One of the most abused words in the health industry is Cholesterol.
When you hear the word “Cholesterol”, the first thing that comes to mind is heart disease or a clogged artery. Everyone “claims” cholesterol causes heart disease. You read it on blogs. You see it in the newspapers. You even hear it on TV and radio. We hear it so much that it must be true. Everyone cannot be wrong right?
Well, as a matter of fact, there has never been an actual clinical study that proves that high blood cholesterol causes heart disease.
Not a single one!
In fact, the reverse is the case. You see, there are numerous studies that show that blood cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease or clogged arteries.
People die of heart diseases without having a high blood cholesterol. And on the other hand, many people with high blood cholesterol show no symptoms of heart diseases, clogged arteries or high blood pressure.
Can you imagine that? I know it seems unbelievable but facts are facts!
Now, to prove to you that what I’m saying is not just theory from thin air, I’ll show you dozens of proof from real life studies by cholesterol researchers.
Before I do that, I want to quickly tell you why the Cholesterol myth is so popular.
Here’s why:
The drug industry sells billions worth of cholesterol-lowering drugs, so they have a lot to do with this false impression about cholesterol.
That out of the way, now let’s talk about those studies that prove cholesterol to be innocent. Starting with the Framingham Heart Study.
In the Framingham Heart study, nearly 5,000 people’s health were closely monitored for several decades. And the conclusion was that the people who eat more saturated fat do NOT develop heart disease any more than anyone else [1]
Note this: Saturated fats are well known to raise blood cholesterol.
Moving on…
A heart surgeon, Michael DeBakey, carried out a study using a large number of patients at Baylor University. He discovered that out of 1,700 participants who suffered from atherosclerosis (which leads to heart disease) severe enough for hospitalization, only one patient out of five had high blood cholesterol.
One more:
In the Journal of American Medical Association, Dr Harlan M. Krumholz reported a study where he monitored 997 people 65 years and above. The conclusion was that the participant with high cholesterol level had about the same rate of death and heart attack as those with normal cholesterol level [3]
Yet again, no evidence of higher cholesterol levels increases the risk of death or heart disease.
In addition to that:
In 1950, coronary artery disease became one of the leading causes of death. Now, with the availability of low-cholesterol drugs, low-cholesterol food and avoidance of cholesterol and saturated fats have not, in any way, reduce the rate of death from heart attack.
So with a little common sense, it is obvious that blood cholesterol level is not the root of the problem, something else is.
In conclusion, if you want to lose weight, build muscle or live a healthy lifestyle, don’t be afraid to eat rich natural foods like egg, palm oil, meat and other food high in saturated fat just because they raise your blood cholesterol.
No study has been able to link high level of blood cholesterol to heart diseases.
BIO of the Author
Femi Oja (A.K.A Superman Of The Nigerian Fitness Industry) Is the founder of Fitnigerian.com. He’s On A Dangerous Mission To Make Weight-Loss, Muscle-Building And Living A Healthy Lifestyle Simple, Fun And Easy. He derives joy in simplifying the over complicated health and fitness advice and clearing up the myths surrounding losing weight, building muscles and living a healthy lifestyle.