
and Cortisol.
Cholesterol is made naturally in the body, it is a building block of life.
It is made mainly in the liver, however, more than we need is made, but this is harmlessly
transported around the body and recycled when needed.
The body is good at recycling it and also pooping out any excess which it doesn't need.
The liver produces, on average, approximately 3000mg of cholesterol each and every day.
This is the equivalent to 40 eggs, 300 strips of bacon or 4kg of butter.
A person's serum cholesterol level represents the amount of total cholesterol in their blood.
This comprises both HDL & LDL Cholesterol.
NOTE: A cholesterol check is not a check on how much cholesterol is in your system.
It checks for LDL & HDL lipoproteins only: NOT cholesterol.
The test will tell you how much LDL is in your blood (good or bad: healthy or damaged).
Myth Buster Time:
Dietary intake of cholesterol plays little or no role in your total "serum cholesterol" levels.
The body is actually not that good at extracting cholesterol from your diet.
It only removes around 10% to 30% of the cholesterol we eat.
Saturated Fats WILL & DO raise good LDL levels. This is a good thing!!
Lets look at some other important roles cholesterol play in the body:
It delivers antioxidants around the body to fight and kill off free radicals.
Bile acids are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver.
These acids break down our foods and absorb vitamins, fats, minerals, carbs and proteins.
Without cholesterol, this process would not be possible. We would then starve.
GOOD AND BAD CHOLESTEROL????
We are told there are TWO types of cholesterol, when actually there are 13 sub categories.
However, to keep it simple, we are going to concentrate on the two main types we know.
HDL (GOOD CHOLESTEROL) & LDL (BAD CHOLESTEROL)
Before we go into them individually, you need to remember that although they are both
cholesterol, they have different roles and functions in the body.
Think of them as you would veins and arteries.
- LDL goes to the site where vitamins, minerals, proteins and energy are required.
- HDL collects and returns excess cholesterol to the liver (reverse cholesterol transport).
Lets deal with each on in turn and determine what's really going on.
LDL (THE BAD GUY?)
This is larger than HDL, but only when free of damage.
When oxidised (damaged) it becomes smaller.
Undamaged (larger) LDL is sometimes called "fluffy" LDL and moves through the blood
vessels freely and poses no risk to health.
Any excess of "fluffy" LDL is either recycled by the liver, or discarded via a trip to the loo.
It is the oxidised (damaged) LDL which help to damage the lining of the blood vessels.
The enemy is not the damaged LDL, but whatever caused it the damage in the first place.
So lets look at what damages our arteries, and what happens then!
Inflammation, insulin resistance and oxidative stress all cause damage to the walls and cell
linings of the arteries.
This of course is brought on by poor diet, being overweight, too much sugar, trans fats
and stress etc.
When the body senses the damage it sets out to repair it immediately. LDL then transports
cholesterol, proteins and nutrients to the scene to start their work.
If the "fluffy" LDL arrives, it safely deposits the repair materials and returns to the liver
for more.
However, if the LDL is damaged, it is smaller, much smaller, and instead of offloading its
payload, it enters the cell walls and membranes and becomes lodged, along with whatever
was initially causing the damage (inflammation). This then starts to build around the
damage site.
A self defence mechanism then kicks in and "good soldiers" are sent in to clean up.
These are called macrophages: white blood cells which basically eat up, destroy
and remove dead or damaged cells.
If the amount of damaged LDL is overwhelming or becomes a chronic problem, this can be
very problematic for the "good soldiers".
This process of good cells eating bad cells can and frequently does, cause what is known
as "foam cells".
This is the hallmark of Atherosclerotic plaque.
Atherosclerotic plaque is composed of fat, cholesterol, calcium and inflammatory cells.
The plaque can cause arteries to narrow, blocking blood flow. The plaque can also burst,
leading to a blood clot, heart attack or stroke.
It is therefore incorrect to label LDL as the bad guy, after all, damaged or not, it was only
doing what it was designed to do in the first place, repair inflammation!
Blaming LDL for this scenario is like turning up the to scene of a major fire and blaming
the poor firemen for the inferno.
Phew, did you get all that?
That was a lot to take in, and if you have, then well done.
In essence, fighting cholesterol is fighting the wrong guy.
Its Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Insulin Resistance we should be waging war on.
Tackle the root cause and the problem goes away.
IT IS NOT THE AMOUNT OF LDL IN OUR SYSTEM THATS IMPORTANT,
ITS THE HEALTH OF IT!!!
