The Cholesterol Debate Facts And Fallacies Of Fitness Extract

A panel of leading medical experts has questioned the contention that cholesterol is a major cause of heart disease and that a blanket ban on the eating of meat, dairy products and eggs is unwarranted. This panel, which included the pioneering heart surgeon, Dr Michael de Bakey, emphasized that cholesterol is only one of several risk factors contributing to heart disease. They consider that the role of cholesterol in heart disease has been exaggerated and this has caused unnecessary alarm among the public.

They feel that the public should know that a review of current research reveals that cholesterol is the weakest of all the significant risk factors. In a similar vein, the American Council on Science and Health issued a report stating that the public is being misled about cholesterol. Its president, Dr Elizabeth Whelan, who is also a member of the panel examining the issue of cardiac disease, said that "there is no need to alarm the entire population about cholesterol".

Dr de Bakey added that, even although large intake of dietary cholesterol can certainly elevate the level of blood cholesterol, "nobody knows the specific, precise agent that causes heart disease". He warned that "cholesterol tests are notoriously inaccurate" and heart disease can occur in numerous individuals who exhibit none of the classic risk factors.

The panel stressed that a more balanced view of the connection between diet and cardiac disease had to be presented, especially as the role of cholesterol in the chain of events is more complex than is generally appreciated. Cholesterol is a component of all body cells and is manufactured by the liver, so that even if no cholesterol-rich foods are ingested, the body still has the ability to create endogenous cholesterol. High blood cholesterol levels are more strongly associated with genetic factors than any other risk factors currently identified. Foods containing saturated fats are rich in cholesterol and do elevate blood cholesterol, but the mechanism whereby cholesterol deposits itself on artery walls is not yet known.

The panel said that cessation of smoking, lowering of blood pressure and reduction of total calories via the eating of a nutritionally balanced diet with a variety of foods are the most effective ways of reducing the risk of heart disease. They criticised the extreme focus placed on cholesterol, since this standpoint had diminished public awareness of smoking and high blood pressure as major risk factors.

They also considered the benefits of cholesterol-lowering drugs to be overstated and questioned the wisdom of lowering blood cholesterol in women because pre-menopausal women are less likely to have heart attacks than men. Another researcher, Dr J M Price, in his book Coronaries, Cholesterol, Chlorine has presented evidence supporting the view that chlorine in drinking water may be a major factor associated with the formation of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), which results in heart attacks.

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