MODULE #3 - Lesson 3 · We talked about the four main types of lipo-proteins. We have calomicrons...

The Cholesterol Myth (Part 2)

MODULE #3 - Lesson 3

2Super Nutrition Academy – MODULE 3 - Lesson 3

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The Cholesterol Myth (part 2)Module 3 - Lesson 3

Welcome to module 3, lesson 3. This is part two of the cholesterol myth. We will start right where we left off in the previous lesson. Now we will really begin exploring this cholesterol issue.

What We’ll Be Covering TodayIn this lesson we will look at the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol. The truth about cholesterol lowering drugs, how doctors are influenced by drug companies and the shocking new trend that’s putting an end to it all. We will also learn eight ways to manage your cholesterol naturally.


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How Fat is Transported

In the last lesson we looked at how fat is packaged into lipo-protein particles which allow fats to be transported in the blood in a more soluble format. Otherwise, fat and the plasma in the blood would separate and the entire upper part of your body would just become fat and all the water would sit at the bottom of your body. Fat is transferred in these lipo-protein particles which are known as LDL, HDL, VLDL and some small other ones.


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The 4 Types of Lipoproteins

We talked about the four main types of lipo-proteins. We have calomicrons from the small intestine and VLDL, which is a very low density lipo-protein. Both carry triglycerides and cholesterol esters. LDL, Low Density Lipo-Protein and HDL, High Density Lipo-Protein, carry cholesterol esters exclusively. Ideally we want more HDL, less LDL.

Fat Transport after FeedingAfter you’ve had a meal fat comes in, it’s broken down into fatty acids, and a glycerol molecule. It’s then converted back into triglycerides and formed into calomicrons. It then goes into the lymphatic system and then back into the blood and then it circulates to the tissues, to the liver. Cholesterol will also be sent to the liver from the small intestine. Cholesterol can be sent to the tissues via LDL or if there’s too much cholesterol already at the tissues, HDL will take cholesterol from the tissues, back to the liver. The liver will recycle it to be used in bile or excreted through the bile duct, down into the colon and out in your poop. It’s a very quick diagram and quick overview of how it’s transported in the body.


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Lipoprotein Formation

The darker pink rectangle is the inside of the small intestine where we have triglyceride fats which is broken down into fatty acids and glycerol or monoglyceride. It then passes into the epithelial cells where it then is formed back into a triglyceride. At the same time, cholesterol will be coming through our diet and it will bind with fatty acid to form a calomicron consisting of a cholesterol ester, which is the yellow part in this calomicron.


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The orange part is the triglyercide and the yellow part is the cholesterol ester. It then moves out of the small intestine into the lymphatic system which is the drainage system eventually dumping into the blood supply.

It then picks up a couple apoproteins which are donated by HDL. A calomicron is a big 18-wheeler moving truck. It has a lot of payload to get rid of, which in this case is the triglycerides, so it takes it to our fat cells. It binds to lipoprotein lipase, which we saw is directly impacted by insulin levels. So when there’s low insulin or if you’re insulin resistant there will be less lipoprotein lipase, therefore the calomicrons won’t be able to give off as much of their triglycerides so they’ll have more triglycerides floating in the blood.

The tissues take up a good proportion of triglycerides leaving us with a calomicron remnant, gives back an apoprotein to HDL, then we have this calomicron remnant which then binds with the lipoprotein density lipase receptor at the liver. It is then repackaged by the liver into VLDL.


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VLDL Formation VLDL then leaves the liver and goes through that same cycle again. Instead of this 18-wheeler we have a smaller cubic van that has less triglycerides. It still needs to get rid of some of it so it goes back to its storage facility, the tissues in this case and drops off some of the triglycerides. There’s less stuff to move now it becomes a van and that van, the VLDL remnants, now goes back, gives an apoprotein back to HDL, goes back to the liver to be broken down or it can be converted into LDL by binding to hepatic lipase on the liver surface.

Cholesterol TransportI mentioned in the last lesson that LDL moves cholesterol from the liver to the tissues. HDL will get involved in what’s known as reverse cholesterol transport. So if there’s too much cholesterol in the tissues it will take that cholesterol, take it back to the liver. The liver will do its work, process it, recycle it, get rid of it, and use it in bile.

