Good Cholesterol

Better to learn now than never about the importance of cholesterol, the good cholesterol and the cholesterol myth.

Have you ever heard both sides about cholesterol?

Over the years, there has been much information about the bad cholesterol. People are been given tests by their doctor to measure the amount of cholesterol present in their blood. RECENTLY, not too recently, information about how cholesterol isn’t the bad guy when it comes to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Just because cholesterol was at the scene of the crime doesn’t make it a criminal. Have you ever been blamed for something that you had nothing to do with? Yes, you were there but you didn’t do it. What is the truth? At least you had a voice but does cholesterol get to jump up and down and say ‘it’s not my fault.’ No.

Let’s explore some FACTS, HISTORY, ANOTHER VIEW and YOUR HEALTHY OPTIONS. If you have high cholesterol or heart disease, what do you have to lose? A healthy heart for a fun adventurous healthy lifestyle, sounds like a good plan.

Facts on Heart Disease and Cholesterol

Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States. (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute)

In 2012, more than 66,000 Canadians died from heart disease or stroke. That’s one person every 7 minutes. (Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation)

Heart disease and stroke costs the Canadian economy more than $20.9 billion every year in physician services, hospital costs, lost wages and decreased productivity. (Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation)

More than 1.4 million Canadians have heart disease. It is also one of the leading causes of death in Canada, claiming more than 33,600 lives per year. (Government of Canada – Heart Disease)

There are 2 types of cholesterol – good and bad. It’s so important to keep it at healthy levels because high blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. (Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation)

Increased Numbers of Cardiovascular Disease and Decreased Cholesterol Test Values for More Prescribed Statins

If CVD is going up then let’s ask ourselves, what is going on here? It is clear from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation that it kills thousands of people annually. Lowering bad cholesterol and having too much cholesterol is a major factor to consider in lowering CVD. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation have recommendations for heart health and keeping good cholesterol levels, but drugs isn’t one of them. Why then are the doctors prescribing them? Another time perhaps.

With all of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation good recommendations (are they all good?) I think there would be less CVD. Perhaps drugs aren’t the answer. Perhaps there are other healthy recommendations to consider as well as looking further into the root causes of CVD.

“They changed the (cholesterol) numbers just on a whim. Numbers, in my medical books, the normal levels published were 250 to 300 mg. On a whim they dropped it to 200 mg.” Dr. Dennis Courtney

Let’s first explore the one study that seems to stand out for many writers and researchers as to why cholesterol got a bad rap in CVD.

History of Cholesterol Being the Culprit

One study led by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is the Framington Heart Study. In 1948, the Framington Heart Study began the feeding of information on how cholesterol was the bad guy and that they uncovered the CVD major risk factors. This not only increased the amount of highly processed vegetable oils in our diet, it advised people to stop consuming the healthy saturated fats and cholesterol from foods such as butter and eggs.

Most people from a certain age have heard the word cholesterol. Consider these phrases shared on the various websites mentioned in FACTS.

Cholesterol causes heart attacks.
Where there is an increased amount of bad cholesterol you have a greater chance of getting a heart attack.
Saturated fat is the biggest culprit. Eat margarine and limit eggs.

In my vocabulary, I stay away from using the word bad. If we fall down and cut ourselves, would you not want your body to feel pain so it could alert you to the open cut on your leg? From my research, it appears that the cholesterol isn’t the bad guy but a protector of our arteries, and therefore sending us a clear message. A message we could pay attention. We would examine our health situation further. Some researchers such as Stephen Sinatra MD have shared in interviews what is going on in a clear concise way.

“Framington study also showed the higher the cholesterol the longer you live. Also shown in European literature as well” says Stephen Sinatra MD, Author of ‘The Cholesterol Myth’

“Cholesterol is not even a good predictor of heart disease. Over 50% of people who are admitted to hospitals in the United States with cardiovascular disease have normal cholesterol and over half the people with elevated cholesterol have normal hearts” says Jonny Bowden PhD.

Another View on Good Cholesterol

My first introduction to ‘the cholesterol myth’ was at school while becoming a Holistic Nutritionist. I read ‘The Nutritional Bypass’ by David W. Rowland.

Let’s take a big breath. I will explain a couple of things I learned.

“If your serum cholesterol levels are normal, you may still be a candidate for a heart attack or stroke” writes David W. Rowland in his book ‘The Nutritional Bypass’

Heart Cell Membrane with Cholesterol

How can cholesterol be the bad guy if it is found in every cell of our body and it is the necessary precursor of Vitamin D3, our sunshine vitamin, and much more? Every cell of our body (especially important in our brain) is able to produce cholesterol. Our liver produces 70% of the cholesterol needed by the body so even if we do not eat it, our bodies will produce it for normal cell functioning. Rowland writes “If your serum cholesterol levels are normal, you may still be a candidate for a heart attack or stroke.” WHAT?

I also read that having bad cholesterol doesn’t mean you are going to have a heart attack. I claim that science and research are not perfect either and many scientists are trying to figure things out the best they can. (Being optimistic!) They don’t mean to publish research that didn’t even occur or that favours a drug. Their hands were tied so to speak.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol: a substance found in the bodies of people and animals – it is an essential structural component of all animal cell membranes that is required to maintain both membrane structural integrity and fluidity. Wikipedia

Damage Artery Wall First Cholesterol Buildup Second

Cholesterol is a waxy substance, slippery and will not be able to stick to the smooth arterial wall. What happens first is the arterial walls are showing some damage. This damage is due to oxidative free radicals or another way to look at it is toxins, processed foods, etc.

