Cholesterol: Good or Bad?

The medical community has been perpetuating the notion that cholesterol particles in the blood are "good" and "bad". The good cholesterol particle (HDL) reduces your chance of heart disease and stroke while the bad cholesterol particle (LDL) increases your chance of heart disease and stroke. As a result persons are advised to restrict their intake of high cholesterol foods and are prescribed drugs in order to reduce the bad cholesterol particles or increase the good cholesterol particles.

I agree that high levels of LDL increase heart disease while high levels of HDL decrease heart disease. But is LDL really bad? The truth of the matter is that both LDL and HDL have the potential to be good or bad and what is really the issue is the ratio of LDL to HDL. This ratio determines the true cholesterol status of the person. Let me now explain the basis of this statement.

LDL, the so call bad cholesterol particle, is responsible for carrying cholesterol molecules from the liver to the cells of the body. To do so, this cholesterol must cross the blood vessel wall in order to reach the cells. If this cholesterol transfer is insufficient, then cells, especially brain cells will malfunction. Early studies with the use of LDL cholesterol lowering drugs, proved this point. During these studies it was found that persons who took these LDL lowering drugs had a greater tendency to commit suicide and make poor judgments, resulting in various types of accidents, when compared to persons who did not take these drugs. It is my belief that the reason for the increased incidence of Alzheimer's disease worldwide may be due, in part to our aggressive campaign to reduce cholesterol in our diet.

Excessive LDL will result in excessive deposition of cholesterol molecules in the blood vessel during the transfer of cholesterol from the blood to the cells. This excessive accumulation of cholesterol in the blood vessels will increase the risk for heart attacks and strokes. So, LDL may be good or bad.

HDL, the so called good cholesterol particle, essentially does the opposite of LDL. This cholesterol particle will remove cholesterol molecules from the blood and return them to the liver. If HDL is excessive it will interfere with the transfer of cholesterol to the cell and is likely to cause cellular dysfunction especially in the brain. If on the other hand HDL is low then there will be excessive accumulation of cholesterol molecules in the blood vessels, thus increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. So, HDL may be good or bad.

In summary, it is not the cholesterol particles that determine what is good or bad but their ratio. The optimal ratio for LDL to HDL is considered to be 3.25 to 1. It is this ratio that determines the overall net movement of cholesterol molecules between the cells and liver.

Why then do we have a tendency to have high LDL and low HDL or a high LDL: HDL ratio? The reason is the abnormal ratio of our high and low breakfast intake.

A high breakfast intake increases HDL and reduces LDL while a low breakfast intake or fasting causes the reverse. Most persons tend to have a low breakfast intake, hence it is not surprising that in the general population, LDL levels tend to be high while HDL levels tend to be low.

There is an optimal ratio for high and low morning intake in order to achieve the optimal LDL: HDL ratio. This will ensure normal movement of cholesterol molecules, thus eliminating this risk for heart attack and stroke, while maintaining normal cellular and brain function.

Dr. Robert Robinson MBBS. DM.(Int. Med.) is a specialist in Internal Medicine trained at the University of The West Indies. He has over ten (10) years experience in the management of patients with obesity and other chronic non-communicable diseases. He is the author of the book "The Sabbatical Diet." sabbaticaldiet.com sabbaticaldiet.com