There are a few different things that get me riled up, as my regular readers know, but docs putting people on statin drugs is one that’s right toward the top. People are confused, though, about what is a “normal” number for their cholesterol, and most haven’t researched enough to find articles like the one below to put their minds at ease.
To continue with Tuesday’s theme of cholesterol and whether or not your doctor can pressure you to eat low fat, today I’m posting an excerpt from an article by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who has written extensively on this issue. Still on my list of books to read is hers called, Put Your Heart in Your Mouth
Excerpts from the article:
Many people ask me a question:
WHEN I TEST MY BLOOD CHOLESTEROL, WHAT SHOULD IT BE?
My answer is:
DON'T TEST YOUR BLOOD CHOLESTEROL!
IT IS A POINTLESS EXERCISE AND A POTENTIALLY HARMFUL ONE!
- The human brain is hungry for cholesterol! Memory loss and cognitive decline are very common results of statin therapy. In fact it is possible that a considerable part of dementia epidemic in our aging population is due to our ubiquitous statin prescriptions.
- More recently statins have been linked to development of Parkinson's disease. Indeed, one of the first side effects of statins is the change in mood and personality towards being intolerant, aggressive and short-tempered – a warning sign that the brain is starving for cholesterol.
- Cholesterol protects us from infections!
- Cholesterol is essential for our immune system to function properly.
- Every steroid hormone in the body is made out of cholesterol! Without cholesterol we will not be able to cope with stress or to have children.
- Cholesterol is essential for babies and children! The proponents of the diet-heart hypothesis and the public policy makers tell us that our children from the age of two should follow a program for reducing their blood cholesterol by avoiding natural fats and replacing them with margarine. The pharmaceutical giants are working hard on creating cholesterol-lowering drugs for children. These dangerous guidelines are given out “just in case”, without any scientific data to support them. The consequences of this policy can be very serious indeed for our children: aggressive behaviour, learning difficulties, poor memory, poor immunity, poor physical health combined with the future risk of developing cancer, heart disease, stroke and infertility.
- Cholesterol is essential for the elderly! Many studies have shown that old people with high cholesterol are healthier and live longer than people with low cholesterol.
- Vitamin D is made out of cholesterol in the body! Our recent misguided fear of sun and avoidance of cholesterol have created an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in the Western world leading to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, autoimmune illness, obesity, bone and muscle disease, high blood pressure, chronic pain, poor immunity and susceptibility to infections.
- Cholesterol and saturated fats are essential for healing! No damage in the body, no wound or scratch can be healed without cholesterol and saturated fats. That is why large-scale studies have found that people who have low levels of cholesterol are prone to cancer, because their bodies cannot heal damaged tissues.
- Every day, depending on what your body is doing, your blood cholesterol levels go up and down quite a lot. A blood test for cholesterol will give you a snippet of this activity, completely out of context of your body's needs at the time. If this snippet happens to find it high, then two harmful things can happen to you:
1. You are likely to be put under pressure to start a statin therapy, depriving your body from one of the most essential nutrients;
2. You will have to live with a new anxiety – a fear of heart disease! And for no good reason at all, because cholesterol levels in your blood have nothing to do with heart disease.If you really want to know about your risk of heart disease, then these are the tests to do…
- Buy the book: “Put Your Heart in Your Mouth
”
- “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” the other book by Natasha Campbell-McBride
- Is cholesterol good for us?
- What should my cholesterol BE?
- Side effects from statins/cholesterol medications
- Are cholesterol medicines safe? What about LDL & HDL? You've got to read the info toward the bottom of this post about the movie Fathead!
- History of Heart Disease
- Statins after a heart attack? – read about my brother-in-law's heart scare
- Read about Mike’s follow-up appointment at the heart doc.
- More pharmaceutical bull crap – read why the pharmacy contacted my sister
- A burger, fries and a side of Lipitor please!
Diane Petersen says
I’ve actually got to check if that’s the name of the “disorder” and get back to you…
Diane Petersen says
Great post! It feels so great to be learning this information and at the same time it’s so dang frustrating because almost no one wants to listen. Thank god my husband gets it! I have an in-law with a genetic high cholesterol disorder and want to give him this info, but am wondering if it would pertain to him too? I feel like his diagnosis is all a big lie, but want to be sure. It has such a fancy name, hypercholesterolemia. The whole fam is on drugs! Thanks!
Lorna says
My son (27) just got his cholesterol check for life insurance and he had a higher premium to pay because they told him it was higher than their standard. He is not overweight and gets lots of exercise. This is one of the worries we have with our insurance companies.
Melissa Boersma says
Hi Kelly – I have been reading your blog for some time now. We recently moved just north of G.R and I wondered if you had a recommendation of a naturopath Dr in the GR area? Thanks!
KitchenKop says
Hi Melissa, I’ll email you. 🙂
Bonny says
This is a great post–thank you! I’m definitely going to share it. “Put Your Heart in Your Mouth” is a wonderful and informative read. I read GAPS, then this book, then right afterwards found “Nourishing Traditions” and WAPF and have been SO grateful for the knowledge I’ve gained.