At the same time LDL will carry cholesterol to macrofuges. We’ll look at this in a second. HDL will also move cholesterol from macrofuges. These are involved in immune response and the immune system.


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LDL Solicitation = Bad NewsLDL hangs around in the blood for much longer than calomicrons and VLDL. The problem is that it can become more prone to damage by free radicals, toxins, oxidative stress. Anytime a fat carrying molecule becomes damaged it becomes rancid. Fat is like a double edge sword, it can be very good if it’s a good source but it’s also very damaging if it’s been damaged by these different precursors.

It’s also more prone to be taken up by macrofuges. From an immune system standpoint, it’s not the greatest thing. More importantly if macrofuges take up LDL they actually develop and turn into what’s called a foam cell. The picture on the right is a cross-section of an artery. The inside of the artery is called the lumen. As you see here, literally half of the lumen is occluded or blocked by foam cells.

One of the first things that comes to my mind when I look at this picture is increased blood pressure because now you have a smaller tube but the same amount of blood has to pass through that tube so automatically it’s going to increase the pressure and your heart has to work harder.


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The foam cells are also going to damage the arterial walls which over time can lead to the depositing of more foam cells and plaque buildup. If the arteries are scarred or if LDL is floating around too much, foam cells will literally build up in your artery walls, and that’s not something we want.

HDL Saves the DayHDL is produced in the intestines and liver and it contains the protein “apo A” and other cells that contain excess cholesterol. In lesson two I showed you a diagram where VLDL can give HDL triglycerides. When that happens APOA dissociates from HDL which renders HDL useless. HDL contains essential protein which docks on macrophages. So it needs that protein in order to remove cholesterol from the tissues and macrophages. It can’t take cholesterol back to the liver and that’s one of the reasons we don’t want too much VLDL in the blood, or high triglycerides.

We Need CholesterolHDL removes it from the tissues, back to the liver. It’s known as a reverse cholesterol transport. The liver then breaks the cholesterol down, uses it as bile and it can excrete it through the bowels. So we need cholesterol. We discussed the negative aspects of cholesterol but at the beginning of the last lesson we talked about how it is a component of cell membranes and that is a fundamental building block of sex hormones like testosterone, estrogen, and etcetera. It’s used in Vitamin D formation and bile production requires cholesterol. These are four critical processes that require cholesterol. Cholesterol is not the bad guy. It’s the type of lipoprotein carrier which is the problem. And triglycerides.

Too little cholesterol increases your risk of cancer, memory loss, Parkinson’s disease, hormonal imbalances, stroke, depression, suicide and violent behavior. If we don’t have enough cholesterol, our cell membranes will be too fluid so there won’t be enough rigidity. This will allow things to come and go as they please and there’s very little structure. That’s just one example of why cholesterol can lead to a number of these different issues.


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Cholesterol has a sensing system that regulates how it’s produced and transferred. Unfortunately triglycerides don’t have the same sensing system and that’s why triglycerides can become a big problem with respect to heart disease.

75% of serum or blood cholesterol is produced in the liver, only 25% comes from your diet. So it’s a very minimal impact of dietary cholesterol on the cholesterol in your body. LDL, is created to bring cholesterol to the tissues that aren’t good at producing their own while HDL removes cholesterol back to the liver.


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How Low is too Low?

Dr. Caldwell Esselston says that regularly maintaining a cholesterol level of less than 150 milligrams per deciliter makes one practically heart attack proof and ensures against further progression of the disease.


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Dr. Colin T Campbell from the China study stays that heart disease is virtually unknown in regions where cholesterol is less than 150 milligrams per deciliter. In a Fermium study the researchers said that we’ve never had a heart attack in Fermium in 35 years in anyone who had a cholesterol level of under 150. Three-quarters of the people who live on the face of this Earth never have had a heart attack. They live in Asia, Africa and South America and their cholesterols are all around 150.

But consider this, in Crete not a single heart attack was registered among 500,000 people during a ten year study period, yet the average citizen of Crete has a cholesterol level above 200. We know that they follow a Mediterranean diet, lots of antioxidants, lots of vegetables, lots of fruit, great source of monounsaturated fats in olive oil specifically.

The source of our fats is very important. There is some discrepancy within the literature but essentially you want to keep your cholesterol on the lower end, 150- to 200, especially if you’re in the western world and you’re not following a Mediterranean diet. 200 would be a little bit on the high side unless you live in Crete and follow that kind of lifestyle.

