Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
Over the last several years of writing these columns I’ve
hit the cholesterol topic a few times. It bears repeating until you finally
give up your statin drugs forever. They are not just dangerous but treat a non-
existent, made up health crisis. Cholesterol is a necessary, vital piece of
your health picture.
The medical community has for 30 years fed us a line of
complete and utter hysteria about cholesterol levels in our blood. First they
randomly selected 180 mg/dl as the “normal” level of cholesterol. A reading of
200 mg/dl required their drugs to keep you safely under 180. The diet they
prescribed was to eat no cholesterol, not much red meat, and lots of grains.
When that was proven wrong, they said some eggs and red meat are ok, but not
too much.
We now see a complete scientifically based free fall of this
cholesterol whopper! As Dr. Mercola puts it, “The cholesterol myth has suffered
a bit of a triple whammy of late, making it harder and harder for heart
specialists to uphold the company line.” There are three studies since 2012
that Dr. Mercola shows have obliterated the saturated fat phobia.
The first, in 2012, by researchers at the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology examined the health and lifestyle habits
of more than 52,000 adults ages 20 to 74. They concluded that women with high
cholesterol, over 270 mg/dl, had a 28% LOWER mortality risk than women with
“low” cholesterol, less than 183 mg/dl. They also found that women with the
lower levels increased their risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
Secondly, in 2013, a prominent London cardiologist argued in
the British Medical Journal that you should ignore advice to reduce your
saturated fat intake because it is actually increasing your risk for obesity
and heart disease.
Now, in March 2014, a new meta-analysis of nearly 80 studies
and a half million people, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found
that those who consumed the most saturated fat have no more heart diseases than
those who consume less. They also did not find less heart disease among those
eating higher amounts of unsaturated fats like olive oil or corn oil.
Cholesterol plays a vital role in our health. It is needed
for building cell membranes, for interacting with proteins inside your cells
and helping regulate cell signaling. Having too little cholesterol impacts your
brain health, hormone levels and heart disease risk. There is strong evidence
that people have a higher risk for heart attack by having their cholesterol
number driven too low, as is now the case with the statin drug craze by
medicine. Lifestyle choices such as getting to a healthy weight, exercising and
managing insulin levels are a better way to avoid heart disease.
Dr. Mercola says that fat has been blamed for the real
evildoer, sugar. A high sugar diet raises your risk of heart disease by
promoting metabolic syndrome – a cluster of health conditions including high
blood pressure, insulin resistance, high triglycerides, liver dysfunction and
visceral(belly) fat accumulation.
The current USDA recommendations call for your diet to
include less than 10% of your total calories from saturated fats. That is
exactly the opposite of what it should be! The latest science says healthy
fats, both saturated and unsaturated, from whole food, animal and plant sources
should comprise 50 to 85% of our overall energy intake. Foods like grass fed
red meat, free range eggs, coconut oil, avocados, raw butter and cheese are
where your calories should come from.
Please reconsider your use of cholesterol lowering drugs and tell your doctor you want
to follow what the latest research proves…cholesterol is normal especially when
your HDL levels are high. Take control of your health, it is up to you to get
healthy and stay healthy.