Truth about Cholesterol, Heart Diseases and Saturated Fats

Heart disease or cardiovascular disease is the number one killer across the United States, China and India. For the longest time cholesterol has demonized eggs, saturated fat and animal fat as the number one cause of heart disease. Today I want to take time out to explain to you the truth behind cholesterol.

 What if I told you right now that cholesterol has little or no connection to heart attacks strokes and cardiovascular diseases. Your body requires cholesterol for so many different functions right from cell repair, growing new cell membrane, the production of vitamin D, to the production of hormones. Cholesterol is required for good health. It is required for your memory; it’s required for neurological health. There are connections today with low cholesterol levels to Alzheimer’s, cancer, Parkinson’s, diabetes, neuro muscular pains, joint pains aches, dizziness, bloating, inability to lose weight, low vitamin D levels and I’m going to explain exactly how this works.

Good & Bad Cholesterol
When you look at your cholesterol you look at HDL which is your good cholesterol, your high-density lipoproteins. It has a function of cleaning bad cholesterol out of your arteries and removing plaque. So you want high levels of good cholesterol HDL. Then you have LDL which is your low density lipoproteins that’s your bad cholesterol but again we shouldn’t be fooled or worried with high levels of LDL because LDL can be further broken down. You have large LDL particles which do not cause a problem to the heart and you have small particles LDL which can cause a potential problem to the heart. You can have high levels of total cholesterol but if your HDL is good you do not require medication even if your LDL is on the higher side. Now if your triglycerides are extremely high that puts you in a potential high-risk category and you need to make immediate lifestyle changes to bring down your triglycerides. Triglyceride levels rise from eating too much of the wrong greens, sugars, being physically inactive, too much of smoking, drinking alcohol excessively and being overweight or obese and constantly stressed out.

Why Heart Attack Occurs?
Heart attacks occur from inflammation in your arteries, high blood pressure which is poorly managed. Heart attacks occur when your triglycerides are extremely high and your good cholesterol is extremely low. So we never look at total cholesterol and your doctor should look at far beyond your total cholesterol. If you are taking drugs to lower your cholesterol you are creating immense issues in your body. Your next blood report may statistically show a reduction in your total cholesterol but it doesn’t contribute to your HDL levels going up which puts you in a safer category.

Cholesterol & Vitamin-D
The UV rays of the Sun interact with cholesterol in your body to make vitamin D so if you have low cholesterol levels you have a deficiency of vitamin D. At the same time if you have low vitamin D levels your liver gets a signal to produce more cholesterol because your body wants to naturally increase vitamin D levels. When doctors put you on a cholesterol drug they don’t look at deficiencies of vitamin D.

Cell Repairing
Another function of cholesterol is repairing your cells. So if you’re constantly damaging the cells in your arteries because of your lifestyle or you’re constantly getting injured because of overtraining you would have inflammation in your body & it is going to produce more cholesterol. So if I come across a cancer patient who’s on cholesterol medication the first thing I do is get them off their medication because I want their body to produce more cholesterol. They need more cholesterol in the body to repair cells.

Statins
If you are on a statin you should be sitting across the table with your doctor asking him for the side effects of this deadly drug which has literally no connection to saving people’s lives.There are enough of studies out there and I get to see the side effects of people on statins right from dizziness, bloating, flatulence to neuromuscular damage, the muscle fatigue, the wasting of muscles softening of the bones. Statin gets into your liver and forcibly stops the production of an enzyme that produces cholesterol. Statin also depletes your body of something called coenzyme q10 commonly known as Co Q 10 this is an extremely important antioxidant that the Mitochondria of your cell uses to produce energy, cellular energy. Statin and your cholesterol drug is depleting you of this enzyme which means you’re lowering your immunity, your increasing inflammation and you’re inviting diseases.

We need doctors, we need surgery, we need bypass we need cholesterol drugs, but we need people to tell us how to use it the right way because all of this is creating more, damage more sickness more financial stress on everyone. Let me tell you right now that cholesterol is one of the easiest things to manage with right lifestyle changes. Optimize your vitamin D levels and your cholesterol will come down. Your one-hour workout is useless if you’re inactive for the next nine hours and you’re sitting on a chair. Reduce your stress levels with pranayama, yoga, meditation and deep breathing. Include more probiotics more fermented foods because they keep your gut clean, that’s where eighty-five percent of your immunity is born. Stop having information overload from all around and start believing in the healing power of your own body and in nature.