Cholesterol and Heart Disease - What You Need to Know

Just how important is saturated fat to the health of your heart? Can we lower our risk of heart attack solely by altering our diet...or taking the latest medical wonder drug?

By: Brian Tilley

There are a lot of misconceptions, and outright false information on how cholesterol levels effect your heart. For the past four decades the common wisdom has been that there were two types of cholesterol. High density lipoproteins or HDL, the 'good' cholesterol, or low density lipoproteins or LDL, the 'bad' cholesterol.

Research has shown that it is not so much the cholesterol that can have a negative effect on the heart, but the carrier of the cholesterol...the lipoproteins. In fact, the Framingham Heart Study done in 1977 found that in men and women 50 and older, "total cholesterol per se is not a risk for coronary heart disease at all."

So why do we believe that LDL and saturated fats are so bad for us? This is due to studies that showed eating saturated fats increased the amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood. This led to the assumption that it was the saturated fat that was the culprit. The assumption is false as clinical trials have shown there is no compelling evidence that saturated fat in the diet causes heart disease.

Another reason for the belief that LDL is bad are drugs like Zocor and Lipitor which lower LDL cholesterol and also prevent heart attacks. This is understood as cause and effect, and is so prevalent that the FDA now approves drugs to prevent heart disease based solely on evidence they lower LDL cholesterol. The problem is these drugs have multiple actions and it is like saying aspirin prevents heart attacks by getting rid of headaches.

Recent testing, such as the trials of Vytorin and torcetrapib, a drug that both lowers LDL while raising HDL...which was halted before completion as it appeared to cause both heart attacks and strokes...have not proven the cause and effect of LDL on heart disease. Estrogen replacement also lowers LDL, but has had no positive impact on lowering heart disease. The same is true for eating less saturated fat.

Statins may be effective as they reduce inflammation, which is considered a risk for heart disease. They also help to keep the walls of the arteries healthy. Statins also have an effect on the lipoproteins themselves. They reduce the number of low density lipoproteins in the blood, including the most dangerous form of LDL, which are very small and dense lipoproteins.

So what are we to make of these seemingly conflicting claims and counter-claims? First we need to to examine our assumptions on how to deal with the problem of heart disease, which is at epidemic proportions in much of the world. We need to get rid of the idea that all of our health needs can be found in a bottle.

Is there a connection between our diet and our health? Yes, of course there is, and this along with our level of physical activity is at the heart of the solution. Humans have been around this planet for a very long time, and almost all of it without the 'benefit' of a pharmaceutical industry to keep us alive and well.

Even today the vast majority of the drugs we buy in a bottle come from natural sources or are synthesized from naturally occurring compounds. We get into our cars and drive to the drug store to buy our health in a bottle. This is quite simply not working.

Physical activity done at a level that triggers the natural energy cycle and balance that we all possess will determine our diet. We have been putting the cart before the horse. Diet is secondary and completely dependent on your activity level. The primary source of so many of our current health problems is our sedentary life-style.

A healthy heart is an active heart. It really is that simple. No rocket science here, just the common sense that we all possess but have been lulled into abandoning in the tidal wave of hype coming from the interests that care much more about making money then they do about our health.

You are in control of your own health and well being. Do not put it off any longer. Start a regular exercise program and you will reap the rewards of living a more satisfying and productive life...it is up to you.