Desirable Blood Cholesterol LevelsDesirable is under 200 and in the studies 150 is what is deemed desirable. We’re looking at two really good indicators of the ratios. HDL and total cholesterol should be 25% and the triglyceride to HDL ratio should be two or lower. Hopefully by now if you’ve gotten your lipid profile and you have these numbers.

Cholesterol in North AmericaCardiovascular disease is the number one public health problem in the United States. Although it has declined a little bit it’s still the number one killer. So compared to previous decades, fewer adults have high cholesterol, the proportion of the population ages 20 to 74 with high cholesterol has dropped by half from about 33% in the early ‘60s to 16.3% in the early 2000s. During this same time period average cholesterol levels fell from 222 milligrams per deciliter to around the optimal level of 200. So things are looking up.


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One in three North Americans has high cholesterol and 200 million prescriptions for cholesterol lowering drugs were written in 2008 alone.

Approximately one in six adults, 16.3% of the US population, has high total cholesterol above 240 milligrams per deciliter, which means they have a two times greater risk of heart disease as people with optimal levels. If cholesterol’s building up in your arteries, for instance these LDL formed foam cells; they’re occluding the passageway of blood flow. They’re restricting the size of the lumen in your arteries, which means that your blood, your heart has to pump harder to get that blood through, which means that we’ve increased our blood pressure.

High blood pressure can lead to heart disease because if your blood pressure increases too much it can dislodge different clots and plaque formations. When these travel through your bloodstream they can lodge themselves in smaller arterials or capillaries which can cause a stroke or a heart attack.

For adult Americans the average level is about 200 but your best bet is to be below 200 milligrams per deciliter.

Cholesterol and AtherosclerosisCholesterol is really a band-aid for damage caused by free radicals, excess acid and other forces that scar our arteries. Foam cells are what build up in the arterial walls, it’s not necessarily cholesterol. The bad guys are really LDLs which hang around too long in the blood. They can become part of macrophages and form into foam cells. That’s the issue.

At the same time, if you have free radical damage occurring through your blood vessels, if they’re being scarred by acid or free radical damage, then cholesterol will need to be deposited, to kind of smooth over that scar. It’s a defense mechanism that the body uses to patch up some poor roadwork that has been caused from different damages.

There really is no clear correlation between blood cholesterol levels and arterial sclerosis and heart or cardiovascular disease. Even though there are studies that show higher cholesterol levels lead to heart disease, we’ve also seen that in Crete if you’re at 200 milligrams per deciliter there are no heart attacks. That’s why it’s so important to look at the ratios of HDL to total cholesterol.


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In 1964 a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed 1,700 patients with heart disease and they showed that more heart related disease was found with cholesterol levels between 1 and 250 milligrams per deciliter than between 300 and 400 or higher. So there’s more to this heart disease equation than just cholesterol.

Cholesterol Sensing Mechanism

We know that LDL takes cholesterol esters and that’s the way it’s packaged and travels through the blood, and it goes to different cells. So if a cell needs more cholesterol than LDL will be taken to that cell, it’ll bind to the LDL receptor and it’ll give off that cholesterol. So it’ll deposit the cholesterol inside the cell.

However, sometimes a cell can create its own cholesterol, in these cases it goes through an acetyl co-a, which is then transformed into HNG co-a and then into cholesterol. If it needs to produce its own cholesterol it will go through this synthesis pathway. If it’s getting cholesterol from outside then that’ll come in as well.


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Next the cell figures out if it has too much cholesterol or too little, then it will transmit that information to your DNA. After that two things can happen, first your cell can pump out more of this enzyme, HNG co-a reductase, so that it can convert more of this HNG co-a into cholesterol. The second thing that can happen is that it can create more LDL receptors on the cell surface so they can take in more cholesterol from the blood.

As I mentioned before, there’s no sensing mechanism for triglyceride regulation. While I am not a medical doctor it is my opinion that triglycerides which are a result of high sugar and high saturated fat diets are a big problem, even more so than cholesterol.

