The Cholesterol Myth: Deciphering Fact From Fiction
Cholesterol has long been heralded as one of the primary indicators of heart disease and cardiovascular health. However, more research is surfacing that says that might not be the case. Americans have an epidemic of high cholesterol, that can be mostly attributed to a poor diet, but what if something else was responsible for our deteriorating cardiovascular health?
On this week’s episode we examine the roles cholesterol plays in the body. It’s often reduced to the waxy buildup in arteries, but actually plays multiple important roles in various systems. We speak about the vast consumption of statin drugs, possible alternatives, 17 risk factors of heart disease developed by Life Extension, and what can be done if you’re concerned about elevated cholesterol levels or your own cardiovascular health.
Some Topics We Discussed:
What is cholesterol and how does it affect the body? (1:04)
How did cholesterol get a bad rap? (6:41)
If someone is concerned about their cholesterol levels what should they do? (11:35)
What are the 17 reasons people get heart disease? (13:14)
What are statin drugs? (24:14)
What are things we can do to keep our cardiovascular health optimal? (25:29)
Key Takeaways From This Episode:
Having a healthy cell membrane is one of the keys to long, robust health. (1:59)
We can turn most of the genes off that damage us by knowing our nutritional status. (5:38)
Chronic inflammation is the number one reason for heart disease. (8:59)
HDL and LDL are not as simple as people may think. (14:35)
If you’re going to take Red Yeast Rice, always do it in the evening, closest to bedtime is best because most of your cholesterol is made after you go to sleep. (30:37)
Products + Resources:
Thank you to this episode’s sponsor: Lifeseasons.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Brian Strickland 00:43 Hey, everybody, welcome back to The Holistic Navigator Podcast, where we believe in the body's ability to heal itself. My name is Brian Strickland, and I'm the producer of the show. And I'm joined in the studio as always by your host, Ed Jones. How's it going, Ed?
Ed Jones 00:59 I am doing pretty well today, Brian, hope you and everyone listening are doing the same.
Brian Strickland 01:04 On today's episode, we're going to unpack some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding cholesterol's role in the body. It's separated into two categories HDL and LDL. Cholesterol has long been considered the key predictor of heart disease and cardiovascular health. But that might not be the case anymore. just starting out, can you give us just a brief and basic definition of what cholesterol is and how it affects the body?
Ed Jones 01:34 Yes, and thank you for that. It is one of the most commonly asked questions in this country. And one reason is, which we will discuss is many people who are convinced this, that and drugs should almost be added to our drinking water because they think it would save so many lives. But before we get into that, let me do talk a little bit about what is cholesterol. Cholesterol is a waxy substance that the body makes for multiple purposes. One of those is to create the cell membrane. The cell membrane is the fatty substance that surrounds every single trillion cells that we have in our body. Why is that important? It's because the cell membrane is what regulates what goes in, and what goes out of every cell, the fuel that burns it and the toxins it needs to excrete. So having a healthy cell membrane is one of the keys to long, robust health. When you're eating really terrible foods, you're building it from really bad things. Now some people think cholesterol is called a bad thing. It is not because the purpose of cholesterol, also is to make your hormones. Almost every hormone has to have cholesterol as a molecule in order to produce more hormones. That is why most women who reach near menopause, their cholesterol goes up. Why do you think that is Brian? It's because the wisdom of the body knows he wants more raw materials. It's trying to balance something. And so it's really something to be respected. Now secondly, it helps to make vitamin D. It helps to in in different functions of the digestive track. It helps prevent a lot of different diseases and helps the immune system to be very sturdy and accurate with what it does to fight different pathogens and disease. So it has multiple purposes. But here is kind of the crux of the story. We've all seen the multiple commercials on TV that talked about lowering cholesterol, and it seems to extend lifespan. I mean, we keep hearing it over and over. And of course when you hear something that many times you tend to start believing it because it must be true or they couldn't say it. Well, there's some thing that has happened in this country, and that is that researchers have fallen in love with the perception that cholesterol is a villain. And if that is the truth, then of course a statin drug would be awesome in order to lower that villain from your body. But here's a real quick story from just last week. This is the exact example of what I think most people are really focusing on with their fear and their confusion about this. A gentleman came in who I've been talking and counseling for 30 years. His name's Bobby. He expressed to me he said I hadn't seen you in a while