A doctor explains why the cholesterol limit is getting lower and lower: cause for concern
A Spanish expert has claimed that society is being overly medicated against cholesterol, labelling this an “insult” to our bodies.
A Spanish doctor claims that people are being misled over acceptable cholesterol levels, complaining of a culture of excessive medication that he describes as an “insult” to our bodies’ natural processes.
What is cholesterol?
The U.S.’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) describes cholesterol as a “waxy, fat-like substance that’s found in your blood and every cell of your body”. According to the NIH, your body needs cholesterol for the production of hormones and vitamin D, and to help you digest food.
The are two main types of cholesterol: low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is also known as “bad” cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is referred to as “good” cholesterol.
As is noted by the U.S.’s Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), having too much LDL cholesterol in your body raises your risk of suffering from heart disease or a stroke, while HDL may lower such susceptibility. HDL can help your body to carry LDL cholesterol to the liver, which then flushes it out of your system.
How is LDL cholesterol harmful?
Per the NIH, high LDL cholesterol levels can lead to heart disease and strokes by causing a sticky substance called plaque to accumulate in your arteries. “This buildup of plaque is known as atherosclerosis,” the health authority explains. “Over time, plaque can narrow your arteries or fully block them. When this happens, parts of your body may not get enough blood.”
You can suffer a heart attack if your heart doesn’t get enough blood, while a stroke occurs if the flow of blood to your brain is blocked. Meanwhile, peripheral artery disease occurs if your arms or legs don’t receive sufficient blood.
What cholesterol limits do health authorities advise?
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), a person’s overall cholesterol level is calculated by combining their LDL and HDL counts, and adding on 20% of their level of triglycerides, a common type of fat in the body.
The CDC says an “optimal” total cholesterol level would be around 150 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL), with LDL at no higher than 100 mg/dL. The NIH, meanwhile, says that the very upper limit of a healthy overall cholesterol count would be 200 mg/dL, with LDL expected to account for no more than half of that.
HDL should not be below 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women, the CDC says. At the same time, the Mayo Clinic cautions that there is a ceiling on how high your HDL should go. The body says people with unusually lofty HDL levels - in excess of 100 mg/dL is deemed extremely high - appear to become more, not less, vulnerable to heart disease.
“They keep on lowering the limit”
In a recent interview with the Spanish YouTube channel “Morir de Éxito”, Dr. Jorge García-Dihinx, a nutrition and obesity specialist based in Huelva, southern Spain, made the claim that today’s accepted overall cut-off point of 200 mg/dL is too low - and is leading too many people to be prescribed anti-cholesterol medication.
Suggesting that it is in the “business” interests of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries to ensure that society is buying drugs that control cholesterol levels, Dr. García-Dihinx complained that such medication messes with the body’s metabolism in a way that can have “consequences”.
“They keep on lowering the limit, and the more you lower it, the more people are at risk of being outside the normal range,” Dr. García-Dihinx told “Morir de Éxito”. In his estimation, a normal total cholesterol range should in fact be considered as “something like 150 to 350 [mg/dL]″.
Dr. García-Dihinx continued: “More than half of the population is above 200. That means that more than half of the population has to take medication for life. Blimey: taking a pill every day of your life until you die…
“Apart from being a business, it’s an insult to our metabolic pathways, which, every day, have a pill interfering with your metabolic processes […]. That has consequences.”
Dr. García-Dihinx’s remarks, which “Morir de Éxito” has also posted on its TikTok account, have attracted over 600,000 views and hundreds of comments.
How does lifestyle affect our cholesterol count?
According to the AHA, a diet heavy on salt and saturated fats - featuring foods such as red and processed meats, and full-fat dairy products - tends to raise LDL cholesterol. Foods associated with lowering “bad” cholesterol include fruits, vegetables, beans, omega-3 rich fish, and skinless poultry.
In addition, the NIH notes that regular exercise is associated with lower LDL cholesterol and higher levels of HDL.
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