Diet Causes High Cholesterol

     I've recently been told by a number of people that their doctors had told them that they probably had a family predisposition for high cholesterol or hereditary high cholesterol, and then their doctor had suggested they take a statin drug to lower their cholesterol.  In the United States people that have a genetic predisposition for having high cholesterol make up only 1/2 of 1% of the population or approximately 1.6 million people, but the number of people with high cholesterol in the United States is around 33% of the population or 107 million people, and around 35 million Americans currently take a statin drug to lower cholesterol, but 98% of everyone with high cholesterol in America could lower their own cholesterol by eating fewer animal products like meat, dairy and eggs.

     If all doctors are telling all of their patients with high cholesterol that they probably have a genetic predisposition or hereditary high cholesterol to get them to take statin drugs, isn't that some form of malpractice, or at least breaking the Hippocratic oath?  Genetic tests exist for around $250 that identify between 60% and 80% of the people that have familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), an inherited genetic disorder that can keep the body from ridding itself of excess cholesterol.  Without this test first, doctors should not be telling everyone with high cholesterol that they may have a genetic predisposition, or hereditary high cholesterol, instead they should be suggesting dietary changes.

     The United States has factory farming and subsidized meat, dairy, and eggs, because the government will often pay for the water for such farms.  There are no government subsidies in Australia, and the cost of these items are 2 to 3 times as expensive as they are in the United States, making the United States the top consumer of animal products on the planet per person simply because animal products are abundant and cheap.  Americans like to eat some kind of meat with every meal, whether it's beef, pork, chicken or fish, and Americans eat lots of cheese, yogurt and eggs as well, and because of this and nothing else 1/3 of Americans have high cholesterol.

     Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is produced by the human liver, about 1 gram of cholesterol is produced everyday, and it is used to line the veins and arteries to keep blood from leaking out.  No additional cholesterol is needed for this purpose, but there is also something called dietary cholesterol that comes from animal products exclusively, so a vegan or somebody that eats an entirely plant-based diet will consume no dietary cholesterol.  The human liver can sense the presence of dietary cholesterol and will reduce the amount of cholesterol produced in the liver, but it can only decrease cholesterol production by around 300 mg of cholesterol per day, about the dietary cholesterol found in one egg, or 3.5 ounces of shrimp.  If you consume a two egg omelet with cheese and meat, the omelet alone will have over 600 mg of cholesterol, and anything over 300 mg of dietary cholesterol per day will end up forming a thick layer on the inside of your veins and arteries, causing high blood pressure and high cholesterol numbers.  All animal products contain dietary cholesterol, and 105 million Americans simply consume far too much meat, dairy and eggs, which causes them to have high cholesterol.

     I googled which country eats the least meat on the planet, the answer was Bangladesh, and in Bangladesh if you take all of the people with borderline and high cholesterol which is comparable to how the U.S. defines high cholesterol, the total is 7% of their population, compared to the United States, which I will assert is the meat eatingest country on the planet, where the amount of people with high cholesterol is 33% of our population, all due to eating more meat, dairy and eggs then in Bangladesh.

     Statin drugs are a massive worldwide business, making nearly 19 billion dollars per year for the drug companies, and without insurance statin drugs cost Americans between $50 and $600 a month, and they do have side effects.  According to the National Health System of Great Britain, potential side effects of statin drugs include, "inflammation of the liver (hepatitis), which can cause flu-like symptoms; inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which can cause stomach pain; skin problems, such as acne or an itchy red rash; sexual problems, such as loss of libido (reduced sex drive) or erectile dysfunction."  And according to the National institutes of Health in the United States, the incidence of liver damage from long-term use of statin drugs is estimated to be 1%.

     It is stupid to be telling everyone with high cholesterol that they probably have a hereditary or genetic predisposition for having high cholesterol, instead of just telling them to eat less meat dairy and eggs.

     You don't have to eat like a vegan all the time, you just can't eat animal products with every meal.  The solution for 98% of everyone with high cholesterol, which is over 105 million people in America, is to just eat less meat, dairy and eggs.  An example of this is the Presidential Diet, eaten by at least three different presidents and cooked by the White House Chef at the time, it consists of yogurt with granola and fruit for breakfast, something vegan for lunch, and then only 2 oz of meat with dinner, this maintains protein levels between 13% and 15% of the diet, and limits dietary cholesterol, or you can avoid all dairy and eggs and just eat one 3.5 oz or 100 g serving of meat per day.

     There are many ways to limit dietary cholesterol, I wrote two books that have applicable diets with lots of other options, both Protecting Your Family With Food, and Macro 4:1:1 For Life have diets that will lower cholesterol without drugs for anyone that does not have familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), including 105 million Americans with high cholesterol, and 33 million Americans that are currently taking statin drugs, when they could be lowering their own cholesterol without drugs simply by eating less meat, dairy and eggs.