because about five months ago I was on the golf course and I passed out, didn't have any symptoms went to the doc they did a scan found 90% blockage and three arteries, had a quadruple bypass. And I expressed my sympathy and asked he was doing he said quite well, at this point. He said the cardiologist before the surgery came in, he said, Bobby, why do you think that you have this problem with your arteries? And Bobby was said, well, you know, I haven't been working out as much, I've not been eating as well as I used to, I've been under more stress. The cardiologist said, "No, Bobby, is not that none of those count." And so Bobby said, so what is it then? He said, You've been dealt a bad hand of cards genetically. I hesitated for about seven seconds before I said, you know what I think of that, Bobby. And he said, what? I said is bullshit. Absolutely crap. And the reason I say that is because there's a word called epigenetics. What that means is, things above the level of the gene. People who are trained a lot in conventional wisdom, think genes are a hard wired blueprint. And that is like a blueprint for building a house. But the truth is, we have so many genes that rule what we do, how we operate. And the thing is, it's all about whether they're turned on or they're turned off. Guess what does that? Nutrition and food, we can turn most of the genes off that damage us by knowing our nutritional status. So we're back to the number one question of this podcast, cholesterol, what does it mean? And should we be concerned? And what perhaps, do we need to do about it? I want to at this point, and I will at the end, say I'm not treating your medical conditions. I'm not your doctor. This is educational only. And anything I say, if you want to follow up and you're being treated, ask your medical professional. That is what I have to do legally.
Brian Strickland 06:41 So how did cholesterol get the bad rap? I mean, obviously, over the years, was a clinical studies that actually showed was there evidence that was showing that it was a predictor for heart disease?
Ed Jones 06:54 Here is my take on it, Brian. And I think other people may agree with this, I'm not sure. Back in the 50s and 60s, when they did autopsies on people or even animals that had suffered cardiac death, due to blockages, guess what it looked like when they cut the artery open? It was yellow, it appeared to be like butter. And it was a thick, waxy substance. Well, that's substance is cholesterol. And you know what, it would make logical sense that if a whole bunch of gunk is built up in the body that is cholesterol, it would, you know, well, I would not, I would not be upset with anyone who would logically think, well, if we can lower this substance, we probably could improve the health and longevity of people. The problem was, it's not the cholesterol fault that it built up. And lowering it really doesn't make any significant difference in huge studies done, not minor ones. And the reason the cholesterol is there is what? It is because there is a damage that has incurred in the artery lining. And so the body in it's tremendous wisdom is pulling together the materials to patch the inflammation and the damage that is occurring within the artery lining. So cholesterol is not the bad guy, it's actually the very good guy. Yes, it does end up causing blockages because that is the material but also calcium does. Those two things, but they're both very beneficial. So you take a step back, and you look at okay, what's the real reason this is happening? Oh, it's inflammation is damaged in your arteries. So what's causing that? And if we can address inflammation and damage in the artery, the body won't need to patch it with cholesterol and calcium.,
Brian Strickland 08:54 Is inflammation one of the bigger causes for the damage inside the artery?
Ed Jones 08:59 Chronic inflammation, as I have spoke on so many of my previous podcast is the number one reason for heart disease. It's also the number one reason for fast aging. It's also the number one reason for many diseases that happen. That's why I continue to talk about an anti inflammatory diet and an anti inflammatory supplement program. Then in 1960, the American Heart Association decided that it would put out the advice that we all need to be on a low fat diet. Low fat again, it probably makes some sense in one way of thinking because cholesterol is fat. Well, if we can lower it, we can live longer. The problem with that is it increased inflammation. Because anytime you lower fat, you have to do one of two things. You have to either increase protein or you increase carbohydrates. Well, the protein did not increase, the carbohydrates did. That's why we have so much addiction to these fast foods and sugars and all the carbohydrates that we are ingesting daily. People going to Starbucks and drinking desserts for breakfast. But yet they're going back and saying I had coffee this morning. They're just fooling themselves. So once the 1961 recommendation started with the American Health Association, that was the demise, I think, a turning point of this country, because we did drink the Kool Aid. We all ate low fat diets, and 30 years of that has done nothing but devastate our general health of this public. And because now we have a public that's 40% obese, it is not ending soon because it is a true addiction.
