I was recently reading through a copy of Nursing Standard and I came across an article that stated that cholesterol was the main risk factor in heart disease, so I decided to respond with this letter that was also published in the Nursing Standard.
WE NEED A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO CORONARY HEART DISEASE
‘Further to Alison Handley’s feature on cholesterol and heart disease(October 14), cholesterol is a key precursor for a number of hormones, notably pregnenolone, cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Ms Handley writes:
‘Current guidelines advise that a person’s total cholesterol level should be 5mmol/l or below, and 4mmol/l or below for people with other risk factors.’I believe that the measurement and lowering of cholesterol levels are overstated. Many people in tribal cultures have cholesterol levels of 9mmol/l or above, yet live long, happy lives. It has also been shown that dietary cholesterol has little impact on our circulating cholesterol,which is produced by the liver.
The thyroid has a major influence on circulating cholesterol, as does inflammation. Yet the focus for clinicians is purely on measuring cholesterol. Many people who consume a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet have an increased risk of stroke, and many with a higher lipid profile live longer. This has been confirmed by the long-running Frammingham study (www.framinghamheartstudy.org). We need to embrace a more holistic approach to tackling coronary heart disease, not becoming so reductionist that we are unable to see the bigger picture.’
Do you not remember, it wasn’t that long ago that the NHS guidelines were that, we should limit the amount of eggs we ate each week? Even they recently had a U-turn on that advice after realising that dietary cholesterol has a negligible impact on circulating cholesterol levels. So why the hoo ha over cholesterol? Money is the simple answer.
The large pharmaceutical companies generate around $29 billion dollars each year from manufacturing cholesterol lowering medications, (read $29 billion reasons to lie about cholesterol by Justin Smith). The information put out by these companies is that the lower your cholesterol the better, however, here’s the glitch, the lower your cholesterol, the higher the incidence of suffering a stroke.
This is combined with the false hypothesis that a diet high in saturated fats causes heart disease, when in fact it is the more modern diet of higher carbs and lower fats that tends to be the increase the likely hood of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. In all honesty, nutrition and a healthy diet is about as individual as your thumb print. The way you metabolise food and your dietary needs is subjected to functioning of your nervous system, glands and oxidation rates to name a few factors and metabolic typing or even just listening to your body is a simple step to help you determine appropriate fat, protein and carb intakes for optimal health.
From what I can gather from my research, (there’s a particularly good site called www.raypeat.com a PhD in Molecular Biology who sums up the cholesterol farce with some great articles) is that excessive cholesterol production is often associated with:
* Stress- remove or add coping strategies
* Hypothyroidism - determine if is genetic as parents have been hypothyroid, look to use Armour thyroid USP
* Inflammation- clarify source of inflammation, digestive tract etc and seek to reduce with appropriate measures
So getting to grips with any of these key factors or working with someone who can help you address these issues is a step in the right direction.
