It turns out that women and men with higher cholesterol live longer. We have traditionally been told that there are two forms of cholesterol: one is good (HDL) and the other is harmful to our health (LDL). It turns out that this may be wrong. Here’s what you need to know about cholesterol and why it may not be your enemy after all.
Research Shows Patients With Higher LDL Lived Longer
An international team of experts reviewed a series of studies that involved over 68,000 participants over 60 years of age. Surprisingly, the studies found that elderly people with higher LDL lived longer than those with lower.
Another study by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that women with high cholesterol (greater than 270 mg/dl) had a 28% lower mortality rate than those with lower cholesterol of less than 183 mg/dl.
Most Cholesterol in Your Body Doesn’t Come from Food
80% of the cholesterol in your body is made by your liver, while only 20% comes from food. Now think about this for a moment. Would your liver be producing something that is going to kill you? Of course not! Our brain is made of cholesterol. Our bodies need cholesterol to produce hormones and for various bodily functions.
Breastmilk Contains Cholesterol
According to The Weston A. Price Foundation, fat and cholesterol are very important components in human milk. In fact, the milk from a healthy mother has about 50 to 60 percent of its energy as fat. The cholesterol in human milk supplies an infant with close to six times the amount most adults consume from their food today.
If cholesterol is essential to our development as babies, then why would it be harmful for the rest of our lives? Making people believe that cholesterol is harmful is one of the biggest cons in medicine of the 20th century.
Cholesterol Attempts to Repair Damaged Arteries
If you want to know why cholesterol is found in the arteries, it’s not because it’s trying to block them, it’s actually there to repair the damage caused by processed carbs, sugar, and toxic vegetable oils and margarine. Inflammation damages arterial walls and contributes to cardiovascular problems. Cholesterol is the repair molecule that comes in and tries to fix the damage. A bigger concern should be chronic internal inflammation, not high cholesterol.
Be Cautious With What You Eat
The most important anti-aging diet strategy should be to stop eating fast food. Check the ingredient list for “partially hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated” oils on all packaged foods from the supermarket. If either of these dangerous oils is listed, don’t eat it. Look in particular at margarine, cookies, cakes, pastries, doughnuts, and fast food. Sugar is a far worse threat to your heart than fat ever was.
This does not mean we can go out and eat as much fatty food and junk food as we like and expect to live longer. Fats should always come from a healthy source, and saturated fats (from animal sources or coconut oil) are actually good for your health.
Learn About Other Common Health Misconceptions That Age You
Cholesterol is not the problem, and there is certainly no need to reduce your cholesterol with statin drugs. The real problem when it comes to our health is the toxic diet we are consuming. Excess sugar and processed carbs are the biggest culprits when it comes to damaging your arteries. Pay more attention to the types of foods you eat, always aiming for wholesome, high-quality foods. This means foods that are not processed and packed with nutrition. If you’re looking for ways to protect your health, check out the Age Defying Video Program.