Brian Strickland 10:56 Everyone, let's press pause for just a moment and tell you about our sponsor for this week. Lifeseasons wants to help you live life to its fullest. Starting with a belief in the body's own innate healing force, their product development team provides formulations that work synergistically to deliver maximum potency. each ingredient is carefully selected source researched, and tested throughout the manufacturing process, providing a product that will deliver results. Lifeseasons, nature works, science proves it. Okay, so if someone is concerned about their cholesterol levels, and obviously that's separated into high density and low density, what what are their next steps? Should they consult a doctor? Is there a particular protocol or diet that they should consider? What what would be those next steps for them?
Ed Jones 11:55 Well, thank you, Brian. Because being educated and knowledgeable about your own personal chemistry, is the key to you living a long, healthy life. And do not expect your conventional trained medical people to understand this conversation. The statin issue has clouded everyone's opinions and their thought pattern as far as heart disease. So you have to find someone who is more in what we call functional medicine. You can actually Google that word and find groups that are maintaining the list of people who are trained in this other area. And that area is something that is far more holistic, and understands the far reaching effects of food and nutrition. And most of those do not believe that cholesterol is the villain. What is the villain, though? You know, there's a company and I rarely, rarely, rarely talk about or endorse specific companies. But Life Extension foundation is one that I've always respected. In fact, we have had an interview here with Dr. Smith, on from Life Extension on the difference between krill and omega threes. He's awesome. But they have some literature that you must read if you're going to be informed. And if you google life extension foundation 17 risk factors for heart disease. This is the key right here. There are 17 reasons why we all will eventually get some heart disease. I mean, we can't live forever. But the problem is, it's happening now 35 years old, instead of 80. There are 17 reasons. So this is what I told Bobby the other day, when he asked me about what should he have done? I said, here's the deal, Bobby. There's 17 reasons why you got heart disease, why you have blockages. Your doctor checked three of those, which was cholesterol, and triglycerides, and maybe something else. The problem is he had something other than those three, because those three for him were actually okay. His cholesterol was a little bit high, but it wasn't excessive. I said, it's got to be one of the other things and you will never know that because they will never check it because they are not trained in it. What are those things? I got to run through the list very quickly here, just so people know. Low EPA DHA. What is that? Omega threes being low. Second, elevated c reactive protein. All of this will be on that web page add Life Extension Foundation under 17 risk factors. Third, excess LDL. What is LDL? You asked that question earlier, Brian. LDL is low density lipoproteins. And the opposite of that is HDL high density lipid proteins. Every part of cholesterol is made up of a different type of lipid. So you have a cholesterol number of 200. Well, it doesn't really tell kind of the like a family you can say I have a family. Okay. Do you have brothers sisters? How many people are in the family? And what kind of people are they? Well, the kind of lipids is HDL LDL. This is very simplistic. And I want to talk a minute about that. Here's what you have to know, as a consumer is everyone thinks HDL is the good guys, and LDL is the bad guys. It's not true people. There are parts of the HDL panel that's actually doing you damage, there are parts of the LDL that's actually helping you. So how do we know what this is? Again, finding a very well trained practitioner or taking things into your own hands, if you go to our product page under direct labs, and again, I'm not prescribing or telling you to do this for a health reason but for education, all you got to do is go to that direct labs and order something called Cardio IQ. And omega check cardio IQ is $159. The last time I looked at it, what is it going to do? It's going to break down this HDL into all of its sub components. That way, you truly know if you have the good guys or the guys that are doing harm to you. Same with the LDL. So under the products page of Holistic Navigator, Direct Labs, and cardio IQ and omega check. Omega check is going to tell you the omega three levels, let me tell you something, people, I have looked at probably 400 omega levels of people in the past four years, and 80% of those are very low to low. And these are people who are many times taking an Omega supplement and they say they're eating fish. Well the problem is they're not taking the right kind, the right dose or other things. Okay, so next down the list of the 17 risk factors that are causing heart disease, not cholesterol related. Big one for me excess insulin. I've talked about on on that with my other podcast on fitness, and also on blood chemistry. Next one is high glucose, anything over 86 on fasting glucose is what we call high in the functional nutritional world. Your doc will say you're fine at 105. 