Metabolic Health
Here’s the Cholesterol Paradox and How It Impacted My Health Positively.
I add clarity to the cholesterol conundrum and assertions that saturated fats are responsible for heart disease based on my experience and reviews.
A Brief Background to Cholesterol Paradox
I am not French, but this nation’s unusual health results from saturated fat consumption manifested in my life positively and favorably.
You probably heard or read about the famous French Paradox. This nation is one of Europe's highest saturated fat consumers yet has the lowest number of cardiovascular diseases.
As documented in this 1995 paper, “The French Paradox refers to the very low incidence of mortality rates from ischaemic heart disease in France even though saturated fat intakes, serum cholesterol, blood pressure, and smoking prevalence are no lower there than elsewhere.”
For many years, the fingers were pointed at saturated fats and cholesterol for growing cardiovascular diseases and mortality rates, making refined carbs the hero in saving lives.
The false culprit for heart disease mortality was saturated fats, as documented in “The Big Fat Surprise: why butter, meat, and cheese belong in a healthy diet” by Nina Teicholz on a decade of investigation,
As Dr. Zoe Harcombe, Ph.D. tweeted “There’s no connection whatsoever between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in the blood. None. And we’ve known that all along. Cholesterol in the diet doesn’t matter at all unless you happen to be a chicken or a rabbit.”
Like many innocent people, I believed those manufactured claims and refrained from healthy fats aiming to reduce my cholesterol. As a result, I suffered from hormonal imbalance, adversely affecting my metabolic and mental health.
Ironically, the less saturated fat I ate, my body created extra cholesterol. I thought my body was sabotaging me, underestimating its intelligence and overestimating the smartness of misleading nutrition scientists by creating myths.
More ironically, my caring yet uninformed/misinformed family doctors prescribed medication to reduce my cholesterol and advised me to eat food with less cholesterol.
After learning the truth via decades of diligent research and sensible experiments, I am not surprised anymore why my body made such a boomerang effect rioting against my unwise choices.
Making mistakes defines humans. We grow by learning from our mistakes. Making my lifestyle choices based on assumptions without challenging them was one of my biggest mistakes. However, this mistake was a blessing in disguise for me as it inspired and motivated me to find the truth that I needed.
This 2018 review concluded that “Low cholesterol levels were associated with worse prognosis in patients with acute heart failure. Statin therapy appears to be beneficial in acute heart failure, but this is probably due to other mechanisms (anti-inflammatory, anti-arrhythmic, etc.), rather than cholesterol-lowering effect.”
Another comprehensive review and perspective paper published in BMJ journal confirms that “The global campaign to lower cholesterol by diet and drugs has failed to thwart the developing pandemic of coronary heart disease worldwide.”
The paper points out that “Some experts believe this failure is due to the explosive rise in obesity and diabetes, but it is equally plausible that the cholesterol hypothesis, which posits that lowering cholesterol prevents cardiovascular disease, is incorrect.”
Probably you heard about “evacetrapib” which hit the market as a wonder medication. It significantly reduced bad cholesterol and increased the good one. Guess what! A remarkable finding shed light on dropping cholesterol levels did not lower the rate of cardiovascular diseases.
A government-funded clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine made a definitive conclusion. “Although the cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor evacetrapib had favorable effects on established lipid biomarkers, treatment with evacetrapib did not result in a lower rate of cardiovascular events than placebo among patients with high-risk vascular disease.”
The confusion has not just happened to the public but to experts too. The paper commented, “The recently presented ACCELERATE trial dumbfounded many experts by failing to demonstrate any cardiovascular benefit of evacetrapib despite dramatically LLD lipoprotein cholesterol and raising HLD cholesterol in high-risk patients with coronary disease.”
“This clinical trial adds to a growing volume of knowledge that challenges the validity of the cholesterol hypothesis and the utility of cholesterol as a surrogate endpoint. Inadvertently, the cholesterol hypothesis may have even contributed to this pandemic. This perspective critically reviews this evidence and our reluctance to acknowledge contradictory information.”
I believe the readers might gain valuable insights from my experience and reviews highlighting biased, flawed, and deceptive research for the last six decades.
