Clearing Up Common Misunderstandings About Cholesterol

September 17, 2021 7 min read

Cholesterol got a bad name for itself over 50 years ago. And although research in the decades since has debunked many of the myths about cholesterol and how it affects our health, many misconceptions remain. Read on to discover the top cholesterol myths – and why you need to start shifting how you think about cholesterol.

The history of anti-cholesterol recommendations

So when did we, as a society, learn to fear cholesterol? Back in the 1960’s, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans added a recommendation to limit cholesterol intake to 300 mg per day and to limit egg intake to a max of three eggs per week.[1] This was based on a hypothesis from the time, coming from the limited data available, that cholesterol was bad for your heart. Unfortunately, although this hypothesis wasn’t grounded in strong scientific studies, the recommendations stuck… and held on for half of a century. In the time since the fear of cholesterol was initially sparked, a substantial body of evidence has accumulated and grown to show that dietary cholesterol is not the evil it was once touted to be, suggesting that the recommendations surrounding dietary cholesterol intake should be reconsidered.[1-6] It took a long time for the official recommendations to catch up. Finally, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans just recently removed the 300 mg per day cholesterol limit (although they do still include messaging that recommends limiting cholesterol as much as possible).[1] But even if the official recommendations have shifted, that doesn’t mean that cholesterol’s reputation has changed in the public eye. It may take a long time for people to learn to trust that cholesterol isn’t the danger we once were told it was.

5 common cholesterol myths, debunked

Let’s learn a bit more about cholesterol and debunk some common myths about this misunderstood topic:

Myth #1: Cholesterol is bad

The first thing to realize is that cholesterol itself is not a bad thing. Over the years, cholesterol has gathered a very bad reputation, and although decades of research no longer supports that reputation, it is still often seen as an evil to stay away from at all costs.

This is the biggest, most important misunderstanding that needs to be cleared up.

Cholesterol is not bad. It is not evil. In fact, your body needs cholesterol in order to be able to function. Cholesterol has essential roles in the body, and without it our bodies can suffer.[7]

Cholesterol is a type of fat that serves as a building block for many important things in the body like cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D, bile, and more. It is involved in the nervous system, the reproductive system, the muscular system, and a whole host of other bodily systems.

Even mainstream organizations like the CDC and AARP are trying to reeducate the public about this common cholesterol myth.[7,8] The AARP states on their website that “It’s misleading to call cholesterol an evil, artery-clogging fat because cholesterol performs a lot of important functions.”[8]

So cholesterol itself isn’t the problem.

What can be problematic and cause harm in the body are specific types of carrier proteins that move cholesterol throughout the body. The two major categories of proteins that carry cholesterol through the body include low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Higher levels of LDL have been linked to heart disease, while higher levels of HDL are considered helpful and protective for the heart.[7,9]

So here is the bottom line: cholesterol itself isn’t bad for you or your body. LDL, a specific protein that carries cholesterol throughout the body, has been shown to increase heart disease risk (although many people today are questioning this). So looking at LDL levels and the ratio between LDL and HDL is more helpful when it comes to assessing heart disease risk.

Myth #2: The lower your cholesterol, the better

The messaging to keep cholesterol levels low has been circulating for a long time, leading many people to believe that the lower they can keep their cholesterol levels, the better

But here’s the truth: low cholesterol can actually be problematic. Remember when I told you earlier that our bodies need cholesterol for many different important functions? Well, when cholesterol is missing from the body and we don’t have enough of it to go around, many different problems can occur.

In fact, low cholesterol has been associated with a variety of issues and even higher mortality rates, especially from things like stroke and heart failure.[9,10,11] Research shows that while high LDL has been associated with greater health risk, low levels of LDL can also be dangerous.[9]

Myth #3: The more dietary cholesterol you eat, the higher your cholesterol levels will be

This myth is a big one, and a very important one to debunk. For years, people have been avoiding foods with cholesterol in them, fearing that they will spike their cholesterol levels and get heart disease.

