The Basics About Cholesterol
Written on : Aug. 2024
Last edited: Aug. 2024
This page provides some essential information about cholesterol and corrects misinformation that has been spread and is being spread about it. This information is essential to the understanding of the importance of Cholesterol for the proper functioning of our bodies, and of its role in the cause of Atherosclerosis, which is the dominant contributor to heart disease, and other diseases.
What Is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is present in all animal and plant tissues. Most textbooks and chemists still state that plants have no cholesterol. However, it is well known today that plants also contain cholesterol (47). Chemically, cholesterol is an organic compound belonging to the steroid family; its molecular formula is C27H46O.
It would appear that Organized Medicine, the media, and the vast majority of the literature, want us to think that Cholesterol is dangerous. In fact, Cholesterol is not only harmless, but it is essential for life. It is essential for the normal functioning of all cells, and it is a fundamental component of cell membranes. It is also essential for the synthesis of various important substances such as adrenal and sex hormones and bile acids (52). It is also essential for the proper functioning of the brain. So essential in fact that the brain is able to synthesize its own Cholesterol as needed. The Blood-Brain Barrier prevents the Cholesterol carried in the blood to penetrate into the brain and interfere with body brain Cholesterol regulation. It is estimated that about 25% of the total body Cholesterol is in the brain (53-56). (Much to the surprise of many, it has recently been established that Cholesterol lowering drugs do penetrate the Blood-Brain Barrier and disable the brain ability to synthesize its own Cholesterol as needed, and maybe contribute to brain malfunctions such as Dementia (53-56). More on this in the "The Truth about Dementia" page.)
In conclusion, there is only one type of Cholesterol. In other words, there is no “good” or “bad” cholesterol. Yes, I know! our doctors have conditioned us to think in terms of "good" and "bad" cholesterol. But this is part of a lot of other inaccurate information about Cholesterol. The truth is that there is just one type of Cholesterol, and it is all essential for life, and it is all good!
Do we have Cholesterol in Our Blood?
I am sure that most of you will be surprised by this: in fact, there is no Cholesterol flowing in the blood. Cholesterol is hydrophobic (it does not mix with water) and as blood is water based, Cholesterol cannot be transported directly in the blood. The body uses special containers called "lipoproteins" which are filled with Cholesterol and other substances. Lipoproteins are not hydrophobic, and therefore are able to transport their contents in the blood to the cells that need it, namely, cells of all tissues, adrenal and sex hormones, and bile acids. Notably, Cholesterol needed by the brain is not provided from the blood because the brain synthesizes its own Cholesterol as needed, and the Blood-Brain Barrier prevents the Lipoproteins in the blood to interfere with brain Cholesterol regulation.
So, what we have flowing in the blood are several Lipoproteins that carry inside cholesterol, and other hydrophobic substances, namely, proteins, phospholipids, and tryglicerides. It must be emphasized that not only cholesterol is essential for life, but also the proteins, phospholipids and tryglicerides, which are also carried inside the Lipoproteins, are also essential for life. I mention this to highlight the fact that LDL lowering drugs not only interfere with the body ability to supply to the cells Cholesterol as needed, but they also interfere with the supply to the cells of the other essential substances carried within the LDL lipoproteins. The main blood constituents and the composition of the six main classes of lipoproteins is illustrated in Figure a. below.
How Is Blood Cholesterol Measured ?
As discussed above, there is no Cholesterol in the blood. What is in the blood are Lipoproteins carrying a cargo of Cholesterol, Proteins, Phospholipids, and Triglycerides. So, Cholesterol cannot be measured directly. What can be measured directly are the Lipoproteins. The familiar blood test, that our doctors requisition for us, measure the amount of LDL and HDL Lipoproteins. The Cholesterol and the Tryglicerides are then estimated by calculating them using a formula. This, combined with the fact that we are all biochemically different (4,5), makes the values given in our blood test results not that accurate.
