Cholesterol: FRIEND or VILLAIN??

In my previous newsletter, “The real criminal in our food chain”, I talked about how bad trans fat is. It can transform seemingly “healthy” or “not so bad” food into “junkier-than-junk” food.

Now, let me talk about another common misconception circling around our society today, CHOLESTEROL. But first, let me warn you, everything you are about to read from this point onward will really shake your belief about cholesterol. You might even have argument with yourself, your friends, or your personal doctor who have been telling you A LOT OF BAD THINGS about cholesterol.

For me, CHOLESTEROL is not that bad. In fact, I am glad that I have cholesterol in my body because simply it is good to have it (I know, I know. After reading up to this point, you will most probably think, “This guy is insane!! He is glad to have cholesterol and now saying it is good!!”). Well, just read on and at the end, I am pretty sure you will AGREE with me.

We all know that heart disease, failure, heart attack, and hypertension have been one of the leading killers in today’s world. THAT IS TRUTH. But blaming cholesterol for all that?? That is not really fair. Here is why.

As science continues to improve, more and more evidence has shown that the ARTERIAL INFLAMMATION WITHIN THE BODY is the root cause of heart disease. The inflammation itself is caused by many personal factors, such as stress, smoking, viruses, consumption of refined/hydrogenated oil (which contains trans fat as I have mentioned), an imbalance of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats to omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in the diet, excess refined sugars, etc.

Although it is true that cholesterol is the one forming plaque/arterial deposit (which is mostly being blamed for heart disease), not so many people understand why it does that. When ARTERIAL INFLAMMATION occurs, the cholesterol acts as a HEALING SUBSTANCE. It responds to arterial inflammation by getting deposited in combination with other substances, forming “arterial deposit” which acts as a healing agent on the artery.

Basically, as long as you have internal inflammation, this plaque will be formed regardless of your cholesterol levels. In other words, if you don’t have any inflammation inside your body, high cholesterol level will just keep circulating in your body without forming “plaque” in your artery. Therefore, it is more important to control your artery inflammation rather than trying to lower your cholesterol level.

You may ask, “If cholesterol is actually good, why are medical industries pushing everyone to lower their cholesterol?” Well, one innocent answer would be because it is based on flawed medical studies from decades ago that have never been validated since it has been there for a long time. Another reason is because with such misconception circling around in society, “cholesterol control” drug companies will be able to sell their products more easily.

Still not convinced? Check these out: “The Hidden Truth About Cholesterol Lowering Drugs” by Shane Ellison and “The Cholesterol Myths” by Dr. Uffe Ravnskov (MD, PhD).

So now, don’t worry about the cholesterol levels anymore. Let’s start worrying about the level of artery inflammation in our bodies. You can check the level of your artery inflammation by CRP or homocysteine tests. More importantly, you can control it by living a healthy lifestyle.

Finally, here is to a life in healthy lifestyle

Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com