But scientific research has proven that eating foods with cholesterol in them doesn’t usually directly translate into more cholesterol in your blood. It might seem logical, but that’s not how it really works. One reason for this is that the body usually responds to the amount of cholesterol in your diet by adjusting its own production of cholesterol, essentially self-regulating to keep your blood cholesterol levels in balance.[2,12]

Research has found that there is no strong association between dietary cholesterol intake and heart disease risk. The same is true for specific high-cholesterol foods like eggs; they won’t raise your risk of mortality from heart disease.[1-5,13]

As the authors of a study published in the journal Nutrients conclude, “The totality of scientific evidence and experimental data did not validate the hypothesis that dietary cholesterol increases blood cholesterol, and by extension increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.[1] Other researchers have concluded that “The earlier purported adverse relationship between dietary cholesterol and heart disease risk was likely largely over-exaggerated.[2]

This means that you don’t need to avoid foods that contain cholesterol like you once thought.

And that is good news, since foods high in cholesterol are actually often quite nutritious. Grass-fed beef, eggs, fish, seafood, dairy products, and more all contain cholesterol, but they contain other healthy nutrients too and can all be included as part of a healthy diet.

Myth #4: Eggs are unhealthy

Did you grow up thinking you had to watch how many eggs you ate per week?

This is a common, outdated misconception. As you learned previously in this article, we used to believe that foods with cholesterol in them would raise your cholesterol levels and put you at risk for heart disease. But in recent decades, that myth has been completely debunked.

Because of the misunderstanding about dietary cholesterol, many people were left thinking that eggs weren’t good for you and you should limit them carefully. But eggs are actually quite healthy, and they are a nutritious option to include in your diet often.

I want to reassure you that studies show that that eggs won’t negatively affect your cholesterol levels or heart disease risk.[13] In fact, eggs can actually help to improve your lipoprotein profile.[14]

Eggs are a great source of protein, healthy fats, B vitamins, phosphorous, selenium, and many other important nutrients.[15] In fact, Organic Pasture Raised Eggs are a core part of my diet as well as many other health professionals that I know. I eat them almost daily and I always eat the yolk, which contains the most nutrients. If you are only eating egg whites then you’re missing out on the healthiest part!

Myth #5: Low-fat diets are best

Along with the fear of cholesterol, fear of fat also became widespread beginning in the 60s and 70s. Following low-fat diets and low-cholesterol diets became the go-to trend in America, with this trend gathering momentum in the 80s and 90s. Again, this was all fueled by misleading hypotheses that were formed from limited data at the time.[16]

Both fat and cholesterol received a bad rap during this era of the low-fat diet craze, but those poor reputations don’t turn out to be supported by the science. The theories ended up being inaccurate and misleading, and we now know that eating foods containing fats isn’t the real problem, nor is eating foods with cholesterol.[8,17]

Like cholesterol, our bodies need fat to function properly. Healthy fat sources like fish, avocados, nuts, olive oil, and more are all actually very beneficial for your body.[18]

If you really want to make a difference for your health, it’s not low-fat diets that will help you; reducing your sugar intake will have much more significant results. Sugar and refined carbohydrates are the real evils to be aware of.

This is why I believe that removing all processed sugar from the diet is one of the key action steps you can take to become a Peak Performer. Learn more here.

Takeaways

You may have been taught in the past that cholesterol was an evil substance that clogs your arteries and raises your risk for heart attacks. But this is an outdated view on cholesterol.

Today, we know that cholesterol itself isn’t bad; in fact, our bodies need it in order to stay healthy. We also know that eating cholesterol in our diets won’t raise our heart disease risk, and that low-fat diets aren’t the best approach.

If you do want to lower your heart disease risk, there are much better ways to do so than avoiding cholesterol and fat. Losing weight, eating a well-rounded diet full of nutritious whole foods, avoiding sugar and highly-processed foods, and being physically active are all important if you want to reduce your heart disease risk and stay healthy in the long run.

If you want to learn more about how to be the best version of yourself and support your mind and body with healthy habits, check out my blog: What it Takes to Be a Peak Performer.