When you take, for instance, a staten drug like Lipitor it basically acts to block that enzyme HNG-co-a. So it blocks HNG co-a reductase from working which means that the cell can no longer produce cholesterol from it. The only way the cell can take cholesterol in now is through the LDL receptor. This means we’d need to pump out more LDL receptors which takes more cholesterol out of the blood and into the cell. You might think you’d want that to happen, but it’s not really what it’s cracked up to be.

Lowering Cholesterol with DrugsWhen we lower cholesterol with drugs we use statens. Those are probably one of the most popular drugs in the medical industry. They inhibit enzyme HNG co-a reductase, causing the cell to increase LDL receptor activation lowering LDL in the blood.

So staten drugs are one of the top two selling drug classes in the US and depending on the type of staten consumers can pay $70 to $150 a month for a prescription. In most cases people statens for a long period of time.

Another class of drugs called resins bind to bile acids in the gut causing increased excretion instead of reabsorption of cholesterol. They bind to the bile acids in the gut which means that they don’t permit cholesterol to be absorbed from the small intestine. It’s literally just going right into the bile. When this happens more bile is needed because now we aren’t getting as much cholesterol from the diet or from the small intestine. This means there’s lower cholesterol inside the cell, which means that the cell has to pump out


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more LDL receptors and that lowers the LDL in the blood. You might think this is a good idea but again, we’re playing with nature. We’re screwing around with what our body’s naturally supposed to do. That’s never a good thing.

There’s another class of cholesterol lowering drugs known as Ezetimibe and these ones decrease absorption of dietary cholesterol from the intestines. These ezitimibes, decrease the actual intake or uptake of cholesterol from the intestines.


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Do The Drugs Work?

Those are the 3 big classes of cholesterol drugs. We know that cholesterol and heart disease are almost in about 99% of the cases absolutely reversible and preventable through diet and lifestyle. So I’m talking about diet, stress management and exercise all the time. It’s pretty crazy.

Diet decreases triglycerides, VLDL, because as you know if you don’t eat sugar and if you have fewer saturated fats then you’re not going to produce as many triglycerides in the blood. Diet alone also decreases LDL by 10-20%. It also increases HDL.

Statens have no effect on VLDL because there’s no sensing mechanism for triglycerides. They decrease LDL by 25-55%, which is a good thing because they’re taking more LDL out of the blood and binding it to the receptor sites in the cells. And they also increase HDL a little bit.

Resins, the ones that bind to bile acids, increase triglycerides, so that’s not a good thing. They decrease LDL by about the same degree as diet and they increase HDL. But again, not a great thing because they’re increasing TG levels here.

Azitimibes, no impact on VLDL, decreased LDL by 15-25% and have little to no impact on HDL. So at first look it looks like statens are probably the


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best drug to attack cholesterol with. Sure, but I mean look at diet. Diet hits everything - VLDL, LDL and HDL.

Are They Safe? A report in the Journal of Cancer Research said “Several trials of cholesterol lowering with drugs to prevent cardiovascular disease have demonstrated an increase in cancer incidence in the subjects treated with lipid altering drugs, statens. The trials were randomized, double blinded and lasted an average of five years. A statistically excess of malignancy was seen in elderly subjects and women randomized to the drug groups.” Again we’re messing with nature and as a result, the body will find other ways to compensate, in this case it’s producing malignant tumors.


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Dangers of Staten Drugs

A 2008 review of the literature in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs sites nearly 900 studies. Anytime I mention a review of the literature, I’m talking about a study that looks at all the other studies, in this case they looked at 900 studies on the side effects of staten drugs. They found. muscle problems, cognitive loss, neuropathy, anemia, acidosis, frequent fevers, cataracts, sexual dysfunction, increase in cancer risk, immune system suppression.

Who Needs Drugs?About one in 10,000 people have a genetic condition called hypercholesterolemia, which is a total cholesterol above 330 milligrams per deciliter. For these individuals diet and exercise are not going to work, and at this level you might need some medication. For 99% of the population, they can manage their blood lipids and cholesterol through diet and exercise.

If You’re on StatensIf you’re taking Lipitor you should be supplementing with CoQ10, which is an important antioxidant in the electron transport chain in your mitochondria. So it’s an important element for producing ATP and Statens deplete these vital antioxidants. CoQ10 depletion can lead to impaired cardiac function in patients with borderline congestive heart failure. So if you have heart problems to being with, having less CoQ10 is not a good thing. It’s an antioxidant compound that is central to the process of energy production. It neutralizes free radicals which are produced in greater amounts in staten users due to mitochondrial damage.

