Cholesterol Behind The Numbers: Facts Your Doctors Don’t Tell You

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By Raluca Schachter

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

You got your blood test results back and you found out your cholesterol level is  300! You panic and listen fearfully to your doctor telling you how the “bad” LDL cholesterol needs to be lowered immediately! Medication? You are hesitating, since you’ve heard about statin’s negative effects on your health like heart and liver problems, memory loss…Maybe you better stop eating eggs and saturated fat and then it will all be good…? Maybe you’d consider a cholesterol lowering supplement as well…

Reality is that this scenario has to STOP! After all it’s about YOUR HEALTH. It shouldn’t be about the doctor, the processed food industry and the pharmaceutical company! Cholesterol numbers tell a different story than the one you’ve probably heard from your doctor. Here are the most important facts to know when you have high cholesterol:

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“The question is, why do some people have more cholesterol in their blood than others, and why can the same person have different levels of cholesterol at different times of the day? Why is our level of cholesterol different in different seasons of the year? In winter it goes up and in the summer it goes down. Why is it that blood cholesterol goes through the roof in people after any surgery? Why does blood cholesterol go up when we have an infection? Why does it go up after dental treatment? Why does it go up when we are under stress? And why does it become normal when we are relaxed and feel well? The answer to all these questions is this: cholesterol is a healing agent in the body.” — Natasha Campbell–McBride

The Cholesterol and Inflammation Connection

Your body creates more cholesterol as a response to deal with inflammatory issues within the body. So cholesterol is not the problem, it is merely the solution your body is using to try and heal itself. Inflammation in the arterial walls is the real danger, and if left unchecked the swelling can eventually shut off blood flow to the heart or brain, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.

What Are The Inflammation Sources In The Body?

When there is a high level of oxidation present in the body, there also tends to be free radical activity in the tissues. LDL oxidizes in the body due to consuming artificial, partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats), vegetable oils, genetically modified food, a diet high in refined sugars, alcohol and tobacco. Damaged cholesterol is found in powdered eggs, in powdered milk (added to reduced-fat milks to give them body) and in meats and fats that have been heated to high temperatures in frying and other high-temperature processes. Elevated levels of LDL also may be caused by chemical and heavy metal toxicity, liver toxicity and stress, hypothyroidism and kidney failure.

“Bad” and “Good” Cholesterol? No Such a Thing!

LDL (low density lipo-protein) is the “carrier” of cholesterol, sending out cholesterol to various parts of the body where needed. HDL (high density lipo protein) takes cholesterol back to the liver. LDL and HDL are neither “good” or “bad”, they are just cholesterol.

However, once the pharmaceutical companies realized they could easily produce a drug to lower blood cholesterol (and so make huge profits) they simply bought and paid for the “science” to “prove” their theories. This way, the “good and bad” cholesterol scam was born and continuously fed with heavy marketing campaigns over the years.

Low levels of HDL reflect a sedentary lifestyle. Doctors and others who push the misinformation about raising HDL as being a good thing, fail to address that HDL levels greater than 75 are actually correlative with autoimmune processes. This is a strong possibility especially if triglyceride levels are low (less than 40). Excess consumption of alcohol, drug use, hypothyroidism, and excess estrogen can also cause HDL levels to become too high.

Cholesterol Numbers and Their Meaning

High serum cholesterol says nothing about how much cholesterol is in the tissues. As people begin to heal and correct their metabolic imbalances, the blood cholesterol may go up, because it’s leaving the tissues! Most people, including doctors, feel they need to immediately take action on “righting” the “numbers”, when they look at these “snap-shots” of a moving picture in the body.

It’s not enough to look at the high and low numbers of LDL and HDL. The particle size of LDL cholesterol and the C-Reactive Protein (the protein  found in the blood, the levels of which rise in response to inflammation)  should also be checked.

What does the particle size of the LDL tell us? A healthy LDL particle is big and fluffy – and as a result, it naturally flows through the system and is non-problematic. However, when the particle size is small and dense it doesn’t flow so smoothly and has a tendency to get stuck in the small gaps in the arteries where nutrition flows in. When this happens, like all things that are stagnant, it creates inflammation and the beginnings of atherosclerosis.

Different Biochemistries, Different Metabolisms, Different Cholesterol Numbers

The “cholesterol scam” initiated by the pharmaceutical companies ingrained the idea that a total cholesterol number of 200 needs immediate “action”: either a drug or/ and no saturated fat and cholesterol rich foods.

Not only is a total cholesterol value greater than 200 not necessarily high, for many people it is normal and very important! Protein types as defined by the Healthexcel System of Metabolic Typing often have values greater than 200 while being very healthy. These types thrive on a higher ratio of saturated fat and cholesterol containing foods.

A Short Review Of Cholesterol’s Vital Functions In The Body

And let’s not forget how vital cholesterol is! It was meant to exist in our bodies NOT to harm us, but to perform a wide variety of functions without which we couldn’t survive! Just a few of these are below:

  • Every single cell of our body is made from cholesterol
  • Cholesterol increases  cell membrane integrity; it gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability
  • Every steroid hormone is made from cholesterol
  • The body’s ability to synthesize Vitamin D is dependent on cholesterol
  • Cholesterol is an antioxidant and free radical scavenger
  • The bile salts are made from cholesterol. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet
  • Our immune system needs cholesterol to repair damaged cells. (as it’s in the case of a surgery, cell damage due to toxic food and chemicals)

So my advice to all of you is start educating yourself about what cholesterol really means before you decide for the medication and for avoiding saturated fats and cholesterol rich foods. Non of these will work. It will be like killing the messenger (cholesterol) for delivering you bad news.

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About the author:

Raluca Schachter is a dedicated Clinical Nutritionist / Natural Health Practitioner a.k.a “The Health Detective”. Raluca was able to naturally reverse chronic health conditions she was struggling with most of her life, and now uses her knowledge to help as many people as possible do the same. Her health programs and diet plans offer a very unique and comprehensive approach to health, where individual nutritional and biochemical requirements are firstly met using specific nutrients and foods that each metabolism thrives on. Raluca offers her services to international clientele and her practice is fully online based. You can connect with Raluca at www.metabolicenergy.net and https://www.facebook.com/raluca.schachter.metabolicenergy

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