Unlike the popular belief of modern medicine, cholesterol is not the bad guy. As mentioned before, cholesterol is part of every cell. We need it for our survival.
A prime example of how important cholesterol is; breast milk. From the first day that babies are born, they start consuming their mother’s breast milk. That is their sole food source for the first 4-5 months of their life, until they can start eating baby foods. So what is actually in breast milk? Water, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals, and more than half of it is fat. Fat that is loaded with cholesterol. This cholesterol is needed for proper brain development and for all the other cells in the body. As you can see, in the evolutionary process, we as humans have adapted the highest possible way to survive. Everything that is provided in a mother’s breast milk is there in order to make sure that infants grow into a big strong babies or toddlers ready to consume regular food.
Question: Why is cholesterol viewed as the enemy and often lowered with medication?
There are a couple of answers to that question. The first being that it is a great scapegoat for physicians and a great profit making machine for drug companies. Why is it such a profitable market? Because we all produce cholesterol, and since we all have it, it is extremely easy to test for it in our blood and set a "norm" for what the total cholesterol should be, then start lowering it with medication.
Here is a history of normal cholesterol levels and how they were established:
As stated by medical world, the normal cholesterol levels should be lower than 200; With LDL "bad" levels being lower than 100 and HDL "good" being higher than 60. These are the new stats after they changed them in 2004, when the LDL level was 130. This change was voted on by a board or doctors to lower the standard, with 8 out of 9 of those doctors also making money from the drug companies that were making statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. This brings us to our current state: Our war on cholesterol. Let's lower this evil substance until there is nothing left. Now let's see if the cholesterol lowering drugs help in preventing heart attacks.
"The second crucial point is hiding in plain sight in Pfizer's own Lipitor newspaper ad. The dramatic 36% figure has an asterisk. Read the smaller type. It says: "That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor.
The numbers in that sentence mean that for every 100 people in the trial, which lasted 3 1/3 years, three people on placebos and two people on Lipitor had heart attacks. The difference credited to the drug? There was one less heart attack per 100 people. So to spare one person a heart attack, 100 people had to take Lipitor for more than three years. The other 99 got no measurable benefit. Or to put it in terms of a little-known but useful statistic, the number needed to treat (or NNT) for one person to benefit is 100.
Compare that with say, today's standard antibiotic therapy to eradicate ulcer-causing H. pylori stomach bacteria. The NNT is 1.1. Give the drugs to 11 people, and 10 will be cured." One out of 100 people is helped by taking this drug! And the commercial on tv claims that it is 36% effective? Wow that is something.
A great question comes to mind. "Is the risk worth the reward"? In this instance, no it is not.
What is the connection of High Cholesterol and inflammation of the body?
Definition of inflammation - the reaction of living tissue to injury or infection characterized by heat, redness, swelling, and pain.
Chronic levels of Inflammation are now being recognized as one of the leading causes of heart disease. Cholesterol is being blamed for this.
An example that best describes inflammation is when you get a cut. The inflammation process is activated, and that is what helps us heal.
Specifically during inflammation:
-- Your blood vessels constrict to keep you from bleeding to death.
-- Your blood becomes thicker so it can clot.
-- Your immune system sends cells and chemicals to fight viruses, bacteria and other "bad guys" that could infect the area.
-- Cells multiply to repair the damage.
Ultimately, the cut is healed and a protective scar may form over the area.
The image below shows how inflammation is the first and second step of the healing process.
The process of inflammation is activated when our arteries sustain damage, forming scar tissue called plague. The reason why cholesterol is called upon is to repair the damaged cells. Remember that without cholesterol no repairing can be done.
Finally we get to the root of the problem; inflammation. It would be a better idea to lower the inflammation, since that is the cause of high cholesterol, instead of taking medication to lower cholesterol which is causing more inflammation in the body.
In my next article, I will discuss how to lower the inflammation of the body and what to test for when getting blood drawn.
For those who missed Mysteries of Cholesterol (Part 1) CLICK HERE.
Resources.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_04/b4068052092994_page_2.htm
Sally Fallon. Nourishing Traditions
http://www.crestor.com/c/your-arteries/manage-cholesterol.aspx?WT.mc_id=CRTCC13181&source=CRTCC13181&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&umedium=cpc&uadpub=google&utm_campaign=U_Cholesterol&ucampaign=U_Cholesterol&utm_content=Levels/Numbers&ucreative=Levels/Numbers&utm_term=cholesterol%20levels_Phrase&pkw=cholesterol%20levels_Phrase
www.articles.mercola.com
Questions or comments email me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com
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