WHY SHOULD YOU READ THIS ARTICLE?
The guidelines for eating less fat, the fear of 'high cholesterol', and the 'push' to prescribe medicines that will reduce it are all based on BELIEFS. And if (or since) you don't really believe me - this article will provide true scientific evidence, some of which were kept away from the public eye for decades. It can help you decide whether you should continue with the belief, or make an informed decision that is based on FACTS. It is your body - your choice.
My aim is to present a concise reading version of scientific lectures in as short as possible structure for your convenience, focusing only on the most important points. I have distilled only the key information from these lectures and structured it here. It is all science-based facts, with links to studies, some that were hidden from the public eye for decades.
DISCLAIMER:
The below article is based on lectures given by Dr. Paul Mason on the Low Carb Down Under YouTube Channel. The specific videos are 1) Paul Mason - 'Why your doctor thinks cholesterol is bad - Big Pharma deception' / 2) Paul Mason - 'Blood tests on a ketogenic diet - what your cholesterol results mean' / 3) Paul Mason - 'The truth about high cholesterol'.
I am not affiliated with Dr. Paul Mason or Low Carb Down Under. In this blog post, I do not offer my personal opinions on the content of the lectures; however, I do follow a carnivore diet myself. Please note that this article is not intended to be medical advice, and is only intended as information.
"those with the highest LDL levels lived the longest"
Is There Scientific Evidence That High Cholesterol Is Bad?
President Eisenhower had his heart attack in 1955, and this event led to the known lipid hypothesis: eating fat causes our LDL level to rise which then blocks our arteries.
But - what is the evidence that this hypothesis is true?
THE BELOW STUDIES SHOW THE OPPOSITE.
STUDIES FINDINGS:
1) Those in the low-fat diet group, that have a history of heart disease, had a 26% higher chance of complications like heart attacks.
Extra info: this study was designed to definitively determine whether or not low-fat diets benefited health. The results were hidden from the public.
2) Reducing saturated fat (animal fats) in the diet and increasing polyunsaturated fats (seed and vegetable oils) increased the risk of death by 62 percent.
Extra info: it was a good quality randomized control trial examining men who'd had heart attacks and the effect of replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat. These results were hidden from the public for 40 years.
Source: The Sydney Diet Heart Study
3) Reducing saturated fats and increasing dietary polyunsaturated fats increased the risk of dying.
Extra info: this survey was completed in 1973 and was a gold standard double-blinded randomized controlled trial on more than 9,000 men and women in which a high saturated fat diet was compared with a high polyunsaturated fat diet. Just like the Sydney heart study - the results of The Minnesota survey were hidden from the public eye for approx. 40 years. The results mirrored those of the Sydney diet heart study (see above).
Source: The Minnesota coronary survey
4) Those with the highest LDL levels lived the longest. 16 of the 19 studies showed that the higher your LDL level - the lower your chance of dying. About a 50 reduction in the chance of death in the highest LDL group compared to the lowest.
Extra info: despite being published in one of the world's most prestigious medical journals, very few doctors even heard of it. This is probably because the findings effectively demolish the argument that we should avoid saturated fat to prevent an increase in our LDL levels.
This was a systematic review that included every prospective cohort study available to answer the question of what happens to those with high levels of LDL cholesterol. This study didn't involve any 'cherry-picking' data. all suitable studies were included. It included 19 prospective cohort studies with over 68,000 participants.
5) The weight of evidence does not support restricting saturated fat, and it is explicitly recommended that dairy meat and eggs be freely consumed.
6) Statin use can increase by 71% the chance of developing diabetes, and worsen sugar control in those who already have diabetes.
Source: Statin use and risk of diabetes mellitus in postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative
Surely 35 eggs a day will kill us... right?
"the weight of evidence does not support restricting saturated fat, and it is explicitly recommended that dairy meat and eggs be freely consumed"
OTHER STUDIES FINDINGS:
1) In this study,
Patients were fed 35 Eggs Daily for a month.
Main findings: their cholesterol levels remained normal, and the saturated fat did not increase the LDL.
2) In another randomized control trial subjects were given 50 grams of either coconut oil, olive oil or butter for four weeks.
Main findings: In the group of coconut oil (94 saturated fat) the LDL level dropped. And despite containing far less saturated fat, the group of butter (66 saturated fat) led to a significant increase in LDL.
3) This 2018 study based on 15 years of follow-up of nearly 28 000 females.
Main findings: while the volume of LDL cholesterol didn't predict heart disease at all - the particle count did.
Those with a high particle count had two-and-a-half times increased risk of heart disease.
Papa Cholesterol, Mama Cholesterol and Baby Cholesterol
There are particles in our blood that carry fat around the body and their correct name is lipoprotein.
we can differentiate between these lipoproteins based on their size and density.
Three lipoproteins are VLDL, IDL, and LDL.
this stands for Very Low-Density Lipoprotein, Intermediate-Density Lipoprotein, and Low-Density Lipoprotein.
They are essentially the same particle:
They start as VLDL, and as it circulates around our body it donates some of its cargo to tissues which causes it to get a little bit smaller.
"the volume of LDL cholesterol didn't predict heart disease at all... damaged LDL is what leads to heart disease"
LDL can turn bad if it exposes to sugar (glucose)
High carbohydrate diets and a high blood glucose level damage the LDL in a process called glycation which leads to oxidation.
This oxidative process has been shown to be significantly accelerated when we have omega-6 fats (vegetable and seed oils).
This damaged LDL is what leads to heart disease and a blockage of our blood vessels.
Damaged LDL cannot enter back to the liver (as it should do), therefore it ends up lining the inside of our blood vessels and this is the end result: a significant narrowing of the artery
A damaged LDL test is expensive. But - there is another option.
we can test for the presence of damaged LDL using a centrifuge to separate LDL particles based on size and density. Unfortunately - this test is expensive.
But - there is a cheaper way to check if we are at risk or not: with the measurements of triglycerides, HDL level, and their ratio.
This is based on an analysis of more than 5,000 patients with heart disease that found a clear correlation between triglyceride levels and the presence of small dense LDL particles.
How to use regular blood tests to check if we are at risk or not:
If the triglycerides are under 0.5 mmol/L - that's good.
If not - check the HDL.
If the HDL is over 1.5 mmol/L - that's good.
If not - check the ratio.
If the ratio (triglycerides divided by HDL) is under 0.8 mmol (1.8 mg) - it's good.
if none of these three measurements are good - then it needs to be further investigated, including checking HBA1C, coronary artery calcium score, and other tests such as inflammatory markers.
The above 2 images are screenshots taken from Dr. Paul Mason's lectures on YouTube.
Additional Information:
In blood test results the VLDL is actually 'guessed' or estimated, therefor the LDL number is actually not really accurate.
The only accurate measurement in those blood tests is HDL
HBA1C is a brilliant blood test for predicting heart disease: It looks at how sugar attaches to red blood cells. it correlates with high blood glucose levels. that's why diabetics have a significantly higher rate of her attacks.
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