Statens also lower your CoQ10 levels by blocking the pathway involved in cholesterol production, which is the same pathway by which CoQ10 is produced. They also reduce blood cholesterol that transports CoQ10 and other fat soluble antioxidants.


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Everything in the body happens for a reason and when we start implementing drugs we don’t succeed without side effects. The loss of coenzyme Q10 leads to a loss of cellular energy and increased free radicals, which in turn can further damage your mitochondrial DNA. When free radicals damage your DNA it starts to replicate in a mutated form, and that’s when cancer cells can develop.

If you’re over 40 you may want to take the reduced version which is ubiquinol because it is more effective. If you go to the health foods store you can find CoQ10 and ubiquinol and supplement with those on a daily basis.


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How Do You Know If You Need More CoQ10 In Your Diet?

Do you become fatigued, weak or experience more muscle soreness? Those are all signs that statens are depleting your CoQ10 levels. Remember, the most noted symptom of staten drugs are muscle problems, muscle soreness. If you become fatigued or weak because, again, your mitochondria are not able to produce enough energy because it’s missing a very important cofactor, so look at supplementing with CoQ10 or ubiquinol.

Scary Drug TiesThe US government is so bent on fighting the drug war with the Mexican cartels and Colombia but it really should look internally because some of the stuff that’s happening in the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA oversees all of the pharmaceuticals and a lot of supplements and their medical advisors are often tied to big pharmaceutical companies. In 2008 the FDA enacted a policy preventing scientists with financial ties to pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies from serving on FDA advisory committees. So that’s a step in the right direction. Before it was just utter nonsense.

This policy arose due to criminal-like conflicts of interest during the previous decade. For example, Chairman of the Board for different pharmaceutical companies were also FDA as advisors who would approve and push specific pharmaceutical drugs that would enhance their bank account. There’s always a conflict of interest when this happens and that’s a great thing that they enacted this new policy 2008.

Suspicious ScienceA couple years ago there were new guidelines for lowering LDL cholesterol by the National Cholesterol Education Program, a division of the government’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. This program recommended that all people should have an LDL level no higher than 100 milligrams per deciliter and that those patients at a high risk for a heart attack and/or stroke should reduce their LDL levels to 70.


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The panel that made these recommendations was made up largely of physicians who had been paid as consultants or had been involved in the clinical trials of the very same drugs. Lowering of the recommended levels meant more people would need to be put on statens.

We had a previously recommended level of 100. If you’re at, let’s say, 90, you’re okay for LDL based on these recommendations. All of a sudden they decide to lower the level to 70, so previously you were okay at 90 milligrams per deciliter for LDL but then all of a sudden they decide to lower it to 70. So if you’re that individual with LDL at 90 milligrams per deciliter you go to your doctor, all of a sudden your doctor from one week to the next says, “Hey, you know what? Things have just changed now. You need to be taking Lipitor because you’re too high.” Very suspicious.

Influencing DoctorsSupport from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers for continuing medical education has quadrupled over the past decade and accounts for more than half of the $2.4 billion that is spent annually on continuing medical education.

But there is some good news. The world’s largest drug company, Pfizer, recently decided to stop funding educational programs through such intermediaries, recognizing that industry supported programs should be labeled and acknowledged as such. I don’t believe the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on this as much as they should be, but this is a move in the right direction. .”

Lowering Cholesterol NaturallySo let’s look at lowering cholesterol naturally because we know that you doctor is probably influenced by his or her pharmaceutical reps, which are being influenced by different policy makers and agendas. This is one of the important reasons that you’re going through this super nutrition academy, so you have the information, so you’re more informed about this stuff, so you can have more intellectual, educated and informed conversation with your doctor or somebody else in a particular position.


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You need to be able to make the best decisions for yourself. You know that if you don’t have hypercholesterolemia in most cases you can solve this cholesterol and triglyceride issue through diet and exercise.

