5 Cholesterol Myths And Facts

Even if you think you know everything there is to know about cholesterol, there may be a few more surprises in store. Check out these common myths about high cholesterol; find out who's most likely to have it, what types of food can cause it, and why -- sometimes -- cholesterol isn't a bad word.

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Americans Have The Highest Cholesterol In The World

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As a nation, we could certainly use some slimming down, but when it comes to cholesterol levels we are solidly middle-of-the-road. According to 2005 World Health Organization statistics, American men rank 83rd in the world in average total cholesterol, and American women rank 81st. In both cases, the average number is 197 mg/dL, just below the Borderline-High Risk category. In Colombia the average cholesterol among men is a dangerous 244, while the women in Israel, Libya, Norway, and Uruguay are locked in a four-way tie at 232. More from Health.com: 10 Surprising Facts About Cholesterol 20 Meals That Won't Kill Your Cholesterol The 10 Best Foods for Your Heart

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As a nation, we could certainly use some slimming down, but when it comes to cholesterol levels we are solidly middle-of-the-road.

According to 2005 World Health Organization statistics, American men rank 83rd in the world in average total cholesterol, and American women rank 81st. In both cases, the average number is 197 mg/dL, just below the Borderline-High Risk category. In Colombia the average cholesterol among men is a dangerous 244, while the women in Israel, Libya, Norway, and Uruguay are locked in a four-way tie at 232.

More from Health.com:
10 Surprising Facts About Cholesterol
20 Meals That Won't Kill Your Cholesterol
The 10 Best Foods for Your Heart

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Comments

[Genders]

09:21 PM on 02/12/2011

How about: cholesterol reduction drugs show no increase in lifespan.

[ThomasPaine1776]

02:07 AM on 02/12/2011

GO VEGAN

[DrP]

10:42 PM on 02/11/2011

There is so much wrong in the information here that I don't know where to begin...

[chobbs25]

12:06 AM on 02/12/2011

Agreed.

[genrel1248]

09:58 PM on 02/11/2011

Coco Puffs are America's #1 source of whole grain.

[barts]

04:43 PM on 02/11/2011

Another myth: 0 grams of trans fats. The FDA packaging and labeling guidelines allows the numbers to be rounded down; hence, 0.4999 g of trans fats equals zero.

[katmeyster]

04:06 PM on 02/11/2011

We're getting better, but please stop demonizing saturated fats. On a carbohydrate-restricted diet, I ingest as much saturated fat as possible: from grass-fed meat, butter, and coconut oil. This is how you lower your insulin, lower your blood pressure, lower your triglycerides, and raise your HDL (as well as significant weight loss). I got off the statins and the blood pressure medicine, and am no longer pre-diabetic, by eating SATURATED fats. Take the next step and read up on the latest medical journal and NIH articles indicating their benefit.

[chobbs25]

12:09 AM on 02/12/2011

You are 100% correct. I am a Paleo Dieter and will never eat another way. There are very few studies that actualy take the time to analyze grass-fed, pasturized meats and whatnot. Most things out there that demonize fat come from meat that was fed a grain based diet.

[booboo111]

03:03 PM on 02/11/2011

Well, we're still highest in something other than illiteracy.

[Nutritarian]

02:56 PM on 02/11/2011

You don't need statins. Is it really that hard to eat green leafy plants, fruit, nuts, seeds and beans? Keep animal product intake to 10% max of caloric intake. The 10% animal product should be eggs, white meats etc... Don't eat dairy, smoked meats, sausage or any fried food ever.

[eLucida]

12:09 PM on 02/12/2011

Except animal products are not unhealthy.

* Saturated fats increase HDL and increase 'fluffy' LDL.

* Cutting dietary carbohydra­tes lowers plasma triglyceri­des, i.e. fat in the blood.

* Cutting dietary carbohydra­tes lowers blood glucose levels, and consequent insulin secretion. (Good treatment for T2 diabetes and prediabete­­s.)

* Cutting dietary carbohydra­tes lowers sdLDL.

Read Gary Taubes' "Good Calories Bad Calories" for the facts and references­.

[Nutritarian]

10:13 PM on 02/13/2011

Gary Taubes is a journalist not a nutritionist. He's low carb fraud is all. Try Joel Fuhrman, M.D. for someone whose spent 20 years practicing clinical medicine using nutrition with published results.

[chobbs25]

01:42 PM on 02/12/2011

some of this is correct but much of your thinking is skewed. I would make animal protien 40-60% of the diet and split the rest between fat and carbs (coming from fruits and veggies, no grains.

[Rick Hantz]

02:46 PM on 02/11/2011

Current, peer reviewed medical studies show that highly refined carbohydrate diets increase bad cholesterol. Dietary fat is not a problem for the majority of people. The fat myth was totally debunked recently when it was shown that the studies it was based on had totally wrong statistics.
Lots of money to be made from bad science....many billions..

[Husaria]

04:03 PM on 02/11/2011

How else are you gonna peddle all those ' statin ' meds?

