One of the most misguided things a doctor has ever said to me occurred during a routine physical when I was in my twenties.
My blood test had come back with a total cholesterol number in the 150’s, and after reviewing the report, he proceeded to extol the benefits of my low cholesterol and how this was such a excellent indicator of overall health.Â
Mmmm, I thought to myself.
Then why was I so doggone exhausted, experienced light-headedness like I was going to pass out if I stood up too quickly, felt lousy a lot of the time, and suffered from more than my fair share of colds, flu and sinus infections that frequently needed antibiotics to resolve?
The truth is that low cholesterol is not even remotely close to the health panacea that conventional medicine portrays it to be. Â In fact, compelling research warns that low cholesterol can be downright deadly especially the older we get.
Cholesterol is not just a natural and essential nutrient in food that is required for our very survival. It is also a critical component of the brain, Vitamin D and hormones such as cortisol and testosterone.
It is easy to understand then, if blood cholesterol levels get too low it could actually dangerously jeopardize health with vital functions unable to be performed by the body and optimal wellness unable to be achieved.
While minimal cholesterol may be needed to survive, ample amounts are required to thrive!Â
According to Dr. John Briffa MD, top honors graduate of the University College London School of Medicine, low levels of cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of cancer (predicting risk many years before diagnosis), hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain), and now even a higher overall risk of mortality.
The relationship between a higher all cause risk of death and low cholesterol was published in May 2012 by Scientific World Journal.  The results of the large epidemiological study examined the relationship between overall mortality and low cholesterol in individuals aged 60-85 for a period of 12 years.
Analysis revealed that higher total cholesterol levels (> 200 mg/dl) were associated with a 24% reduced risk of mortality over the 12 year study period. Â Moreover, lower cholesterol levels (< 170 mg/dl) were associated with a 60% increased risk of death.
The statistical significance of lower cholesterol (below 170 mg/dl) and increased risk of death from all causes remained even when confounding factors such as illness and frailness of the study participants were removed.
While an epidemiological study like this does not definitely indicate that low cholesterol and higher risk of death is causal, it certainly suggests that blindly pursuing low cholesterol levels especially below 170 mg/dl is misguided and likely even foolish if one is middle aged and beyond.
Perhaps more importantly, this study strongly builds upon previous research that for elderly women and men, high cholesterol is associated with a longer life.
So is the suggestion by conventional medicine to take statins if cholesterol is over 180 mg/dl completely arbitrary, unscientific (aka, bought and paid for “science”), and potentially harmful over the long term?
Yes, yes and YES.
Are whole foods like butter, cream, egg yolks and pate that are high in natural cholesterol (as opposed to the dangerous oxidized cholesterol in processed foods) really to be feared? It should give you much comfort to know that these traditional foods are eaten with abandon in France with no corresponding increase in heart disease.
Again, according to Dr. Briffa:
You’ll sometimes hear about the ‘French paradox’, which describes the phenomenon of low heart disease rates in France ‘despite’ a diet rich in saturated fat. Well, it seems that this ‘paradox’ is not limited to France, but is alive and well in several other countries too including the UK, Germany, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In other words, it’s not a paradox at all. It’s only a paradox if one believes saturated fat causes heart disease. The thing is, there’s really no good evidence that it does.
Now that you understand the other side of the low cholesterol story, you may well go out and bury your head in a tub of butter. This is basically what I did! Â Raising my cholesterol out of the deadly 150’s range and keeping it well over 170 has been my goal for over 20 years. I’m happy to report that my issues with fatigue, frequent illness, and light-headedness which plagued me when I had low cholesterol have been a thing of the past for nearly as long.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources and More Information
Low Cholesterol and Enhanced Risk of Death
The French Paradox is Not a Paradox
Can Low Cholesterol Cause Cancer?
Cholesterol Myths to Wise Up About
The 9 Irrefutable Benefits of Cholesterol in the Diet
What Oxidizes the Cholesterol in Eggs?
Cardiologist: Lowfat Diet “Morally and Scientifically Indefensible”
An Air Force Class III physical, required by NASA for my Space Shuttle Mission Operations position, revealed a total cholesterol of 92… Which was the lowest the elderly NASA doctor said he had ever seen. I felt fine, and was healthy as a horse. But that’s about the time that I learned about cholesterol and all the healthy uses for it. I since have had a much healthier level, and learned that high cholesterol is not a worry. Check my website or email me for more info. Low chol isn’t the worst thing, but it’s not the best!
Sally,
Are you talking about D3?
D3 comes from the Sun, and you live in a country that does not get much sun.
You might want to get your blood checked to know what your D3 level is, and should be, then your Dr. would know how much to take..
I take 5000 iu D3 everyday, but I’m older then you. I have read, and be told that people over 50 do not absorb D3 as well as someone that is younger.
You also have a thyroid problem, that you might not be absorbing D3 very well !!
