HEARThrive - Module 3 - Cholesterol and Dubious Statins

Think about this if you have been persuaded to take a statin drug to lower your cholesterol.

Some silly "doctor" humor for you.

Even after undergoing bypass surgery my decision not to take a statin was swift and decisive.

Here's a doctor who has a very negative opinion about statin drugs.

Another suggestion from a doctor - throw your statin pills in the garbage.

You can do much better things for your heart health than taking a statin.

Does it seem peculiar to you that cholesterol targets have been getting lower and lower as time goes on?

Cardiologist Dr. William Davis puts statin drugs last on his list of heart health therapies.

In this video you will see two completely opposing arguments on the role of LDL in heart disease. My personal cardiologist claims that when it comes to heart disease, LDL is the only thing that matters. On the other hand, Dr. William Davis (also a cardiologist) insists that total and LDL cholesterol are the worst markers for cardiovascular risk. And LDL-C, which doctors always base their statin recommendations on, is a flawed value.

Check out about a dozen different doctors, health experts and cardiologists who have very negative opinions about statin drugs.

When should you worry about your LDL cholesterol value? My cardiologist said my value should be under 70 mg/dL. The standard reference range often used with blood tests rates 130 mg/dL or less as normal. Lab Test Analyzer says a range of 80 - 160 mg/dL is acceptable. Dr. Thomas Dayspring  worries when it exceeds 200 and some Framingham data suggested LDL could be predictive when it exceeds 300 mg/dL. In other words, no one knows for sure. Maybe that's why cardiologist Dr. William Davis says LDL is the worst marker for predicting heart disease.

Once again I'll refer to Dr. William Davis. Here's the title of a talk he gave... "Cholesterol and the Tragedy of Statins." That's a bold condemnation of cholesterol lowering drugs, isn't it?

An interesting look at how Malcolm's lipoprotein values compare to his brother's numbers. Malcolm's brother eats more carbohydrates than he does and takes a statin drug (which Malcolm doesn't). At first glance, one might think Malcolm's numbers look worse. But are they?

Malcolm shot this video on March 3, 2016. He explains why he chose to ignore his cardiologist's advice. The cardiologist predicted (in their appointment on Nov 21, 2012) that if Malcolm didn't make changes, including lowering his cholesterol with statins, that it would be just a matter of years before he suffered a major cardiovascular event. It turned out that 3 1/2 years later Malcolm ended up needing a triple bypass. If he could turn back time, would Malcolm have done things differently?

Almost immediately after my twin brother required a quadruple bypass in May 2008, I began my journey of discovery to make sure I would never go through that. I began with diet, which was influenced by: 1. A vegan book, 2. The DASH diet my doctor suggested, 3. A book on IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) that focused on fiber - not fat or protein. I believed this would be heart healthy. My, oh my!

After my brother's bypass surgery in May 2008, I changed my diet. In this video, I'll report what I was eating in the following months (May 2008 - Nov 2008) and illustrate 5 terrible diet mistakes I was making after I changed my diet.

Malcolm's blood work after adopting what he felt was a heart healthy diet totally backfired. His cholesterol levels looked good but his triglycerides went up (not good) and his HDL went down (also not good). Malcolm switched to an animal-based diet 10 years later (in 2018). This resulted in a totally different lipid panel with very high cholesterol but far superior triglyceride and HDL values and a much healthier cardiometabolic profile.

Malcolm's 2008 high carb "glycemic" diet did all the wrong things. It provoked glycation, high blood sugar, high insulin, small LDL particles and a high triglyceride/HDL ratio.   

A quick demo showing how you can calculate your own Triglyceride/HDL ratio from the values you obtain in your Lipid Panel blood tests.

A conversation with my nephew who was experiencing significant muscle fatigue when he took a statin drug.

Our family doctor looked at my father's test results and said his cholesterol was excellent. I'll explain why the doctor's view of cholesterol was "myopic." Myopic in this context means "lacking foresight or discernment." The doctor focused on total cholesterol and LDL. Those values were fine, but he said nothing about my father's high triglycerides and low HDL, which are far more important.

Lots of mainstream dietary advice, be it from the media or the American and Canadian food guides, is focused on lowering dietary saturated fat and lowering your cholesterol to avoid cardiovascular disease. Much of the guidance is faulty and incorrect and outdated. The lessons that follow will walk you through this propaganda.

The mainstream dietary advice on meat reflects the longstanding fear of fat and cholesterol in the diet. It suggests you eat lean meat, or meat alternatives such as soy, reduce eggs (cholesterol) and nuts (fat), and totally avoid fatty meats, organ meats, bacon and processed meat. Well, highly processed meat is worth avoiding, but properly farmed meat (including fatty cuts), organic chicken (even with the skin) and wild-caught fish are all healthy choices. And no need to restrict eggs (unless you have an egg allergy).

