Cholesterol Does not Cause Heart Disease
According to Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, a leading endocrinologist and author of The Schwarzbein Principle, “Eating cholesterol and fat do not cause heart disease and accelerated death. In fact, you must eat them to avoid heart disease.” Schwarzbein is a strong advocate that “…high total cholesterol numbers are not the cause of heart attacks. A high-insulin lifestyle is the cause of heart attacks.”
This sentiment is also expressed by a growing number of scientists and nutrition experts, including Gary Taubes in Good Calories, Bad Calories, and Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions. Since the majority of heart-attack victims have normal to low cholesterol numbers, it appears now that many early studies linking cholesterol to heart disease were greatly flawed, or greatly misinterpreted.
Lack of Cholesterol Causes Cancer and accelerated Aging
For a long time, Schwarzbein was one of the lone voices in the cholesterol brouhaha who advocated that a lack of cholesterol was dietary disaster. This is a fundamental fact since the lack of cholesterol causes cell membrane structures to alter, thus disrupting cell growth. Cancer can arise because of ensuing abnormal cell division. Thus, every cell in the human body requires cholesterol and fat to help safeguard one’s health
According to Taubes, the link between low cholesterol and cancer was appearing as early as 1980. Indeed, according to the Framingham Study, “…men whose total cholesterol levels were below 190mg/dl were more than three times as likely to get colon cancer as those men with cholesterol greater than 220; they were almost twice as likely to contract any kind of cancer than those with cholesterol over 280 mg/dl.”
Cholesterol is essential for brain function, helps form cell membranes both on the inside and outside, contributes to a healthy immune system and makes hormones. When these systems are depleted or starved for cholesterol, there is an increase in the potential for diseases of all types, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, depression, agitation, hormonal imbalance, poor thyroid function and a host of other debilitating conditions.
Cholesterol and Fat Are not the Enemy
According to Schwarzbein, “Fat and cholesterol are so important to life that your body has backup systems for their production.” In fact, the body can make cholesterol from carbohydrates.
Fallon states that “High serum cholesterol levels often indicate that the body needs cholesterol to protect itself from high levels of altered, free radical-containing fats.” Consumption of hydrogenated and vegetable oils and a diet too high in sugar and white flour are the main dietary mistakes made. Fallon goes on to say that “…cholesterol is needed in a poorly nourished body to protect the individual from a tendency to heart disease and cancer.”
An increasing mound of evidence strongly indicates that it is the excessive consumption of carbohydrates that is the leading cause of debilitating disease, heart attack and metabolic aging.
Consumer Confusion
Never before have so many diverse theories emerged regarding the dietary causes of modern diseases. Consumers have been busily chasing one theory after another, looking for the panacea to perfect health. In the long run, the message may be very simple: eat a well rounded diet avoiding excess consumption of any one food group, especially shunning the emphasis on low-fat, high-carb eating. Cholesterol and natural oils and fats are not the culprits they have been made out to be.
