Many
people find elevated cholesterol levels to be worrisome. They’ve been
convinced that having a high cholesterol level means having an increased
heart attack risk. I want you to understand why you need cholesterol
for your health. You should also know the truth behind the
cholesterol-heart disease theory. I can also share some natural ways to
lower your cholesterol.
Dr. Michael Cutler | Mar 25, 2013
Why You Need Cholesterol
The liver
produces about 80 percent of the cholesterol in your
body. You must have sufficient cholesterol in your diet to make
sufficient amounts of these critically important hormones:
- Progesterone and estrogens (for women).
- Aldosterone.
- Cortisol.
- DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone).
- Testosterone.
As you can see in the diagram below, these and other vital hormones are manufactured from cholesterol:
The Cholesterol-Heart Disease Theory
Both doctors and the public embrace the idea that dietary cholesterol
is bad for you and that high cholesterol is a leading cause of
cardiovascular disease (CVD). It’s true that high LD (bad) cholesterol
can be associated with CVD, but it is not the actual cause of heart
disease.
[1]
Inflammation is the real cause. We know that elevated, oxidized LDL
cholesterol is simply a result of inflammation and that there are
numerous causes for inflammation. If your doctor measures your
cholesterol to monitor cardiovascular risk, make sure he measures the
particle number and particle size of your LDL. That is the new standard
in lipid measurements.
Origins Of Theory
The cholesterol-heart disease theory originated in the early 1950s
when political pressure was put on the medical industry to find a cause
for CVD, a problem that was becoming the top killer in the United
States.
In 1964, the famous heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey of Houston
reported that he and his colleagues studied 1,700 surgical patients and
found no correlation between blood cholesterol levels and the extent of
coronary artery disease seen during open heart surgery. This was
reported in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
[2]
You should also know that about 50 percent of people hospitalized for
heart attacks or undergoing CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) surgery
have normal cholesterol levels.
Furthermore, in 1992, Dr. William P. Castelli, former director of the
Framingham Heart Study, reported a similar discovery: “[I]n Framingham,
Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate,
the more calories one ate,
the lower the person’s serum cholesterol…”
[3]
I’ll qualify this quote by stating two important points. First,
animal meat in high amounts generally triggers inflammation, but fresh
produce lowers inflammation. Secondly, 15 percent to 25 percent of the
population is sensitive to dietary cholesterol, with a threefold disease
increase among these hyper-responders. Also, obesity, diabetes mellitus
and insulin resistance contribute to a hyper-response to dietary
cholesterol. And, according to some recent scientific literature,
consuming one to seven eggs per week does not increase the risk of dying
from a heart attack or stroke in men and women.
Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally
So you want to lower your risk of heart attack? The most important
and effective way to lower heart attack risk is to lower inflammation in
your body through a clean (nutrient-rich, whole food) diet, low
emotional stress and consistent, enjoyable exercise and then to use
nutrient supplements to help even further.
It has been shown scientifically that you can lower (normalize) your
lipid measurements with targeted nutrient supplements that rival or
surpass what prescription medications can do.
[4]
The best recommendations for this, according to the American Academy of
Anti-aging Medicine (and these references found in the peer-reviewed
scientific literature),
[5] [6] include:
- Eat mostly whole foods, with six vegetable and four fruit servings daily. [7]
- Exercise 60 minutes daily, both aerobic and resistance exercise.
You should also use a variety of these supplements:
- Vitamin E (gamma/delta tocotrienols 200 mg) each night with food.
- Pantethine (active form of vitamin B5) 450 mg twice daily.
- Omega 3 fatty acids 4,000 mg daily with EPA/DHA at a 3/2 ratio.
- Lycopene 20 mg daily.
- Trans-resveratrol 250 mg daily.
- N-acetyl cysteine 500 mg twice daily.
- Aged garlic (Kyolic) standardized 600 mg twice daily.
- Carnosine 500 mg twice daily.
- Quercetin 500 mg twice daily.
- Niacin (nicotinic acid) 500 mg to 3,000 mg daily as tolerated. (To
prevent flushing, precede this with a baby aspirin or applesauce or
other food.)
- Red yeast rice 2,400 mg to 4,800 mg at night (with food).
- Probiotics standardized to 15 billion organisms twice daily.
- Curcumin 500 mg twice daily.
- EGCG 500 mg twice daily or 60 ounces to 100 ounces of green tea daily.
- Plant sterols 1.6 grams to 3 grams daily.
- Pomegranate juice 8 ounces daily with the juice of one lemon or lime.
- CoQ10 (Ubiquinone) 200 mg to 300 mg per day to inhibit LDL-cholesterol oxidation.
It’s worth taking a dedicated trip to the health food store to find
these. The higher your risk for heart disease, the more on this list
you’ll want to add to your treatment regimen.
To feeling good for life,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options
[2] DeBakey, Michael:
JAMA 189:655, 1964
[3] Castelli, William P:
Arch Int Med 152:1371, 1992
[4] Houston M. The role of nutraceutical supplements in the treatment of dyslipidemia.
J Clin Hypertens 2012 Feb;14(2):121-32.
[5] Houston, MC et al. Nonpharmacologic Treatment of Dyslipidemia.
Progress in Cardiovascular Disease 2009;52:61-94
[6]
Nijjar PS, Burke FM, Bloesch A, Rader DJ. Role of dietary supplements
in lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: a review.
J Clin Lipidol. 2010 Jul-Aug;4(4):248-58.
[7] J Am Diet Assoc 1995; 95:775-780.