HDL (THE GOOD GUY)
LDL is the "deliverer" while HDL is the "collector and returner"
HDL lowers the amount of LDL by returning it to the liver to be recycled.
Its estimated one-third to one-fourth of blood cholesterol is carried by HDL.
There's another problem!!
The poor old liver has many functions and apart from the heart, (for obvious reasons),
is probably the most important organ in the body.
Its role in cholesterol manufacturing and recycling is no different.
The liver has receptors which attract and recapture LDL for reuse.
However, this is where damaged LDL causes big problems for the liver.
Although the liver contains more than enough receptors to recapture LDL,
this is only the case for "good, fluffy LDL".
It does not capture and recycle bad, damaged LDL, allowing it to build up in the body.
This obviously significantly changes the good/bad ratio of cholesterol and increases
the chances of damage to the artery walls.
STATINS
Statins are one of the most widely used prescription drugs in the world today.
The most popular being Atorvastatin manufactured by Pfizer.
Basically, statins work by blocking an enzyme which in turn prevents the liver
from producing LDL cholesterol, OR by getting the liver to produce more receptors
to attract more LDL and so lowering the overall quantity.
You have to constantly remind yourself that all diseases and illnesses should be
tackled "at source" and take out the "root cause".
If you have lots of damaged, bad LDL in your system, there is a reason for it.
Something is causing this, and it is that which we should be fighting.
Remove the "root cause" = Remove the bad LDL.
NOTE: Increasing the amount of receptors available to the liver, has no effect
whatsoever on the amount of bad LDL in your blood. Liver receptors can
ONLY pick up and receive good, healthy LDL and will not accept bad LDL.
So, statins WILL lower your overall LDL blood count, however, the
additional cholesterol removed belongs to good, healthy LDL only.
This of course allows bad, damaged LDL to continue multiplying freely.
If your root cause is too much stress or the intake of too much refined sugar,
then by taking statins, your not only introducing a drug which gets the liver
to work in an unnatural way and can potentially damage it, but your also leaving
in the "root cause"!
However many statins you take, this wont stop the stress or exposure to
sugars in your diet.
There are many doctors out there stating that statins should only ever be
prescribed when the correction of the diet, implementation of an exercise
programme and removal of the root causes has failed and the LDL is still high.
Looking through all the research I have done on this subject, I would agree that
prescribing statins for prevention of a REPEAT heart attack or stroke might be a
good thing.
However, even for people who have suffered either of these, the removal of the
root causes, correcting the diet and exercising should still be the priority.
I have found no, good substantiated evidence, to suggest that prescribing statins
to a healthy person, with no prior symptoms of disease or illness is a practice
which outweighs the associated side effects of statins on the body.
So what are the reported side effects from people taking statins?
For this blog, I have solely focussed on the side effects reported by people who
categorically know that statins is the causal factor and no other additional
elements come into play:
- The person was not experiencing symptoms of side effects prior to statin
prescription
- The person has not started taking any additional drugs since the
prescription of statins
- There have been no other lifestyle changes since the drug was first
prescribed
Reported side effects:
- Inflammation and pain in muscles
- Joint inflammation
- Tendon disorders
- Arthritis condition worsening
- Type 2 diabetes conditions worsening
- Loss of energy
- Brain fog and reports of loss of focus and memory
- Problems with liver & kidney function
- Decrease in testosterone (in men & women)
Blog Post Summary
As stated earlier, I don't claim to be a doctor, and I would never suggest a person
ignores a doctors advice on the back of one of my blog posts.
I am however, declaring there are some undisputable facts, which, following several
new studies and reports, cannot be ignored.
- All LDL cholesterol is not bad.
- Saturated fats increase good LDL.
- Its not the amount of LDL cholesterol in your body that's the problem,
Its the HEALTH of the LDL that matters.
- "Bad" LDL cholesterol is "damaged" LDL cholesterol.
- The "root causes" of the damage is the enemy, not the cholesterol itself.
- LDL & HDL cholesterol are vital to the body.
- Diet, exercise and lifestyle changes should always come before statins.
Have you ever asked yourself this question:
Why are we always primarily guided towards prescription drugs when we go to
the doctors with a health problem?
ANSWER:
MONEY!!
There is no profit in advising people to make lifestyle changes, cut out the sugar and
processed foods, exercise a little, remove toxins where possible and accept that the
body can and will heal itself if you treat it well and feed it the right things.
Hope this helps.