105 is increasing aging and damage every single minute and breath you take. So optimal is under 90 at least. Next nitric oxide deficiency. What is nitric oxide? It is a substance that relaxes your arteries. Guess what viagara does, it makes you have a whole lot of nitric oxide so that blood flow can go to the pelvic area and you can perform better. But a lot of times heart disease is very greatly increased in risk because the arteries are not relaxed and blood is not able to flow correctly. That comes a lot with your supplements and the foods that you choose. Next is insufficient vitamin D. Vitamin D again is not a vitamin, it is a hormone. It is a vastly important hormone. And a lot of people listening or may say oh, I'm taking vitamin D. Again, I am telling you a lot of information here but looking at over 2,000 different blood tests for vitamin D. It is a guessing game. You may need 2000 units and you might need 20,000. What do I need? I need 14,000 I've done about 12 tests. And that is what it takes to get me at 51 nanograms, which to me is the minimum. Next this is one that no one even would think about in men, excess estrogen. Guess what guys? A lot of us have about half the sperm count we used to have back 30 years ago. We have man boobs, we can't lose weight. We have less libido, we're having to get on Viagra and one of those reasons is excess estrogen. Talked to a young fella just last week he was 30 years old, and his estrogen was at 170. I know women who would love to have estrogen at 170. Why was it so high? We don't really know for sure. I think part of it could be his liver was not able to detox it. Secondly, the lifestyle that we lead everything from plastic bottles is pretend estrogens to so many of the things we put on our body, the shampoos, the colognes, the hormones given to cows and chickens that we eat. All of this mimics estrogen and it has to be dealt with or else your quality of life will not be optimal. So getting a blood test for estrogen may be very important. Next, excess triglycerides. This is humongous. What is a triglyceride? It is actually a fat molecule that is produced mainly from carbohydrates. Well, we already know all of us and I certainly spoke to this, we live in a society totally addicted to these carbs. And so the triglyceride levels to me are far more dangerous than cholesterol. What lowers it? Leaning toward a keto diet. You know, I interviewed Dr. Mercola. Not that long ago and I also have a podcast on the Holistic Navigator, my personal take on keto and with Dr. Mercola's he certainly gave his. And it's very important to lower these carbs. And I think a keto diet used intelligently, not the old Atkins way is the perfect solution to that. Next, homocysteine. Homocysteine is such an interesting story. And I don't have time to tell it. But a guy named Dr. McCauley back in the 60s was seeing children who were dying at 20 years old of heart disease, because they had a genetic disposition for high homocysteine. So we had this theory, well, what if just moderate levels are causing people to die early? And it's we believe it to be true. Why is your doctor not checking it? Well follow the money trail people. There's not really a patentable prescription drug to treat it. That's the biggest reason, if they could make as much off of homocysteine as they did off cholesterol, you would be seeing every single patient being treated. It's easy to trade because you just need to use a few certain vitamins that do something called methylation. So we can certainly learn more about that I've spoke of it on other podcast. Hypertension, we all know that high blood pressure can continue to elevate risk. And that has to be certainly dealt with low vitamin K. This is a one of the most powerful nutrients to prevent plaque deposition in the artery. And what's weird about it is there's always a twist to this health conversation. You know, people who get on Coumadin have to quit eating anything with vitamin K. And what does that actually do? Well, it does prevent blood clots, there's no doubt, but it makes plaque deposition triple because they are now deficient in the one of the main things that creates healthier arteries. Now, if you're on any drugs like that, you cannot take this without getting off the drug actually. Next, and almost to the end is the oxidized LDL. What does that mean? Have you ever had something in your kitchen? I mean, we could even talk about a jar of coconut oil sitting on the cabinet or, you know, been in the refrigerator for way too long. And you open the bottle and you have this rancid smell or maybe nuts. I've done this with walnuts many times, you know just kind of forgot they were in the cabinet. And you had this rancidity. Well, what happened to that fat was it actually spoiled. The spoiled fat will do tremendous damage because it is full of free radicals which are terrible for our health. So that's the 17 risk factors. So if we have 17 things causing damage to our artery, why is everyone focusing on one which is cholesterol? There was a study in 2012 with the researchers at Norwegian University they examined the lifestyle of 52,000 adults, and concluded that lowering of cholesterol increased the woman's risk for heart disease, cardiac arrest and stroke. This is not just one study, there are multiple studies that talked this exact same conclusion. Speaking at a 2008 luncheon discussion on ALS, a nonprofit dedicated to raising money for brain research and understanding Lou Gehrig's disease, the Vice Chairman medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Orly Ingan, MD had this to say regarding a number one selling stat and drug in the world. This drug makes women stupid. And it does because it can't help but do that because your brain has to have cholesterol. And the other thing I've noticed in my 41 year history, and I tell this constantly to women, when I see women over the age of 55, who have their cholesterol under 160 they age twice as fast as visually in the face than they do if they have cholesterol over 200.
