High Cholesterol

Cholesterol is not the bad, scary monster in our food and bloodstream that’s sending us to the ER. Quite the contrary! We need cholesterol to live! Cholesterol is the parent molecule for all the major sex hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. The Vitamin D produced in our skin is derived from cholesterol. Our immune defenses, neurotransmitters, skin, and brain all require cholesterol to function properly.

The latest, most validated research shows that trying to lower cholesterol is not the most effective approach to preventing heart disease. This is why cholesterol-lowering medications don’t help much to lower one’s risk of heart attacks; these medications also damage your liver and mitochondria (the energy producers working non-stop in every living cell).

It’s not cholesterol or fat that’s the major problem for chronic disease in America. It’s sugar. Most of us – both doctors and laypeople – have an inaccurate understanding of cholesterol. Many people with normal and low cholesterol end up having heart attacks. On the flip side, fifty percent of people with elevated cholesterol actually have normal, healthy hearts. High LDL (“bad”) cholesterol (particularly of small particle size) is an indication of systemic inflammation in the body. Thus, the proper response to elevated levels of LDL cholesterol is to find the root causes of inflammation (ex: processed, sugary foods; infections; hidden food allergies; lack of exercise; chronic stress), put out the “fire,” and let your body re-establish healthy levels and ratios of HDL, LDL, and triglycerides.