Contrary to what you’ve heard, there’s no such thing as “good” or “bad” cholesterol.
Cholesterol is a natural part of our bodies…and until everyone understands it’s not “broken,” they’re never going to get it right.
Big Pharma has made billions from its cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Big Food has also made billions from their processed “heart-healthy, low-cholesterol” fake foods.
They say you need to lower cholesterol to protect your heart…
But cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease. Study after study proves it.
In fact, the more cholesterol you have, the better your life will be. Cholesterol is the mother of your most important hormones — the ones that keep you smart, sexy, happy, strong, and mobile.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like molecule that’s made in your liver and consumed through the foods you eat. It’s one of your body’s most vital substances. It enables your liver to synthesize acids, hormones and vitamins that are utterly essential to a happy and healthy life.
Cholesterol is the part of your body that gives life its gusto:
- Your brain is made of it
- Your sex and adrenal hormones are made of it
- Your body can’t digest fat without it
- Your cell walls are made of it
- Your body can’t produce vitamin D without it
Cholesterol also protects every nerve in your body. It’s essential for remaining vibrant and independent throughout your life.
Cardiologists like to use terms like “bad LDL” and “good HDL”, but it’s misleading. HDL and LDL aren’t actually cholesterol. Because cholesterol isn’t water-soluble, it has to travel through your bloodstream in little packages called lipoproteins — low-density lipoproteins and high-density lipoproteins.
LDL is present in plaque build-up in your arteries. That’s why it’s called “bad” cholesterol. Cardiologists like to measure your “bad” cholesterol to assess your risk of developing heart disease.
But they couldn’t be more off target.
Just look at the famous Framingham Heart Study, which has been ongoing since the 1940s… it’s the largest heart study ever conducted in the history of the human species. And it couldn’t link cholesterol with heart attack risk even when it tried.1
According to the worldwide “Jupiter” trial, cholesterol-lowering statin drugs have absolutely no impact at all on heart disease risk for women.2
Many studies confirm what I tell my patients — low cholesterol is worse for you than high cholesterol.3
By consuming “low-cholesterol” foods and taking cholesterol-busting meds, you’re inhibiting your liver from producing one of your body’s vital substances.
Even worse, you are destroying a part of your body that’s there to protect you from heart disease.
You see, HDL is actually a heart protector — and women naturally have more HDL than men. The higher your HDL number, the better. It doesn’t matter how high your LDL is.
The Framingham Study proved high levels of HDL is directly related to a lower risk of heart disease. In fact, it showed that increased HDL could reduce coronary disease independent of LDL cholesterol.4
If your HDL is above 85, you are at no greater risk of heart disease whether your total cholesterol is 350 or 150.
LDL particles are found in the plaque buildup in your arteries — so modern medicine jumped to the conclusion that this is the cause of heart disease.
But it’s not there doing damage…it’s actually protecting your heart!
The truth is inflammation is what causes heart disease. Cholesterol is only guilty by association. Inflammation damages your blood vessel walls. When LDL patches the wall, it’s just doing its job.
Toss your statin, and protect your heart with DHA
I help my patients protect their hearts by raising LDL. And one of the best ways is with omega-3 – especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which studies prove is a potent defender from heart disease.5
The DHA in omega-3 fatty acids has also been shown to supercharge your HDL levels.6 A recent study shows that simply having enough in your body lowers the risk of having any cardiac event by 79%.7
DHA also reduces inflammation and is especially important for repairing damage to your blood vessels.
The best animal sources of omega-3 DHA are organ meats from grass-fed cattle and wild-caught, cold water fish. Good plant sources are walnuts, avocado, and pumpkin seeds.
To reduce the inflammation that causes heart disease, you need between 600 mg and 1,000 mg of DHA daily. But it’s impossible to get what you need from our food today. Here’s what I tell my patients:
- Stop taking fish oil. Most fish oil supplements come from polluted waters that contain chemicals like PCBs and heavy metals like mercury. This is worse than not taking a supplement in the first place.
- Take this tiny animal oil instead. Krill are shrimp-like animals that don’t live long enough to absorb large amounts of toxins — so they don’t get contaminated. And their omega-3s are stored in phospholipid form instead of triglyceride. This helps it pass through cell membranes better.
- And combine it with calamari. But make sure your calamari oil comes from squid that live off the coast of South America in the pure waters of the South Pacific.
- Take it at the right time. Standard advice is to take your DHA first thing in the morning. I disagree – especially if you practice intermittent fasting. I suggest taking it with your meal with the most healthy fats. This increases absorption.8
- Store your soft gels in the FREEZER. By the time the supplement starts to break down and release its liquid, it’s further down in the gastrointestinal tract, which aids digestion and absorption.
- Also include these nutrients. Taking vitamin E protects DHA from potentially damaging oxidation in your body. And astaxanthin helps the DHA permeate your tissues and get where it’s needed.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References:
1. Ridker PM. “The JUPITER trial: results, controversies, and implications for prevention.” Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2009 May; 2(3):279-85. doi: 10.1161/ CIRCOUTCOMES.109.868299.
2. Gordon, et al. “High density lipoproteins as a positive factor against coronary heart disease. Framingham Study.” Am J Med, 1997 May; 62(5): 707-714.
3. Jacobs D, et al. “Report of the Conference on Low Blood Cholesterol: Mortality Associations.” Circulation. 1992;86:1046-60.
4. Castiglioni A, Neuman, WR. “HDL cholesterol: what is its true clinical significance?” Emerg Med J. January 2003.30-42.
5. Bernstein A, et al “Meta-analysis shows at docosahexaenoic acid … increases HDL-cholesterol … in persons without coronary heart disease.” J Nutr. 2012;142(1):99-104.
6. 2 Franceschini G, et al. “Omega-3 fatty acids selectively raise high-density lipoprotein 2 levels in healthy volunteers.” Metabolism. 1991 Dec;40(12):1283-6.
7. Kohashi K, et. al. “Effects of eicosapentaenoic acid on the levels of inflammatory markers, cardiac function and longterm prognosis in chronic heart failure patients with dyslipidemia.” J Atheroscler Thromb. 2014;21(7):712-29.
8. Lawson L and Hughes B. “Absorption of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid from fish oil triacylglycerols or fish oil ethyl esters co-ingested with a high-fat meal.” Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1988 Oct 31;156(2):960-3. doi: 10.1016/s0006-291x(88)80937-9.