Standard food guides push skim milk, low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt and basically low fat dairy of any kind. But there is no reason to fear fat in dairy products. Often, low-fat dairy products contain added sugar that makes them  taste better. Avoid such products. Whole fat dairy is actually a better choice. Keep in mind any dairy product could be pro-inflammatory. So, don't over consume them, especially if you have dairy sensitivities or allergies.

Most food guides say eat plenty of fruits and vegetables each day. Sure, they don't contain cholesterol, but that doesn't mean you should eat as much as you want. First, it's important to separate the words "fruit" and "vegetables." Many fruits are loaded with sugar, especially tropical fruits like banana and pineapple. It might as well be candy as far as your body is concerned. Berries are a better choice but they too should be eaten in small amounts. Even vegetables are on a spectrum from low carb (e.g. leafy greens) to very high carb (e.g. potatoes). The fat-phobic guidance says limit olives and avocados (because they are fatty fruits). That's poor advice. And the chart says definitely don't sauté your vegetables with butter because the saturated fat will harm you. Wrong, again!   

Conventional dietary advice puts grains on a pedestal, encouraging us to eat them in abundance. They don't seem to know that grains are converted into sugar as they get digested, promoting a rise of glucose and progression of insulin resistance. The best thing you could do for good cardiovascular health is leave all grains out of your diet.

Mainstream dietary advice will push you into consuming processed industrial seed oils, such as canola, which is a mistake as these products can generate inflammation and disease. The idea of choosing margarine over butter reflects the conventional, flawed fear that saturated fat is bad. Nuts contain natural fats so, as expected, they tell you to limit them. But nuts can be included in a heart healthy diet. The American and Canadian associations tell you to avoid all butter, lard, bacon fat and tropical oils such as coconut and palm kernel oil. But in reality, these are stable fats that are safer and healthier for most people. (There are some exceptions related to genetics that will be covered in Module 10 of HEARThrive).

The mainstream dietary advice that focuses on avoiding fat and cholesterol ends up directing you toward snacks that are guaranteed to spike your blood sugar. They recommend popcorn, which is a high glycemic grain. The suggestion of using no butter does not magically make popcorn healthy. Then they pick pretzels, which are made with wheat - which is best eliminated from your diet, baked chips, which they believe are a safe option but fail to recognize how high in starch potatoes are, and angel food cake that indeed is low in fat but is really a concentrated source of sugar. They want you to limit candy and popsicles. Certainly, that makes sense as they contain mostly sugar. And then they tell us to avoid snacks that contain fat, such as buttered popcorn. Well, the popcorn itself is really a bigger problem than the butter. Similarly, regular potato chips may contain more fat, but the real issue is the main ingredient, high-starch potatoes. And it doesn't help when the chips are cooked with industrial seed oils. The diet advice suggests avoiding chocolate, because chocolate contains fat. That's true, but the harmful component in consumer chocolate is the sugar. Natural fat in chocolate is less problematic if you select products that contain less sugar, including 70% or higher grades of dark chocolate. Pies, cakes and cookies legitimately belong in the "avoid" column, but again the actual main culprit is the sugar (not the fat) contained in these foods.   

Mainstream dietary advice, both American and Canadian based, has been leading us astray for years. You need to steer clear of their fat-phobic agenda because it will take you in the unhealthy direction of high carbohydrate and excess sugar consumption. Be cautious about advice that focuses on lowering LDL-C ("bad" cholesterol), which is decades out of date. The statement in the brochure that "high blood cholesterol directly contributes to coronary heart disease" is blatantly false. Ignore conventional "heart-healthy" advice and instead make choices across the spectrum of foods that will maintain your optimal metabolic health.

Malcolm illustrates high fat food choices and elevated cholesterol results that, on the surface, would make anyone worry, including most doctors. Rather than following mainstream advice, dig deeper and learn on your own. HEARThrive can help.

Obtaining a proper triglyceride result requires that you be fasted (10 - 12 hours) when you go for your blood draw. Many doctors tell their patients it's not necessary to fast when getting lipids tested. Ignore that advice. Be sure to fast so that you can obtain a reliable value with which you can calculate your triglyceride/HDL ratio.

A brief summary of cholesterol and statins, along with blood markers that truly influence your heart disease risk.

An upbeat musical glance of HEARThrive Module 4 on Exercise.

The long held beliefs that high cholesterol is bad and you must lower it with a statin drug are changing. It's time for you to come on board with some new thinking.

Read the accompanying PDF or watch this video every day to help you apply what you have learned about CHOLESTEROL and STATINS.

Read the accompanying PDF or watch this video every day to help you apply what you have learned about CHOLESTEROL and STATINS.