Cholesterol: Part II

In my own path to find the truth about fats and an overall healthy diet, I found many studies on this particular topic. When I went back to original studies, and not someone else’s interpretation of the study at hand, I was overwhelmed. There are too many for me to include here but three, of particular interest, that I will.

All of these studies involved women and high cholesterol levels. The first was published in the journal Circulation in 1992. A workshop was conducted at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which found that high cholesterol levels in women, even as high as 1000 mg/dl, is not a risk factor for heart disease. On the contrary, they found that low cholesterol is much more dangerous, resulting in acute bouts of depression, lethargy, and memory loss (to name a few).

The second is a 1989 study published in the Lancet in Paris. They found that women with very high cholesterol levels actually lived the longest and also had the least amount of morbidity (death with disease). Women with very low levels had five times the death rate. Lastly, in 2003, the British Medical Journal published a study from the researchers at the University of British Columbia, which concluded that statin drugs (cholesterol reducers), offer no benefit in preventing heart disease for women. Some patients even complained of memory loss and depression shortly after beginning the drugs.

So what is to blame for coronary heart disease? In large part, oxidized cholesterol:

Contrary to what you’ve heard, cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, but rather a potent antioxidant weapon against free radicals in the blood. Naturally produced in the body and naturally present in the foods we eat, it’s a repair substance that actually helps heal arterial damage.

However, heat and oxygen can damage cholesterol just as they do fats. Damaged, or “oxidized”, cholesterol can injure arterial walls and lead to a pathological plaque buildup in the arteries. Both of these changes can result in heart disease.

That’s why we recommend that you avoid foods that contain damaged cholesterol, such as powdered eggs and powdered milk (which manufacturers add to reduced-fat milk, yogurt, and other dairy products to give them body-without stating this fact on the label). Ironically, when you choose reduced-fat milks in order to avoid heart disease, you consume the very form of cholesterol that can cause heart disease (Enig, M., et al, p. 52).