We know that dietary cholesterol is not the bad guy. The quality of fat intake is the most important factor. That is why in Crete when we saw people with 200 milligrams per deciliter cholesterol levels had no heart attacks, the quality of the fats they were eating on a daily basis, olives, olive oil are having a huge beneficial impact on the quality of their selves. Trans fats, deadly. Saturated fat, not great. EFAs, essential fatty acids, omega-3s, the best. We’re not talking about canola oil. We’re talking about omega-3 fatty acids, and monounsaturated fatty acids are important as well. Rancid, oxidized fats damage your arteries. Cholesterol patches up the damage. So you take in French fries, you’re eating potato chips, you’re eating pastries, baked goods, all the stuff that contains trans fats, those fats are rancid and they are causing damage to your arteries. Cholesterol is not the problem. Cholesterol is simply putting up a band-aid.

Normalizing insulin levels is also key. Triglycerides and insulin resistance go hand in hand. If you want to get rid of heart disease, stop eating sugar. Stop eating refined carbohydrates. When you learn this kind of information it should really kind of give you a good kick in the butt because we’re not invincible and it’s only a matter of time before our bodies respond by breaking down. So you need to take action now. You need to be proactive. You need to know this stuff so you can act on it.


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Is Insulin or Dietary Cholesterol the Bad Guy?

High insulin levels or insulin resistance increase cholesterol production and lowers cholesterol absorption, not only does it impact triglyceride levels but also cholesterol levels. Weight loss alone, whether muscle or fat, lowers cholesterol production and increases cholesterol absorption, which is a good thing.

There’s a lot of variability in how people respond to dietary cholesterol because everyone’s different. In general it’s estimated that each additional 100 milligram intake of dietary cholesterol results in an increase of 1.9 milligrams per deciliter in LDL and a 0.4 milligram per decibel increase in HDL. This doesn’t take into account the effects of saturated fat or the type of response to dietary cholesterol that individuals might have. In general, 100 milligram intake of cholesterol through your food is going to lead to a 1.9 increase in LDL, 0.4 increase in HDL.

The Canadian Cholesterol Boycotts Since 2004 Canada has not put an upper limit on dietary cholesterol intake because of the overwhelming research which shows that bad saturated and trans fats are the primary dietary determinants of total blood and low density labeled protein cholesterol levels, not dietary cholesterol. It’s the bad saturated fats and the trans fats which are causing higher levels of LDL, not dietary cholesterol itself.

Eggs and Dietary CholesterolI can’t tell you how frustrating it is when you go to a progressive, health conscious restaurant and you have all these posh individuals ordering egg white omelets. If I were a waiter I’d be asking them, “Why are you ordering an egg white omelet?” Well, because yolks have cholesterol and cholesterol’s not good for my heart. We know that that is not true. One egg is 200 milligrams of cholesterol; we saw that 100 milligrams of cholesterol in your diet leads to 1.9 milligram per deciliter increase in LDL and a 0.4 increase in HDL.


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Only two studies have shown a positive correlation between egg consumption of more than six eggs per week and heart attacks, but the results didn’t account for diabetes in the population studied, is a huge predictor of heart disease because they’ll have high levels of triglycerides the blood. So already these studies are massively flawed.

The Framingham study, which is one of the longest and biggest studies ever conducted, is a 16 year study. They looked at six eggs per week. No increase in cardiovascular disease. The Physicians Health Study, 20 year follow up, seven eggs per week, no increase in cardiovascular disease. Only slightly higher risk in those with diabetes. Remember, diabetes, insulin resistance, you’re not uptaking fat anymore, you’re breaking it down and more fat is floating in your blood.

Overall studies suggest that among hyperresponders, those that respond a little bit more on the upper side of dietary impact of cholesterol, dietary cholesterol from egg leads to a modest increase in serum LDL and HDL and to no effect on the ratio of LDL to cholesterol levels. We’ve seen that for every 100 milligram increase in cholesterol you’re getting a proportional increase in LDL - 1.9 and 0.4 in HDL. So if you’re having more cholesterol those numbers will just increase accordingly. Those are only for people that are sensitive to cholesterol to begin with and it’s a very small portion of the population. For everyone else, eggs have no negative impact on blood cholesterol.

It should not be the cholesterol issue that you’re worried about, it should be the quality of the eggs. So if you go to a restaurant and you ask for an egg white omelet you’re better off asking about the quality of the eggs. Are the eggs organic? Are they from free run chickens? What are the conditions they’re grown in? Were they pumped with antibiotics and hormones?

