Cholesterol Doesn't Cause Heart Disease

Depending on who you believe, heart disease and cholesterol could easily go hand-in-hand and be inseparable. You should be careful who you listen to, though, as we now know that atherosclerosis, a major cause of heart disease, can be triggered by ruptured scar tissue on the artery linings, and not plaque buildup on the walls of those arteries. While some believe that cholesterol, moving around in our bloodstream, sticks to the walls of the arteries and causes a heart attack, very strong evidence can be used to counter this idea. Originally, it was said that cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream, together with saturated fats, combine to cling to artery linings, causing that narrowing.

As cholesterol is an important factor in the makeup and control of our bodily cells, it has an important role as a controller of nutrient transfer, the regulation of neuro transmitters and hormones as well as a precursor to the transportation of essential vitamin D. Too little cholesterol and hormonal problems will result, which in itself can lead to disease and major health problems. As cholesterol coats nerve fibers, it is essential to help protect our nervous system and scientists have revealed that lower levels of cholesterol can lead to such awful diseases as Alzheimer's and dementia.

As we all know by now, cholesterol is measured three ways -- total, LDL and HDL. We are told that we may have high cholesterol or low cholesterol and that HDL is "good" and LDL is "bad." HDL and LDL are lipoproteins, responsible for transporting cholesterol. LDL is low-density, carrying the cholesterol from the liver, while HDL is high-density and re-circulates the cholesterol to the liver for redistribution. Remember that fat is transported through the bloodstream, along with cholesterol, in the form of triglycerides. It's inconceivable that our bodies would continue to transport and recycle cholesterol in this fashion if it was inherently bad for us, but that's what some scientists would have you believe.

Research dating in the 1950, informs us that heart disease is linked to the amount of fats in our diets. However, contradictory evidence link this condition more toward arteriosclerosis from cellular damage and inflammation in the artery walls. This intern is caused by high blood sugar, stress, high blood pressure and poor nutrition. All which are the result of the high pace modern lifestyle. If we look at the Eskimos, we can notice that their native diet is based almost exclusively on animal protein and fats. Yet they have robust health and their life spans are higher than average.

The Surgeon General advises us how to construct our diets. We're told not to eat saturated fats, but focus on polyunsaturated fats or monounsaturated fats, but most vegetable oils have high concentrations of Omega-6 fatty acids, which few of us balance with essential or Omega-3 fatty acids, most commonly found in fish. We're told to focus on a diet low in trans fats and even to focus on high carbohydrate diets, but this can cause elevated blood sugar, which we have already discussed as being a potentially major cause of atherosclerosis.

Cholesterol imbalances are often treated with medication with side effects. Most of which create more problems than a solution for high cholesterol. It comes to our attention that a change in lifestyle, will significantly reap more rewards.