Your Healthy Options Beyond Usual Recommendations

If you look at several different websites, you will find differences on healthy heart recommendations. For this article, I listed the fat recommendations by the Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation. It is worth noting that the Government of Canada only mentions ‘Eating foods that contain trans fat and high amounts of saturated fats and sodium can also increase the risk of heart disease.’ The Government of Canada did not mention increasing the consumption of polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oils such as canola and soybean oils).

Reduce your fat intake to 20 to 35% of your daily calories.
Choose healthy fats such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated, found mainly in vegetable oils, nuts and fish.
Limit your intake of saturated fat to less than 7% of your daily calories. Saturated fat is found mainly in red meat and high-fat dairy products.
Avoid trans fats often found in foods made with shortening or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, including hard margarines, fast foods and many pre-made foods. Trans fats raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol.

It will never hurt to understand what your cholesterol measurements are from a medical doctor. Also, there are symptoms that will display clues for us holistic practitioners. In Iridology, I can see clearly a ‘sodium cholesterol ring’ around a person’s iris (coloured part of the eye.) I would highly suggest a balance of both medical and holistic (information and results) so you can make an educated decision, have choices and an optimum plan for your lifestyle (including nutrition recommendations). Let’s work together for your best interest – they say, without your health you have nothing.

Healthy Fats and Processed Oils

Fats are my thing. You may be comfortable eating butter and eggs now. Healthy fats include saturated and full fat foods. The low fat foods can be laced with sugar and increases the amount of processing. Most fish oils that are suppose to be heart healthy are highly processed and oxidized. Oxidized fats or free radicals damage your arterial walls. Of course, nothing is black and white. Not all fish oils are created equal nor are all saturated fats either. I consume seal oil which is essentially raw and stable and just like me. Seal oil is effectively absorbed 30% more than fish oils making seal oil more efficient for heart and nerve health. The first day I took seal oil I felt my brain turn on…it was an unexpected enjoyable health benefit. So I had brain fog and didn’t even know I had brain fog.

Vegetable Oils in grocery store Having worked in food processing for almost 20 years, I can say that fish oils as a source of omega 3 was thought up by fish oil businesses. Fish oil is a waste by-product of the fishing industry. More and more people have been consuming more fish since the 1980’s. Do you remember ‘eat fish twice a week.’ It is cheap stuff. Don’t be fooled by the fancy words Refined, Molecularly Distilled, etc. Just more words for highly processed, heated, bleached, deodorized, etc. What about the vegetable oil lining the grocery shelves and in our foods? The lubricant of the food industry. Over the last 100 years, we are consuming 10 fold more refined (processed) vegetable oils.

How Times Change

“We made our vegetable oil fresh every day.” 100 years ago

Organizations and practitioners are correct to say avoid fried foods but there are degrees here. I share in my presentations to avoid the oils turning very brown/black (like BBQ black). When using a BBQ, do not blacken your food.

When I gave a nutrition health presentation to a large group of people from India, afterwards I asked an elderly fellow “how did you get your oil for frying?” He said “we made it fresh every day.” AH, you see the vegetable oil that sits on the shelf for many months would not be the same oil used back in India.

Many cultures purchase their food stuffs and vegetable oil in our typical grocery stores looking for convenience and/or the best price. Well, not everyone. Producing your own fresh oil daily would be something of anomaly.

Many turned to olive oil but learned that cold pressed olive oil isn’t so cold pressed. Hey, there is heat naturally generated by the presses. The olive oil might also be spiked with other cheap vegetable oils – China comes to mind.

Back to Good Cholesterol

Dr. Sinatra shares in a live interview with Dr. Dennis Courtney (Oct 9, 2013) “You have cholesterol in your body for a reason. Let’s face it. It lubricates the skin, it activates the sunlight in your skin to form vitamin D3, it is a reparative property in the body, it makes our sex hormones, it is vital for neurotransmitter capabilities in the brain to hook up the synapses and chemical messages in the brain, it protects us from gastrointestinal infections, it protects us from pulmonary infections” etc.

“Cholesterol is the wrong marker. We are treating the cholesterol numbers not the person.” Stephen Sinatra MD, Board-certified cardiologist specializing in integrative medicine and Author of ‘The Great Cholesterol Myth’

The lower the better…INCORRECT? Some say lowering cholesterol is the #1 reason for erectile dysfunction and for increase in suicides and accidents, and there is no real correlation between cholesterol and heart disease.

Dr. Jonny Bowden shares “Cholesterol is an absolutely necessary and important molecule. It is used for brain health, for thinking, for mood, for fighting infections, for making bile acids. You make vitamin D from cholesterol. Most important you make all your sex hormones from cholesterol including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.”

Good Cholesterol Exists

In summary, good cholesterol and cholesterol exists for a reason or two or three. I don’t believe it was a setup but a blip in conclusions regarding science and research. You draw your conclusions by your own research. My fun is providing information with the intention of guiding us all to the truths.

The facts on the cholesterol myth are laid out and our own family history of heart disease as well. Cardiovascular/heart disease and blocked arteries exists – the thousands of bypasses annually will attest to the medical system beliefs as to their preferred treatment. There are helpful healthy recommendations that might need some changes or add ons to guide us in prevention and healing. I might say reversing heart disease but then you would need to speak to the people that have achieved reversing clogged arteries by changing their diet and lifestyle.

Three Cheers for Good Cholesterol

So what do you think? Is there hope for bringing the statistics down on CVD? My answer is absolutely yes. There is a catch. It is up to the individual. One could easily write a book to fill in the details – and Stephen Sinatra and Jonny Bowden did write a book, and others too. Share this article on Good Cholesterol if you believe someone else might be interested or want to explore the good cholesterol subject. For some people, researchers and doctors, they already know about the cholesterol myth and good cholesterol. Spread the good cholesterol word!

Sing with a healthy heart!