I am always curious how the medical profession present their understanding.
My understanding is the body manufactures 80% of our cholesterol and food only contributes 20%.
Here is a report from the Mayo Clinic (Jan 2012) that indicates:
'Most healthy people can eat up to seven eggs a week with no increase in their risk of heart disease. Some studies have shown that this level of egg consumption may actually prevent some types of strokes.'
There has been renewed interest lately on cholesterol affect of eggs and the thinking appears to changing on impact cholesterol has on a normal body.
i have seen some documentation implying bad cholesterol (LDL) impact on the body is over-emphasized (perhaps by big pharma in an effort to sell more statins) and doesn't really contribute to fatty deposits (plaque) build-up in arteries (heart.org).
In my opinion from my research, this revised general information (from AHA) about LDL and HDL remain our best detail to-date:
'Although an absolute LDL level that promotes plaque reversal hasn't been established, the American Heart Association reports that a level between 100 and 129 milligrams per deciliter is near or slightly above optimal, while the healthiest level for LDL is less than 100 milligrams per deciliter.
An LDL level higher than 130 milligrams per deciliter of blood is considered borderline high, and a level above 160 is high and a risk factor for atherosclerosis and heart disease.
The AHA also reports that maintaining levels of HDL, or "good" cholesterol, at or above 60 milligrams per deciliter can also help promote arterial health by carrying extra cholesterol back to your liver, where it's removed from your blood.'
However, the last sentence is where some people, who appear to eat low cholesterol diets, have a problem.
The good levels of HDL are not sufficient to carry excess cholesterol back to the liver or the liver (or bile duct) does not do a good job of getting rid of the excess.
This may be where the confusion occurs about cholesterol.
Cholesterol is not the problem ... we need better ways to eliminate excess cholesterol.
That is the job of statins. But, for various reasons, statins are not doing the job effectively and have too many unhealthy side-effects (such as muscle pain).
Until I am convinced otherwise, ingesting less cholesterol is my best method of potentially reducing plaque in my arteries (augmented by high vitamin C and L-lysine and high doses of vitamin D3) without significantly increasing statins.
I will continue to minimize cheese, eggs and seafood (but not fish, which should be increased if high in omega 3 - wild mackerel, salmon, sardines), until more conclusive information comes available.
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