I feel like not a day goes by that I’m not exposed to the devastating effects the Lipid Hypothesis has on our society. I’m constantly hearing stories from other moms about their family’s health problems, but they are hesitant to believe that a diet rich in saturated fat and cholesterol is good for them. My husband says when he shares this with people they look at him like he’s crazy. But we continue to eat our pastured eggs, clean bacon, grass-fed butter, and fermented cod liver oil and feel grateful to Dr. Campbell-McBride, Weston Price, Sally Fallon, and the others (like you!) who are teaching this.
Megan says
Our big issue is with insurance. We take a wellness exam every year and get a discounted rate if we’re healthy (by their standards). And you can bet cholesterol is one of the top things they look at. Of course, ours have always been in the “healthy” range with a very high HDL as well. The nurses always comment that my husband and I must do tons of cardio…umm..no. We eat a high fat/low carb diet, thank you very much. 🙂 I do worry though that if our levels go too high, it’ll cost us hundreds of dollars in lost discounts.
Tim Huntley says
Kelly,
I agree 100% that we do not need to manage cholesterol via drugs and in general, lipid profiles are a waste of time and money. That said, I like the approach of both Chris Masterjohn as well as Paul Jaminet (The Perfect Health Diet) when they talk about Cholesterol (specifically high LDL) being similar to an ambulance at the scene of an accident (certainly not the cause of the accident).
If we look at cholesterol numbers, we should do so in the context of the diet that we eat and how those numbers will be different than for someone who eats based on the USDA food guidelines.
…Tim
Bonny says
Dr. N talks about that same analogy in her book (of the ambulance). I agree, It really helped me understand what was really going on.
KitchenKop says
Here’s another analogy I use because it resonates with what I learned in nursing school (although the ambulance one is probably better…)
When you have an infection, white blood cells rush to the area to start the healing process. The same thing happens when there is inflammation in our body somewhere, cholesterol rushes to the area to start the healing process, but you never hear about docs trying to keep the white blood cell count down, they *want* it there doing its job!
jenna Food WIth Kid Appeal says
i just finished dr mcbride’s GAPS book and want to read this one. My friend was asking me all about cholesterol and what numbers should be. I couldn’t answer her. Now I can just FWD her this article. Thanks Kel!
Amy says
Great post, Kelly. I need to send this to my father. He’s on statins (with a cholesterol of under 200) and it makes me very upset. I’ve given him all kinds of info on it and he’s “cut down” to a low dose at least. His levels don’t even call for it! I really worry about long-term health issues. I say all the time that he would have been better off not going to doctors for these tests. First blood pressure meds, then statins, then his blood sugar started rising (which luckily went back own with a more whole foods diet that I recommended). It’s a slippery slope…
You should looks at blood pressure meds next.
Stanley Fishman says
Kelly, thank you for sharing this very important information. Cholesterol is a blessing, and should be welcomed, not reduced.
Dr McBride points out a crucial fact that hardly anyone knows – Your cholesterol can vary from low to high at different times during the same day – and testing your levels only gets a snapshot of a level at one moment – a level that could be totally different a few minutes later.
To use this as a reason to take dangerous drugs is insane – or just corporate greed.
Cynthia says
The last time I had my cholesterol checked the doctor congratulated me on how low it was–that was before my dietary changes to WAP. I don’t know what it is now, but I’d like to RAISE mine! Is this possible do you think?
Amber says
Thanks for this, Kelly.
Linda says
I would send this to my brother, but he stopped reading all the other info I was sending him about cholesterol and statins.
Wendy (The Local Cook) says
Jonny Bowden writes about this frequently. You’d think the doctors would quit putting so much emphasis on cholesterol – but then, the pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t like that so much, would they?
Renee says
A loved one was recently diagnosed with Gout- evidently her body produces too much Uric Acid when eating (certain) proteins. This is really scary to me… she also has “high cholesterol” and has begun taking Statin medication. It seems to me the only way to fix these issues is to find out what her body’s immune system is reacting to- what tests and types of doctors can help her run through her options?
KitchenKop says
Renee, I would start with a holistic doc or naturopath if it were me.
Heather says
My husband occasionally gets a visit from Gout. After paying attention to what’s going on before Gout comes, and to what helps most, we’ve determined that Gout is most likely to visit when he has been drinking lots of coffee and other things (soda, particularly, and HFCS is definitely linked to gout). What seems to work best to make it go away is to drown it. Hubs keeps a quart jar of water by him, and fills it up every time it gets empty. He probably drinks a gallon or so a day for a few days, and then Gout departs, not to visit again, as long as it occurs to my husband to drink a decent amount of water each day (he’s the absent-minded type, and forgets).
This is something that is often not mentioned on websites discussing gout, but it makes sense to me that, if gout is uric acid crystals collecting in the kidneys, flushing the kidneys gets rid of the gout. And that not drinking enough water would cause those crystals to be more likely to collect.
Susan W says
cholesterol is also the mother of all hormones. Our estrogen, progesterone and testosterone etc are all made from cholesterol.
If you lower cholesterol too low, you can end up with problems from hormone imbalances.