Brian Strickland 24:15 For those who are listening who may not know what a statin is, could you just give a quick breakdown of that?
Ed Jones 24:22 A statin drug is something that affects the livers processing of cholesterol. There's something in the liver called HMG co enzyme a reductase. Well, a stain drug and red yeast rice, which is sold over the counter will inhibit that particular substance. The problem with that is here's the problem is that it's going to do two things. It's going to reduce the potential of your memory. And secondly, it can produce very severe muscle pains and fatigue. And so that's something that, you know, people kind of these kind of slips up on them, and then they're like, I'm just getting older. No, a lot of times it's not getting older, it's the fact that you're taking a drug that's causing that. Now, is there a time in place for statin drugs? Dr. Mercola says if your cholesterol is over 300, then you might want to consider it or there is very good studies showing that if you already have had a heart attack, taking a statin drug probably will extend your lifespan. That's the one group of people where it's very definite that you probably should do something aggressive.
Brian Strickland 25:29 So Ed for the person who has gone to the doctor said, they've done the blood work cholesterol is good. It's in a good range. But they do have a family history of maybe heart disease or cardiovascular disease and they're a believer in kind of a natural, holistic minded approach to health. What are the things that they can take, that are more of a comprehensive approach to keep that cardiovascular system healthy?
Ed Jones 25:58 That's a great question, Brian. And, you know, here's the deal. You know, I think a lot of us really have to take personal responsibility for our own health, because the healthcare system today is actually a sick care system, and they're not going to do much, as far as chronic disease. And they are wondrous angels in acute disease. I'm not throwing them under the bus. Because if I have a terrible UTI, or a car wreck, you take me to them immediately. They are wonderful. But those of us like myself, who, you know, I think most people's fear of their demise falls under two categories, one of which is cancer, and one of which is heart disease. Well, if I want to do everything preventatively, of course, I'm going to exercise and more do the common sense things. But as far as my supplementation program, and again, legally, I'm not sitting here saying take this for your heart disease. I'm saying, take this to make the optimal level of your health happen, so that the risk of disease lessens. So if you have family history, and you're really, really super concerned, here's what you're going to read about, here's what you're going to see. But the basic program is one, omega three, got to take 2000 milligrams of EPA, DHA daily. That lowers triglycerides, it does 50 things that we have talked about before on a podcast. Secondly, magnesium. Magnesium does 300 functions in the body. And the majority of Americans, men and women are highly deficient. And one thing it does that is life saving, it maintains the rhythm of the heart. You know, there are about 1/3 of the people, Brian that have heart attacks that are super healthy. And the reason they do is because they actually have an electrical failure within the heart. It's actually like unplugging this light in front of me and then wondering why it went off? Well, if you get a lot of arrhythmias going on, and you one thing leads to another and you don't have a defibrillator, it just basically stops and those can be healthy people. Those are the ones you see the young people who dropped in on a football field or something else.
Brian Strickland 28:06 Is there any particular form of magnesium that's more beneficial?
