Yet another post where you’ve likely heard the exact opposite for your entire life.
Am I just trying to be deliberately controversial in order to gain attention?
Well, that would be stupid of me, because this information has been around for decades, and it is widely ignored.
As I mentioned in Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat, every single cell in your body requires cholesterol in order to function. In fact, cholesterol is so vital in your body, that your body actually CREATES it, all the time.
Your body makes upwards of 2000 mg of cholesterol each day. The current recommended amount of cholesterol for a “healthy” diet is less than 300 mg per day. Let’s apply some critical thinking here. You’ve been told that cholesterol is bad, and you shouldn’t eat it. But your body CREATES around 10 TIMES MORE cholesterol than you consume, EVERY DAY.
So why have we been told that cholesterol is bad?
The answer is actually pretty simple:
- By the 1970s, heart attacks had become a MAJOR cause of death in America, and around the world. (You may notice this followed pretty closely behind the establishment of the “healthy” low-fat Western Diet 🤔) People needed SOMETHING to blame, and it sure wasn’t going to be the government-approved nutritional guidelines. So they decided to blame fat’s cousin, cholesterol.
- Coincidentally, newly developed drugs called statins came on the scene, and happened to have the effect of lowering cholesterol in humans. (By suppressing the body’s natural production of cholesterol, as it turns out!)
- In the 1980s, shortly after statin drugs were approved by the government for use, new guidelines were established for what “healthy” cholesterol levels should be. Again, coincidentally, the average cholesterol in people was measured at around 220, and the guidelines were set at 200.
Immediately, OVER HALF OF ALL AMERICANS were now candidates to be prescribed this drug.
We can address that pit of snakes in more depth in the future. For now, let’s switch to a more practical question:
What SHOULD my cholesterol be?
The answer is straightforward:
Your cholesterol should be as high as possible, so long as you’re eating the right foods.
Let’s break down cholesterol as simply as we can.
When it comes to the cholesterol that’s measured in your doctor’s blood tests, there are 3 main components I want to focus on: HDL, LDL, and Triglycerides.
HDL is referred to as “good cholesterol”. This is true. You want this to be as high as possible.
LDL is referred to as “bad cholesterol”. In a way, this is also true. But as it turns out, there are TWO KINDS of LDL, and while one is bad, the other is VERY GOOD.
Triglycerides are the indicator of how WELL you’re eating, and determine WHICH KIND of LDL you have in your body.
Fundamentally, LDL and HDL are responsible for moving fat around your body, since fat is not water soluble. When you eat lots of healthy fat, you have large-particle LDL. When you eat very little, or unhealthy fat (like vegetable oils), you have small-particle LDL.
Small-particle LDL has a tendency to clump up and get stuck in your arteries. Clogged arteries cause heart attacks. Case closed, right? Cholesterol is bad!
Not so fast…
Large-particle LDL actually has a PROTECTIVE effect on your heart and arteries. The larger, smoother particles that transport healthy fat around your body don’t get clogged up, and help move the fat and cholesterol that your body NEEDS.
This is a good thing.
So what about Triglycerides?
When you eat a lot of carbohydrates, and inflammatory foods such as vegetable, canola, and safflower oils, your Triglycerides GO UP.
When you eat healthy fat and an anti-inflammatory diet, your Triglycerides go down. And let’s remember from Your Body Doesn’t Need Carbs, when your body isn’t using sugars for energy, it’s breaking fat down for energy. Therefore, your body is moving a lot more fat around to be used, and your HDL and LDL go up!
That actually makes sense, right?
More sense than the idea that a substance that your body makes in DROVES is somehow BAD for you.
So in summary, when you eat crappy food like sugars, starches, carbohydrates, and Inflammatory Oils, your Triglycerides go up, and your LDL particle size gets small and sticky. That’s bad.
When you eat GOOD food like fat, meat, and healthy oils like olive and avocado oil, your Triglycerides go down, and your LDL particle size gets large and happy!
So what should your cholesterol numbers be?
Your Triglycerides should be as much below 100 as you can manage, and your HDL and LDL should be as high as possible.
It’s as simple as that. If you don’t eat right, your body can’t hit those numbers.
And please, NEVER take statin drugs. Fix your diet instead.
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