Question about cholesterol

Q: Can you please point me to one of your articles on high cholesterol. I do not want to go on statin drugs which is what my doctor has been asking me to do for years. My cholesterol has progressively gotten higher and higher = now up to 355.

I have tried all the over the counter stuff like Cholest-Off and the like. Nothing has brought it down.

I am 65 year old woman who is a former triathlete who still runs 3 miles, but no longer bikes or swims. I work 9 hours a day at a desk job job. ~ Joanie

A: I have a good article on my web site blog concerning cholesterol.  I would also like to refer you to the Weston A. Price Foundation web site ( and to an article called “The Oiling of America“ .  Two books you should look up are “The Cholesterol Myths” and “Fat and Cholesterol are GOOD For You!” –both by Uffe Ravnskov (a respected scientist and researcher).  There is also a web site addressing the myths concerning cholesterol (containing many peer reviewed articles) here.  I also talk about this issue a great deal in my book, Primal Body – Primal Mind in the chapter on “Dispelling The Cholesterol Myth”.

As a woman (according to the extensive Framingham study data) you have literally a zero increased risk of heart attack with your cholesterol values, so I wouldn’t be overly worried about that–but when I see individuals with cholesterol seemingly “elevated” it tells me there is something going on with you for which cholesterol is somehow needed.  I see cholesterol–either “high” or low–as an INDICATOR…not a risk factor in and of itself—ever.  It’s always FAR more important to look at WHY your cholesterol may be up a bit—and not worry about it in and of itself.  Cholesterol is not “the bad guy”.

There are many things that can cause serum cholesterol to elevate: stress, infections, high carbohydrate diets, free radical activity, and low thyroid function –to name a few common ones.  The trick is in using your cholesterol value as a clue as to what else may be happening in your body that might need addressing. Using statin drug to lower cholesterol is, in my opinion, the equivalent of unscrewing the bulb on your engine light in your car to try to fix the underlying problem. The light is always asking you to dig deeper.

~ Nora