Sarah,
Thanks for a Very good Article on Cholesterol..
I have also read that if Chols is too low it can be a sign of cancer, or cancer in the future.
My cousin has low Chols, and she had leukemia…It is now arrested.
That said, to this day her Drs.still think it’s great her Chols is so low!!
We need to be Pro-Active about our health.
Kelly,
You can find that info on Google.
Although Google is not always right. To many people want to sell you something. Beware..
I struggled with thyroid problems ever since 1998. I was DX with Graves and had radiation and still suffered with fluctuating thyroid hormones for years and years. I started hearing about D3 and started taking it. Since then my seasonal depression is minor and my thyroid is stable.
I am sick of doctors trying to push statins on me. My lipids are a normal 233. I refused statins and will continue to do so!! In my opinion low cholesterol may contribute to dementia and alzeimers as well as a host of other problems.
I’m glad you’re writing articles about cholesterol, I sent one from Oct ’13 to my mom and I think it probably eased her mind. My cholesterol is 346 and has been over 300 since I was 12 (I’m 31 now) and the people at the Lipid Research Center in Seattle told me when I was 12 that if I didn’t get it lowered into the normal range that I’d be dead by the time I was 21. So obviously my mom’s been pretty freaked out since then and my PCP tried to get it lowered with statins when I was a teenager but eventually just gave up when I was around 20 and now he just focuses on my thyroid (I have Hashi’s). He’s even supportive of the way I eat even though he’s a regular dr. He tried to get me to eat similar when I was a teenager just for my general health (I had no energy) but I wasn’t about to eat that way. I’ve ate fat free/lowfat, high sugar (gummy bears, dots, and cokes are fat-free lol…they were my fav snacks), and whole grain foods my whole life until around 4yrs ago but my cholesterol hasn’t been affected either way. I know I could keel over from a heart attack or stroke but as of now I don’t think it has a lot to do with my cholesterol.
You really could benefit from reading how saturated fats are actually good for you.
Just finished a continuing medical education course on lipids…they are now acknowledging that older adults need to have higher total cholesterol…but the new statin guidelines are increasingly heavy handed for any co morbidities (saying statins work by reducing inflammation)…they are not really looking @ LDL levels in the guidelines now since most people over 40 will end up on a statin anyway. There are so many dietary ways to cut inflammation! Keep up the good work!
Glad to hear this! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Sarah. Back in the early ’90s the director of the world famous Framingham Study was hyping cholesterol below 150, and the director of the NIH’s Heart,Lung and Blood Institute’s National Cholesterol Education Program actually stated(if not believed) HDL was “largely genetic” and very difficult to improve. Too many Americans don’t know any better. Advantage death.
Keep up the good work!
Sarah
What a marvelous article on the subject of cholesterol. This will surely help me. Thanks for all of your work. If I could have only one website, it would be your site.
Gerry Adcokc
Gerry, thank you for your kind support 🙂
Butter is definitely better tasting than “corn oil”.
Yes indeed. Bring on the butta!
Is there any way you can change your left Facebook, twitter, etc. banner? It gets in the way when you’re trying to read an article and becomes sooooo distracting. Maybe you can move over the the whole page text by an inch??
Yes, I am working on this. Thanks!
I love this article but you never touch on the good cholesterol/bad cholesterol numbers. Can you comment on this please
Ah yes. Another article for another day. So much to blog about, so little time 🙂 Thanks for the idea.
Thanks!!!
yes, please…. is there an “optimal cholesterol” level?? Mine is very high (278) and my doc wants it lower NOW. I am doing my own research but there is so much info and it all seems to contradict. Any suggestions for info that lays it out in simple language? ugh….
Hi! Thanks for the info, I’ve heard about this a while. But actually haven’t read anything in depth on it, now I want to! I’m a healthy Scandinavian woman in my mid thirties. I have hypothyroidism and some allergies, but doing fine since switching to natural thyroid meds back in 2009. However, I’m always low in vitamin d even though I supplement, and I’m not as energetic as I wish. I have suffered from near-fainting and dizziness (did so even years after stabilizing my hypothyroidism). The dizziness and near-fainting is gone since starting to eat more (a lot of butter, preferably grassfed unpasteurized). l have more energy too, but I suspect it is still a little low. I’m normal weight, muscular type who responds well to training.
My cholesterol has always been low. It’s been applauded by doctors… In “european”my totale value is now 3,2. The “good type” being the highest. The last 8-10 years, the “bad type” has been super low, outside of the reference rang. Since falling in love with butter in 2012, even drinking raw milk for 1 year (not anymore) and making runny yolks of ecological eggs my staple food, the total cholesterol has gone from 3,1 to 3,2. The “bad type” has crept up from 1,8 and 1,9 to 2.
When I convert my total of 3,2 to “Us value”, my number is 123,7.
Any suggestions on how I can make in rise more? Is it at all possible for me, or are some people unable to?
From happy reader of your blog