Cholesterol: Myths and Truths

by Chris Masterjohn

Debunking the Myths About Cholesterol

The idea that cholesterol is the cause of heart disease has been repeated so many times over the last half century that most people assume it to be true without a second thought.

We are told to avoid eating nutritious, cholesterol-rich foods like butter, liver and egg yolks in order to avoid the ravages of a high blood cholesterol level, even though these foods do not raise blood cholesterol levels in most people, and when they do, they primarily raise "good" cholesterol.

Now that statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs, have begun to bring in a bonanza of profits for pharmaceutical companies, any new disease that can be pinned on cholesterol represents a chance to broaden the scope of profits ever more wide.

The result? Alzheimer's disease is now blamed on cholesterol and statins are now hailed by some as the solution. Stroke is likewise blamed on cholesterol and the solution is the same. Does the scientific evidence back it up? Or is it just another "cholesterol myth?"

(See the list of articles below this brief introduction.)

Myths and Realities

The truth is that there is some kernel of truth in every myth.

Virtually no one in the research community believes anymore in the simplistic form of the cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease that this hypothesis took when it ascended to its present position of dominance over the course of the 1960s through the 1980s.

At one time, the cholesterol hypothesis went something like this: arteries are like pipes; cholesterol is like gunk. The more gunk there is, the more the pipes get clogged up. When they get so clogged up that blood can't flow through them, a heart attack ensues.

Now, the cholesterol hypothesis goes something like this: arteries are complex biological systems and heart disease is a disorder of inflammation and oxidative stress; when cholesterol levels get out of control, the cholesterol causes inflammation and oxidative stress. It decreases the functioning of the artery's best friend -- nitric oxide -- and "activates" white blood cells that start the inflammatory process. Because the body cannot protect high levels of cholesterol from oxidative stress, the cholesterol gets oxidized and accumulates in the blood vessel wall. When the white blood cells get loaded up with oxidized cholesterol, they make more pro-inflammatory chemicals that eventually lead to the destabilization of the plaque. The plaque ruptures, a clot forms, and a heart attack ensues.

So the question is: is this second hypothesis really the same hypothesis as the first?

It might seem like it the way I have written it, but I have focused every sentence on cholesterol. What happens when we consider that each stage of the process has nothing uniquely to do with cholesterol?

Free radicals and inflammation of any kind hurt nitric oxide functioning. Bacteria and immune cells specific to them -- many of them oral pathogens found primarily in gum disease -- inhabit arterial plaque, and are sure to play a role in initiating inflammation. Oxidized lipoproteins are indeed harmful -- but it is not the cholesterol, hidden deep within the core of the particle, that is the problem! It is primarily the phospholipids and the proteins on the surface of the lipoprotein that oxidize. And it is polyunsaturated fatty acids within those phospholipids that are vulnerable. Vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants of both the plant and animal kingdoms protect against oxidation and suppress inflammation, stabilize plaque and regulate clotting.

Is cholesterol involved in heart disease? Yes. But does its place in our understanding of heart disease today resemble the centrality of its place in the old hypothesis? No.

Yet in the mass media version of science, the old myth remains triumphant. It is simple, believable, and good for selling drugs.

But when regular folks like us want to figure out what a healthy diet is, the cholesterol hypothesis in its simplistic and mythical form obscures the issue. Is the egg yolk a health food because it is nutritious? Or a danger because it is high in cholesterol? What about liver and organ meats? Is virgin coconut oil a health food because it is rich in antioxidant polyphenols and low in polyunsaturated fats that are vulnerable to oxidation? Or is it a danger because it is high in saturated fat, which raises cholesterol levels?

In order to understand the truth about these questions, we have to debunk the myths.

This section of Cholesterol-And-Health.com is dedicated to exposing commonly perpetrated myths about cholesterol, and is fully documented with research from peer-reviewed journals.

Myths About Cholesterol -- Articles by Chris Masterjohn

The following articles debunk myths about cholesterol that drug companies would prefer you believe:

Myth: High Cholesterol Causes Stroke Some authors argue that high cholesterol causes stroke and should therefore eat a diet low in cholesterol-rich foods like butter, liver and egg yolks in order to avoid this disease. The truth, however, is that high cholesterol increases the risk of ischemic stroke but decreases the risk of the more deadly hemorrhagic stroke. Moreover, cholesterol-rich animal foods are associated with a decrease in the risk of stroke.

Myth: Eating Cholesterol Raises Blood Cholesterol Levels The myth goes something like this: arteries are like pipes; cholesterol is gooey, sticky gunk. When you eat cholesterol, it winds up in your blood. If the cholesterol level in your blood gets too high, it starts caking up the pipes. Thus, if you don't want your pipes clogged, don't eat foods rich in cholesterol.

In reality, dietary cholesterol has little or no effect on the cholesterol levels of over two thirds of the population. In the other third, dietary cholesterol does increase cholesterol levels, but makes the cholesterol packaged more safely into large and buoyant lipoproteins that are resistant to oxidation and stay in the blood where they belong and out of the vessel wall.

Myth: One High-Saturated Fat Meal Can Be Bad An Australian study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology by a group of researchers led by the Sydney, Australia Heart Research Institute's Dr. Stephen J. Nicholls was widely heralded as having shown that consumption of a single meal high in saturated fat harms the functioning of our arteries and promotes inflammation. In reality, the study showed nothing of the sort.

Myth: Cholesterol Causes Alzheimer's Disease | Part I: Debunking the Myth Websites push "brain-healthy" diets based on low-fat, low-cholesterol foods and researchers celebrate the fact that they are able to lower brain cholesterol levels with pills. But does it make any scientific sense? This article shows how the idea that cholesterol causes Alzheimer's disease is being perpetuated against the scientific evidence, and why research shows that cholesterol is a substance that actually protects your brain.

Myth: Cholesterol Causes Alzheimer's Disease | Part II: The Real Causes of Alzheimer's Disease Cholesterol is not the cause of Alzheimer's disease, and low-fat diets are not the solution. In fact, the hardcore science indicates that deficiency of DHA, a nutrient found in animal fats, and insulin resistance, caused by a diet excessively high in carbohydrates, are major contributors to the development of Alzheimers!