The yolk is that not only is it a good source of cholesterol it’s also where all the vitamins and minerals are. The white contains five grams of protein, so the egg white is just protein and you can’t absorb that protein properly without all the minerals and cofactors and vitamins and cholesterol that are contained in the yolk. Remember, it comes down to whole foods. Just get a good, organic, free run chicken egg and you will be home free, no problems.


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8 Ways to Control Your Cholesterol Naturally

Let’s look at eight ways to control your cholesterol naturally. I guarantee if you follow these eight steps you will get into a normal range. I’m saying following the guidelines we talked about in our total wellness cleanse program and other nutrition programs we have seen people from the high 300s in their cholesterol go right back down to 175 within the space of a couple weeks through basic changes in their diet.

Number one, get and stay lean. Being fat increases blood cholesterol. It dosesn’t matter if it’s a drop in body fat or if it’s a drop in weight, just drop the weight. It doesn’t matter how it happens. If you go from 200 pounds to 180 pounds you will have less blood cholesterol.

Eat at least ten servings of vegetables and fruits a day. For maximum impact, 90% of your food intake should be from vegetables, fruits, beans, non-glutinous whole grains, nuts and seeds. It’s not about being a vegan or vegetarian. It’s about what our bodies thrive on. We’ve seen the impact of protein. We know protein - obviously if you want to have eggs, if you want to have meat there’s no problem with that. But realize the impact of it. The more plant based you can go the better off you’re going to be. So eat at least ten servings of fruits and veggies per day.

This is up to you, eat one cup of non-glutinous whole grains and legumes each day. This is associated with a 15-20% reduction in premature death from all causes, mainly because of the fiber. Researchers have found that those who ate six plus servings of whole grains a week had less plaque in their arteries than those who ate whole grains less often. But remember, processed carbs will cause your HDL to take a drop.

When I talk about non-glutinous whole grains I’m not talking about quinoa, amaranth, millet, buckwheat and legumes. These are all amazing because of the fiber they contain. You’re also going to be getting fiber from fruits and vegetables because fiber will bind cholesterol and remove it out of your body. So fiber’s really important.


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Eat about 1/3 a cup of nuts and seeds each day. Almonds, walnuts, those are really good two sources. Pumpkin seeds are a high source of zinc and protein.

Eat or supplement with omega-3s. Fish oils, probably one of the most important things you can do. This actually ties in with your habit for this month. Omega-3s are powerful. They pretty much improve all aspects of your health and are anti-inflammatory. If you’re on blood thinning medication and you have very thin blood you should check with your doctor because omega-3 will thin your blood, reduce blood pressure and could lead to bleeding if you already have blood clotting issues or thinned out blood. Otherwise, omega-3 it up is the most powerful thing you can do, and preferably from fish oil.

Exercise, and I’m talking about sweating for at least five hours per week. These recommendations will vary from source to source. Some people say sweat for 30 minutes three times a week, but the important thing here is that when you’re exercising you want to be exercising at a good intensity. So you’re huffing and puffing and sweating. I would say as a minimum look at three hours per week at a good intensity. This is one of the few ways you can actually boost HDL.

Spice up your meals. Include different spices like ginger, garlic, circumin. Ginger increases circulation and circumin can block cholesterol uptake in the gut. And they’re anti-inflammatory, so great stuff.

Limit your meat consumption, consumption of processed foods, trans fats, and dairy. Lots of meat and trans fats seems to be a bad for blood cholesterol. If you’re going to eat meat you have to go with high quality meats. You’re better off having one great piece of steak a week than three or four poor quality. If you’re drinking cow’s milk switch over to almond or rice milk.

Follow these 8 steps and if you think about it, what disease could not benefit from this type of protocol? That’s why I say how you heal anything is how you heal everything. We’re dealing with cholesterol here but it might benefit your body in preventing cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and dementia.


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#1 Cholesterol Management TechniqueThe number one cholesterol management technique is prevent arterial damage. That is it, prevent arterial damage. Smoking, toxicity, rancid, poor quality fats, high amounts of sugar, they will all raise cholesterol in your blood because they are causing damage to your arteries. They do more damage to cholesterol levels than any other type of dietary cholesterol. You could eat 20 eggs a day and have less of an impact on your cholesterol than eating a chocolate bar every single day, or smoking, or living in a toxic environment will.