Its a billion dollar a year biz and its not going to stay that way unless you ( mis ) lead people with the ( skewed ) data

[eLucida]

11:37 PM on 02/12/2011

Minor correction: $11 Billion yearly for Lipitor alone (worldwide).

[kat4show]

12:17 PM on 02/14/2011

Here's how they do that. Every year they keep lowering the "acceptable range" of serum cholesterol. Here's a fact. No one even really knows what an acceptable level is. How do you explain that >40% of heart attack patients or more don't have elevated lipid levels. I have been an Coronary Care RN for over 30 years. I see this every day.
It is the same with Blood Pressure . When I started ICU nursing an acceptable BP levels were at least 30 points higher if not more than they are now. Now if your not 110/70 your hypertensive, or "pre" hypertensive, the latest political/medical jargon.
It's a wonderful way for the pharmaceutical companies to sell BP and Cholesterol medications. And instead of educating themselves people are just buying into it, literally and figuratively. We are a bunch of hypochondriacs and the companies are loving it as is your insurance company.
These meds needed or not, are a great reason to outright reject you or triple your premiums.
How many people are actually aware of that ?

[ddanimal]

12:23 PM on 02/11/2011

Another mistake in this article is the statement that saturated fats causes cardiovascular disease. it does not. There is no evidence that it does.

See this meta analysis:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648

[Nutritarian]

03:38 PM on 02/11/2011

You do know that study was funded by the National Dairy Council They hand picked the 21 papers to analyze. No bias there though.

[katmeyster]

04:08 PM on 02/11/2011

There is a lot more evidence than the meta-study. But try it yourself: completely change your own cholesterol profile by eating saturated fat (you will probably also have to restrict carbos). You'll get those nice fluffy particles that protect your heart and don't clog your arteries.

[Husaria]

04:13 PM on 02/11/2011

www.westonaprice.org

These guys knew the ' jig was up ' a long time ago

It is the inflammation that causes CV disease, not natural fats.

Sugar causes inflammation when consumed in large quantities. It increases cancer risk.

Look at the western ( American ) diet. From applesauce to yams it is loaded with some kind of sugar or other sweetener ( sugar is sugar = HFCS, corn syrup, rice syrup, etc ) in it. Toss in all the preservatives / chemicals and viola! Diet of death.

Grass fed, antibiotic free meat
Free range eggs
Fermented veggies
Grass fed butter
No processed foods

Watch your weight drop and health improve. Does anyone really think ' go - gurt ' is healthy? Come on, get real.

[ddanimal]

12:19 PM on 02/11/2011

The cholesterol scam is used by drug companies to sell their st*pid statin drugs . The drug companies lobby the FDA to put their favorite "scientists" (drug salespeople) on the board that creates cholesterol recommendations. The result is not surprising: an official recommendation for ever-lower cholesterol levels. This makes it easier for the drug companies to sell more of their poison.

its a horrible, expensive scientific scam that costs US citizens $25 billion per year. And it damages their health. Its a losing proposition for everyone, except the drug companies.

[ddanimal]

12:12 PM on 02/11/2011

And this ridiculous article STILL contains myths, such as:

"dietary cholesterol, which is only one of the things found in food that can cause your cholesterol to go sky-high."

Dietary cholesterol has no impact on blood levels for the large majority of people. For those it does affect, the increase in cholesterol is in the type that is NOT associated with cardiovascular risk.

High cholesterol is a very weak risk factor anyway. 50% of heart attack victims have normal cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol is not a singular entity. There are about 10 different kinds. Only a few of them (small particle LDL) are associated with increased risk. Other markers (C reactive protein, homocysteine) are much better predictors of heart attack risk.

The whole cholesterol theory has been hyped and manipulated by drug companies to sell their dangerous and ineffective cholesterol lowering drugs. They make $25 billion a year with this scam.

[JohnFromCensornati]

11:49 AM on 02/11/2011

Did General Mills pay for this?

[eLucida]

12:11 PM on 02/12/2011

Anything sponsored by Health.com tends to promote carbohydrates.

[jgarma]

11:43 AM on 02/11/2011

These "cholesterol myth" posts are getting redundant.

About a week ago, HuffPost presented Rebecca Reeve's "12 Myths"...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-s-reeves-drph-rd/common-myths-about-choles_b_813330.html#s231804&title=Myth_1_The

...about which I summarized and commented upon here: http://www.garmaonhealth.com/2011/02/cholesterol-myths/

The bottom line (easy to say, harder to do): Eat less food that originates from animals and more that grows in the ground, BUT which is not then processed to death.

[Husaria]

04:15 PM on 02/11/2011

Eat ' food '( not processed ), not too much, mostly plants

Michael Pollan

[Randomizer]

11:43 AM on 02/11/2011

I have to say, the Cheerios commercials annoy me to no end. The hyperbole they employ makes it seem like the cereal cures all maladies.

[blacksmithn]

12:32 PM on 02/11/2011

[Gasp!] You mean I'm NOT going to live to be a million years old because I eat my Cheerios?!

[we-r-stardust]

02:04 PM on 02/11/2011

Ya gotta eat your Wheaties ;-)