My goal is not to undermine the effects of cholesterol. Instead, my focus is on the problem of the wrong hypotheses, which were corrected by diligent scientists and medical professionals in hundreds of published papers. In addition, I highlight other risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
An Overview of My Sad Yet Powerful Experience with Cholesterol Conundrum and Saturated Fats
With desperation and a curious mind, I investigated the importance of healthy fats for over two decades.
Each independently written scientific paper (non-sponsored research) challenged my fatphobia, beliefs, and assumptions about this conundrum.
Finally, the cholesterol paradox became crystal clear to me. I feel obliged to pass along my experience.
Not understanding the human metabolism, the significance of hormonal balance, and the adverse effects of excess glucose on the brain, my mistakes caused me to suffer from a dozen of debilitating health conditions at a very young age.
In those days, I didn’t know every cell in the body needed cholesterol. I had no clue about my hormones, and my brain needed healthy fats and cholesterol to function. It was a shock when I learned total cholesterol was irrelevant.
In hindsight, it was a surprise when my family doctor kept emphasizing it in every session, checking my blood markers and asking me to be careful.
Ignorance, lack of information, and believing everything in scientific journals, I declared war against cholesterol, depriving myself of beneficial saturated fats and harming my body with refined carbs as the primary energy source. The body said enough. So, it attempted to make my life miserable.
Learning carbs were not essential and healthy fats were critical for hormonal balance and brain health, I started an experimental journey intensifying my research to find the truth. The effort paid off.
During my investigation, cholesterol seemed to be only one of many risk factors for heart disease. There were more important factors such as smoking, chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, physical inactivity, diabetes, obesity, and components of metabolic syndrome.
It did not make any sense to my curious mind why some scientists ignored all those risk factors and only focussed on saturated fats and cholesterol. In the first year of my doctoral studies, I found the answer in an advanced research methodology class.
The distinguished lecturer advised us to take sponsored studies with a grain of salt when writing our theses. When I checked those papers blaming saturated fats and praising carbs, the pattern became clear. This simple perspective changed how I consume information from nutrition science, which seems to be the messiest branch of science.
Even though I love nutrition science as a consumer that produced outstanding results in some areas and has so much potential for designing our lifestyle, I am highly cautious about believing papers even in peer-reviewed journals.
I always cross-check and identify the biases of researchers. Unfortunately, busy medical practitioners don’t have this luxury and consume packaged information available in their scarce time.
Gradually reducing carbs and increasing healthy fats was an excellent start with demonstrated results. The results indicated the cholesterol paradox.
The more saturated fat I ate, the less bad cholesterol my body created, to the surprise of my old family doctors. However, it was no surprise to the younger doctors who updated their knowledge with the debunked cholesterol hypothesis.
Using my sensible biohacking skills, I decided to eradicate carbs and replace them with healthy fats. My family members, friends, colleagues, and even butcher thought that I might have a heart attack soon and die at a young age. It was over two decades ago. However, my body and brain motivated me as I experienced remarkable results.
Within the first two years, I lost 50 pounds of visceral fat. At the same time, my muscle quality increased by 60%. My inflammation markers decreased. It was evident in my diminished back and joint pains. Defeating arthritis symptoms was the most incredible relief in my life.
Increased testosterone and growth hormone, coupled with decreased elevated cortisol, provided an optimal hormonal balance. In addition, my body became more insulin sensitive and receptive to leptin signals. I learned to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger.
More importantly, my mental health significantly improved. For example, my anxiety, chronic stress, brain fog, and mild depression disappeared in a year. I gained a more optimistic and joyful mood.
Retaining abundant physical and mental energy makes me happier, adding meaning to my life. And achieving a defined body and abs after a mid-life crisis was just a bonus. Paradoxically, the more healthy fat I consumed, the more belly fat I burned.
I shared details of these remarkable benefits in a recent story titled Here’s What Happened When I Replaced Carbs with Healthy Fats for Two Decades: Ten remarkable health benefits of using healthy fats for energy sources based on my years of experience.