An antioxidant rich diet is also important to minimize the damage because free radicals are part of the culprits to damaging arteries, aging and cancer. Eating a lot of fruits and vegetables which contain a lot of antioxidants, is important as well.

Supplemental Considerations So if you want to supplement with a couple things here are some interesting things you may not have known about. Red rice yeast extract, it’s not great considering that it contains the same ingredient found in staten drugs, so it kind of has that same preventing pathway of HNG co-a reductase, so again, it has a similar effect to staten drugs potentially without all the side effects. Again, check with your doctor about this, it can be powerful stuff. You’re looking at about 600-1,200 milligrams twice a day with food. So if you can’t control your cholesterol through diet and exercise red rice yeast extract. Your doctor probably won’t even know about it but ask anyway.

Omega-3 oils, should be taken on a daily basis. I personally take about four tablespoons a day. They are anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting. If you have blood thinning, clotting issues, check with your doctor. They can also help to convert small, dense LDL particles into larger, buoyant versions which are a good thing just from kind of a breakdown perspective. You’re looking at one to four grams a day. Liquid is best.

Niacin, vitamin B3 can increase HDL while decreasing LDL. The one thing you want to watch out for is niacin-induced flushing which is a result of vassal dilation. Sometimes when you take B vitamins your skin becomes a little bit


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red around your cheeks. This is just vassal dilation, so the blood vessels have just kind of opened up, so there’s more blood flowing through skin. You can decrease the flushing by taking niacin with food or a small dose of aspirin. Too much niacin can cause liver stress and toxicity. On average, 500 to 2,000 milligrams daily with food. If you take B vitamins you’ll also notice that you’re peeing highlighter yellow, and that’s fine. That’s just a breakdown product of the metabolism of B vitamins.

L-carnitine can help control LPA and also some beneficial effects for burning fat. I’ve personally never used it. If you’re taking it, one gram twice per day can be helpful.

FYIIf you decrease your LDL cholesterol by 1% you decrease your chance of cardiovascular disease by 2-3%, which is pretty cool. If you increase your HDL by one milligram per deciliter you decrease your chance of cardiovascular death by that same 2-3%. So if you eat well and you exercise regularly you’re on the way to preventing cardiovascular disease.

Summing UpSo let’s sum this up. LDL cholesterol is problematic. It’s not cholesterol, it’s the lipoprotein carrier. So it’s not just LDL as well, but we’ve also seen VLDL which carries the triglycerides is a big problem as well. Dietary cholesterol has little impact on blood cholesterol and your body cholesterol is controlled by a sensing mechanism. 99% of the population controls their cholesterol via exercise and diet alone. The most important thing you can do is prevent arterial damage. That is it, the most important thing you can do.


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Your Assignment

Your assignment is the same as the last lesson, get a lipid profile so you can use the equations we’ve looked at and to see where you’re at. If you know you’re eating a healthy diet but your numbers are out of whack, then there’s something going on that you probably need to address with your doctor. If you’re eating a healthy diet and your numbers are great, you know to keep doing what you’re doing. If you’re eating McDonalds and your cholesterol’s at 400 milligrams per deciliter and your LDL’s 150, your numbers can be a reality check so you can get yourself healthier.


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Coming in Lesson 4Okay, so coming in lesson four we’re going to switch gears. I hope this has cleared a lot of the confusion up and given you some more clarity as to what’s really going on. In the next lesson we’re going to look at how fats are processed in terms of manufacturing. The best fats and oils to choose and which to avoid. Everything you need to know about trans fats. We’ll answer the question; does eating fat make you fat? We’ll look at the impact of high or low fat diets on body composition.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson. I’ve had a blast putting it together for you. I’ve even learned a ton as I’ve put this together for you. One of the best ways to learn is to teach. So one of my goals with super nutrition academy is not only for you to improve your health and really be in control of your life but also to share this information with others. With this information, if you can teach your children, if you can teach your friends, refer back to this information and just teach them the stuff, you will get a better grasp of it yourself and that is awesome. I hope you can share this information with those you love and I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson.

MODULE #3 - Lesson 3 · We talked about the four main types of lipo-proteins. We have calomicrons...

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Transcript of MODULE #3 - Lesson 3 · We talked about the four main types of lipo-proteins. We have calomicrons...