Ed Jones 28:10 Good question. You know, there are many good forms, the one I don't recommend is oxide, because it is more able to help regularity because it stays in the gut. And that means it doesn't get to the other tissues. So I love everything from citrate to malate to glycinate. Any good company would be fine, do about 400 milligrams daily. Second, or thirdly would be vitamin K, oh my gosh, the most one of the most important supplements to take as I explained earlier. Unless you're on drugs, for blood thinning, then you would have to ask your doctor. Vitamin D. Again, going back to testing we have to know what each individual body is asking for there is another way to test also throughout our Holistic Navigator products under Thorne, they actually have a vitamin D test that you can order for your house. They have a heart health panel that checks many of these things that we have been talking about C reactive protein and all of this. So you can do it through two different ways. You can do it through Direct Labs, or you can do it through Thorne on the Products page. Now, this is a product you never heard of most people called Amla. It's actually known as indian gooseberry, if you want or if your doc or anybody who's skeptical if they will go to nutritionfacts.org, Dr. Greger has the most amazing five minute video on amla and how it compares to a statin drug with zero side effects. I will take alma two pills a day the rest of my life and when anyone hears that five minute video, will do the same including you Brian if you hear it. Vitamin C still wondrous worker within our health. And I do like lipo, which just means it's combined with fat two pills a day for me coenzyme Q 10. One of the most important to maintain optimal strength of your heart muscle. And anyone on a statin drug has to be taking 100 to 200 milligrams a day, because the one things statin drugs starts doing within hours is decreasing your coenzyme Q 10. level. And you know what the FDA has been sued multiple times to try to put that on the information sheet within the product, and they absolutely refuse to do it. Absolutely refuse. For those people who just feel like they want to see better numbers, just to keep the doc happy or their own peace of mind. Most people use red yeast rice, if you are going to do that here is the advice. Always do it in the evening, closest to bedtime is best because most of your cholesterol is made after you go to sleep. And if you purchase a brand you get to make sure it has it does not have something called citrinin. Citrinin we did not know about 10 years ago, it is a kind of impurity that's found in some of the lesser quality red yeast rice's. So if it doesn't say citrinin free, do not purchase it. And if you are doing that, make sure you always take coenzyme Q 10 earlier in the day before you do red yeast rice. Also Brian there's a wonderful book called The Great cholesterol myth by Jonny Bowden, and Dr. Sinatra, who is a cardiologist, anyone who wants to really delve into this, please order the great cholesterol myth from wherever you order your books from. Alright, Brian, to wrap it up, since I'm rapid fire on a lot of information today, especially with since we talked about the true 17 risk factors for cardiovascular disease. And most people only think there's two that really is a big heavy duty, you know, amount of information. So, again, I want to repeat, don't believe that cholesterol is going to kill you, in my opinion, and it's not a villain, unless it's tremendously out of balance. The way to balance it is to become educated about what your chemistry is showing someone who understands or yourself. Listen people don't fall for the myth that you have to be PhD trained in order to evaluate a lot of your own information and blood work. I remember the day when I bought my first computer back I don't know 25-30 years ago, it was so complex. You know, I was afraid to push any buttons. And I'd have to call the computer guy every time. But that's just the early stages. The medical field wants to keep you uninformed. So don't let that happen. In fact, you know, the researchers early on in statins, they actually fell in love with their research. And that's probably the worst thing that can ever happen and researchers. So this paradigm of statin, lowering cholesterol extending lifespan has just continued to hang on and hang on. Of course, again, follow the money trail status. All right, $34 billion dollar industry. And Upton Sinclair said about 80 years ago about the meat industry when it was despicable. I find this so valid, you know, is difficult, he says to get a person to understand something, when his salary depends on them not understanding it. You think they're going to recommend amla and omega threes when there's a $34 billion drug that is tremendously profitable? No, they are not. And lastly, again, repeating, I am not trading your medical conditions and check with your health care practitioner if you're having any health issues and wanting to involve yourself in any of this educational material. And remember, if a doctor did not know you good, he must be kept from doing harm.
Brian Strickland 34:10 The information on this podcast and the topics discussed have not been evaluated by the FDA or any one of the medical profession and is not aimed to replace any advice you may receive from your medical practitioner. The holistic navigator assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of any purchaser or reader of these materials. The holistic navigator is not a doctor, nor does he claim to be please consult your physician before beginning any health regimen.