Conclusions and Takeaways
My findings and understanding from the literature indicate that bad cholesterol (LDL) with inflammation and calcification causes the blockage of arteries, leading to heart disease and strokes. So my point is if we address the inflammation problem, cholesterol itself (good or bad) does not appear to be a significant risk factor for heart disease.
I do not deny that cholesterol is not a risk factor for heart disease or stroke. My article is not undermining cholesterol as a factor in heart disease because it is found in damaged arteries.
My focus is on the problem of the wrong hypotheses, which were corrected by diligent scientists via hundreds of published papers. Apart from adding clarity to the cholesterol paradox and saturated fat confusion, one of the reasons I penned this paper was to highlight other risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
I also shared the risk factors and preventative measures in a previous article titled Improve Cardiovascular Health in Three Steps. I dearly care about heart disease and stroke as it is close to my heart. For example, the death of a 42-year-old colleague, with chronic inflammation, in front of my eyes on a night shift at work, even before the arrival of the ambulance, devastated other colleagues and me.
We know that cardiovascular diseases cause one in every four deaths. However, the risks can be significantly reduced with healthy lifestyle habits. I am delighted that cholesterol is no longer the only culprit for cardiovascular diseases. The more significant part of the iceberg seems to be chronic inflammation.
I now firmly believe I need to keep my cholesterol high to become centenarian like my friends Algor, Gisela, Jeremy, and others. If you want to learn more about the cholesterol paradox in a simplified and articulate manner, you may check out this outstanding article titled To Live a Long Life, Keep Your Cholesterol High penned by Maria Cross, a registered nutritionist.
In addition, if you have ten minutes, this medical doctor makes the cholesterol paradox crystal clear in a YouTube video titled “Cholesterol is NOT the cause of heart disease. I’ll prove it.”
If you can allocate an hour for learning about this confusing topic, you might check this outstanding conversation between Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Zach Bush in a video titled The TRUTH About Cholesterol and Heart Disease. Then, if you inform yourself, the confusion might disappear, and you free yourself from obsolete information that deceived us for decades.
I also enjoyed this webinar by Katina Thornton, M.D., interviewing Dr. David Diamond, Ph.D., titled “Deception In Cholesterol Research Separating Truth From Profitable Fiction.”
Dr. Thornton points out that “For the past 60 years, there has been a concerted effort to demonize saturated fats and cholesterol in our food and blood. Despite the well-established health benefits of diets rich in cholesterol and saturated fat, flawed, deceptive, and biased research has created the myth that a low-fat diet is ideal for good health.”
I conclude my article with this quote from Dr. Hyman “Popular medicine has cast cholesterol as the primary villain in heart disease. But if cholesterol was inherently bad for us, why would your cells produce it? And how should you interpret the cholesterol test results from your doctor? Once you better understand cholesterol and how it interacts with other factors to cause disease, it is easier to adopt behaviors that lead to thriving health.”
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Disclaimer: Please note that this post does not include health or professional advice. I documented my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
Besides aiming to increase the hormonal intelligence of my readers and writing about neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine, one of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.
I aim to educate, create awareness, and empower my readers to take control of their health and well-being.
To raise awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.
Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Major Diseases.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.
Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
As part of my creative non-fiction writing goals, I’d like to share a few stories that might warm our hearts with a bit of humor into weighty topics.
Sample Humorous Stories
Finally, After Burning Her House, Georgia Found Enlightenment
Hilarious Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Keep the Gray Matter Giggling
8 Psychological Points I Had to Unlearn and Relearn the Opposite
Based on my writing experience and observations, I documented findings and strategies that might help you amplify your voice, engage your audience, and achieve your desired outcomes in your writing journey.
I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.
If you enjoy writing and storytelling, you can join Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal as a creator to find your voice, reach out to a broad audience, and monetize your content.
You may also check my blog posts about my articles and articles of other writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I share them on my website digitalmehmet.com. Here is my professional bio. You can contact me via weblink.
As a writer, blogger, content developer, and reader, you might join Medium, Vocal Media, NewsBreak, Medium Writing Superstars, Writing Paychecks, WordPress, and Thinkers360 with my referral links. This post includes affiliate links.
You might join my six publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 22K+ writers contribute to my publications. You might find more information about my professional background.
You may join Medium with my referral link.
