August 27, 2024

Alex Moss  

12th Grade

Alfred Barbe High School

The modern view of cholesterol is slowly shifting as new research shows the truth behind this misconceptualized hormone. This story begins in 1958 when Dr. Ancel Keys, the leading researcher, published the Seven Countries study. This was one of the first studies that researched the effects of a person's diet and health; in this specific study, Dr. Keys had supposedly shown a positive correlation between heart disease deaths and fat consumption within the human diet. Dr. Keys hid the fact that his study had handpicked seven countries from a randomized plot graph and as a matter of fact, in the original graph, there was no correlation. In the original study, twenty-two countries were randomly scattered throughout a graph. As Dr. Paul Mason talks about in his speech, Ancel Keys teamed up with the American Heart Association to create the highly flawed American food pyramid. This food pyramid advocates for a high intake of carbohydrates while promoting less consumption of foods high in fat, such as meats, dairy, eggs, nuts, etc. Most of the original research done by the American Heart Association during this time attempted to prove that saturated fats and cholesterol were the worst things possible for us. This research was funded mainly by Crisco, a vegetable oil company, specifically hydrogenated vegetables, which is just another name for trans fat. Crisco had successfully framed the blame of heart disease onto cholesterol, healthy fats, and saturated fats found in products such as butter and other products to promote their cheap and profitable vegetable oil. The trans fats that reside within the Crisco products are now known as the "worst" type of fat or substance a person can consume, for many reasons explained later on.

A 2009 study shows that of patients hospitalized for heart attacks, 75% of them had normal levels of cholesterol. Additionally, The Lyon Diet Heart study researched the differences between different diets, cholesterol levels, and rates of heart disease. From 605 men and women with overall unhealthy lifestyles and high cholesterol levels, they were divided into two groups: one that ate a Mediterranean diet and the other that ate a prudent diet (standard American diet). Those who ate the Mediterranean diet, one filled with fat-loaded foods,  had a 70% reduction in deaths and a 76% reduction in cardiovascular disease deaths. The most fascinating part of the study was that even though there was a 76% reduction in cardiovascular disease, their cholesterol levels stayed the same. This showed that cholesterol levels were not the constant factor between those with healthy lifestyles and those without. Dr. Russel Smith, Ph.D.'s studies -- "Diet, Blood Cholesterol, and Coronary Heart Disease" -- showed no fewer deaths between those with low cholesterol and the control group. That cholesterol isn’t the common link between heart disease is now surfacing in modern research. Many misconceptions about cholesterol and the role it plays in an individual's health stem from poorly run epidemiology-based studies rather than randomized control groups.

If cholesterol isn’t the premier cause of the epidemic of heart disease, then what is? The answer is sugar and carbohydrates, long, chain-forms of sugar. The processes of glycation and oxidation, such as the increase of free radicals within the body. Studies from the University of Buffalo show that an increase in sugar and carbohydrates, which are quickly broken down into sugar, within the bloodstream increases the production of free radicals. These molecules have a reputation for damaging the inner lining of blood vessels, known as the endothelium. Another way the endothelium is damaged is through glycation. When excessive levels of sugar are within the bloodstream, they non-enzymatically bind to proteins, such as the proteins that carry cholesterol known as LDL, low-density lipoproteins.  When these LDL particles, most commonly smaller particle types such as pattern B become glycated, they can no longer pass through small blood vessels and become stuck to the endothelium. We can see this in people with diabetes who lose blood circulation to places like their feet and eyes. In both cases where the endothelium becomes damaged monocytes and cytokines are released to treat the inner walls, except they are very inflammatory, so the damage quickly becomes exacerbated. Macrophages lead to the formation of foam cells, and these foam cells tend to secrete chemicals that can lead to plaque as well as cause more inflammation during cell death. This spiraling process of inflammation is what’s truly the cause behind the epidemic of heart disease. Going back to the dangers of trans fats, the actual bad type of fat has been shown to augment levels of oxidative stress, inflammation, and tissue damage within the body. LDL in itself is not to be blamed for the root cause of inflammation found within heart disease, but it’s rather the unhealthy process that should be held responsible. LDL is vital for proper brain function, specifically for the role it plays within neuron and synapse formation. Our myelin sheath consists of 25% cholesterol. LDL cholesterol has been shown to act as a protective measure against cognitive decline. Cholesterol is so crucial for our neurons and neurological functions that our body produces a whopping 80% on its own-- that’s a lot of production for a hormone that is supposedly “bad” for us. At the end of the day, more doctors are becoming more aware of the apparent situation that sugar is what is truly causing our rapid decline in health, rather than most fats and cholesterol. Books such as “The Great Cholesterol Myth”, “Grain Brain”, and “The Hungry Brain” are advocating for decades of hidden research that explain the biochemical processes in which sugar is utterly detrimental to our health.