Our doctors prescribe these tests for LDL and HDL levels because of the widespread belief that these Lipoproteins are the correct indicators of the risk of Heart Disease. However, since Linus Pauling article of 1991 (30), it has been known that the level of the Lipoprotein that correctly indicates our risk of Heart Disease is not LDL, labelled by organized medicine as "Bad cholesterol". Rather, the correct indicator of the risk of heart disease is the Lp(a) Lipoprotein (30,33). This means that going for blood tests to measure LDL is a waste of time and keeping taking cholesterol lowering drugs (they lower LDL) provides no benefits, althought it causes several dangerous side effects including ailments such decreased sex drive, muscle and joint pains, digestive issues, loss of short term memory, vertigo and, likely, even dementia as discussed in the "Dementia" page.
What Indicates Risk of Heart Disease Correctly?
The article in reference (30) was contributed by Linus Pauling to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on April 23, 1991, and accepted for publication on June 11, 1991. This articles reports research by Linus Pauling and Matthias Rath that proved the following:
1. Atherosclerosis (plaque), the dominant contributor to heart disease, is caused by high levels of Lp(a) and not by high levels of LDL.2. Synthesis in the body of Lp(a) is caused by insufficient vitamin C in the arterial walls and can be reduced to insignificant levels simply by increasing the amount of vitamin C in the diet.
In summary, this article stated that if you supplement your diet with sufficient vitamin C you will prevent heart disease and, if you already have heart disease, you will reverse it! See page "The Truth about Heart Disease" for more details.
Clearly, if publicized, the Heart Disease cure presented in this article would have caused the bankruptcy of the multi-billion Heart Disease Industries whose continual success requires the continual influx of people sick with heart disease. The "powers that be" in these industries could not take this risk and they acted quickly with the following actions: (a) The approval for Linus Pauling to present his paper at the June 11, 1991 conference was revoked; (b) A campaign to discredit him was mounted and websites started showing up declaring Linus Pauling a quack and these sites are still up today; (c) A campaign was mounted to demonize vitamins and vitamins C in particular. Have you ever asked your doctor about the usefulness of Vitamins? When I have done it, the doctors recoiled in horror as if I had mentioned the devil! (d) The article was closeted, papered over, and forgotten; In fact it has never been referenced in any of the articles that I have read even though these articles were on the same subject and often "copied" concepts from Pauling's article.
But Linus Pauling credentials as a great scientist and as a great human being were and are unassailable: Father of molecular biology, Discoverer of the cause of Sickle Cell Anemia, Discoverer of the structure of Haemoglobin, 1954 unshared Nobel Chemistry prize, and 1962 unshared Nobel Peace prize, just to name some of his accomplishments. No wonder he has been declared one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century! And so his fame lives on and millions today, including myself, thank him for his many books, articles, and interviews on the benefits of Vitamin C.
Does Organized Medicine Agree that Lp(a) Is the Correct Risk Factor for Heart Disease?
Yes, Organized Medicine agrees with Linus Pauling that Lp(a) is the correct risk factor of Heart Disease, and not the LDL. But it took them 31 years to do so, and this agreement, stated in the 2022 article by the AHA (American Heart Association) (33), never mentions Linus Pauling work of 31 years before! And they never mention Pauling's discovery that high blood levels of Vitamin C prevents dangerous levels of Lp(a). Also, the AHA statements mentions the following two things, namely:
(1)The laboratories that we visit for our blood test, are not able to measure Lp(a) levels because it requires expensive equipment that these laboratories do not have; and(2) It is not known how the Lp(a) level can be lowered, and mentions expensive research to find a drug to lower Lp(a).
Regarding (1) above, it is true that our testing laboratories do not have the equipment to measure Lp(a). But there is no need to measure the Lp(a) directly: it can be measured indirectly by measuring the Vitamin C blood saturation ... which these labs are quite able to measure. Thanks to Pauling and Rath work, we now know that if the patient's blood is saturated with Vitamin C, than one can safely concluded that the Lp(a) blood level is insignificant.
Does Organized Medicine Agree that Vitamin C Cures Heart Disease?
The 2022 AHA scietific statement (33) never mentions vitamin C. It does mention, however, the initiation of expensive research to develop drugs to lower Lp(a). No mention of any research to establish if vitamin C does in fact lower the level of Lp(a) as Linus Pauling said or other scientist are saying (31,49). It looks like that the Organized Medicine does not favor inexpensive solutions!