The Nutritional Essentials – High Cholesterol Myths and Truths

LiveIt! Lifestyle Lesson 21


Scott T. Damanti, DC
1171 NE Cleveland Street
Clearwater, FL 33755
(727)-447-6442

From the Pen of
Dr. Royal Lee

(1895-1967) Inventor, Scientist, Genius, Founder of Standard Process, Inc.

“It is now an accepted fact that unsaturated fatty acids in the diet produce a beneficial influence by acting to lower elevated blood cholesterol levels, . . . This simple biochemical fact has been difficult for test-tubeminded investigators to accept. In spite of the unsaturated fatty acids’ consistent pattern for lower(ing) cholesterol. Especially natural flaxseed oil.” 1959 Dr. Royal Lee


A Partial List of Conditions Related to Nutritional Deficiencies
Allergies – Hay Fever
Ankle Swelling
Arthritis
Back Pain
Blood pressure – High or
Low
Bronchial Conditions
Bursitis
Circulation, Poor
Colitis
Colon, Spastic
Constipation
Cough, Chronic/Allergic
Diarrhea
Disc Problems
Diverticulitis
Dizziness (Vertigo)
Emphysema
Fatigue, Chronic
Feet, Cold or Burning
Feminine Problems
Gall Bladder Disorders
Gas
Glandular Troubles
Headaches
Heart, Fast or “Nervous”
Hemorrhoids
Impotence
Injuries to Soft Tissues
Insomnia
Joint Pain
Kidney Problems
Knee Pains, Chronic Leg
Pains, Cramps, Tingling,
Numbness
Liver Problems
Nervousness
Neuralgia
Prostate Trouble
Sciatica
Shingles
Sinus Trouble
Throat, Sore / Hoarse /
Congested
Thyroid Conditions
Ulcers — Stomach,
Duodenum, Skin
Yeast Infections

High Cholesterol Myths and Truths

Hardly an hour of TV passes or
ten pages of any magazine
are turned without hearing or
reading something about a drug or a
diet which reduces blood cholesterol.

Is cholesterol really that bad?
How could a natural substance produced in our bodies as a basic building block of every cell as well as the hormone system and nervous system cause us so much trouble?

Cholesterol Facts

  • Cholesterol is an essential fat made by the body which is vital to the healthy structure and function of cell membranes.
  • Cholesterol enables binding of essential proteins in cell walls and assists in the transport of nutritional essentials in and out of the cells.
  • Cholesterol is transported by LDL to the tissues that require cholesterol to maintain healthy function and returned by HDL for use and removal by the liver.
  • Cholesterol returned to the liver is involved in the creation of hormones and excreted in the bile to the benefit of bowel pH and improved colon functions.
  • Cholesterol is thought to be protective against infections and atherosclerosis.

Cholesterol Myths

  1. High cholesterol is the cause of heart disease.
  2. High cholesterol is the cause of atherosclerosis – hardening and clogging of the arteries.
  3. High cholesterol is caused by eating foods high in cholesterol.
  4. Lowering cholesterol with drugs is safer than having high cholesterol.

Who gains from Cholesterol Myths?

Companies who patent low fat “foods” and create medicines designed to lower cholesterol levels profit from distorting the truth.

We need to clear our heads of these cholesterol myths and look at the facts.

Myth One – Cholesterol is the Cause of Heart Disease

Researchers find that high cholesterol is
“present” in cases of heart disease nearly as often as high cholesterol is found in patients with no heart disease.1 Research also indicates that high cholesterol in old age is actually linked to a longer life.2 Heart disease is more often directly linked with diet and lifestyle choices and NOT with high cholesterol in the bloodstream.

Myth Two – High Cholesterol is the cause of Atherosclerosis.

Studies show little or no evidence that
atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries is caused by high cholesterol. 3,4,5,6,7 In fact, when comparing signs of atherosclerotic plaquing of the aorta with the average blood cholesterol levels of Japanese (170) to Americans (220) there was no notable difference in this Harvard Medical School study.8 In another study using over 1400 Japanese and 5000 Americans it was found that in all age groups Japanese people were more atherosclerotic than Americans even though they had much lower cholesterol levels.9 High cholesterol is not likely linked with hardening of the arteries.”10

Healthy Cholesterol Levels & Nutritional Essentials

Myth Three – High Cholesterol is caused by
eating foods high in cholesterol.

Tens of thousands of people from dozens of different countries
have been tested in peer reviewed published research projects
studying the effects of diet on blood cholesterol. No significant
association of blood cholesterol levels to diet was noted in
any of them except when artificial fats (margarine) and high
sugar were consumed.11
Dozens of independent researchers found no significant
benefit in lowering cholesterol in the diet.

Myth Four – Lowering Cholesterol with Drugs
is Safer than High Cholesterol.

A foundational principle of The Nutritional Essentials is “nature
knows better.” Give the body the wholesome food it needs in
a stress-free environment and it can heal itself. To go into the
health risks of interrupting normal biochemical pathways in
this TNE-Issue is impossible due to its length. It is common
sense to say interrupting biochemical pathways is a last resort,
yet we are told by the pharmaceutical companies that living
on statin drugs are safer than high cholesterol! The risks of
statin drugs far outweigh the benefits.
While statins inhibit the production of cholesterol, statins also
inhibit other substances with important biological functions
such as antioxidation (See TNE-18) and the appropriate
clotting of blood (See TNE-19). Additionally, statins reduce
the activity of smooth muscles.12 Each of these functions
inhibited by statins are essential to healthy function.

Healthy Cholesterol Levels and The Nutritional
Essentials

Lifestyle choices are the key to healthy body and cholesterol
levels. Stress, refined sugar (See TNE-11), hydrogenated and
transfat (See TNE-4), toxic overload on the liver (See TNE-6), B
Complex (See TNE-12) and antioxidant deficiencies (See TNE-
18) all lead to heart, vascular and liver disease.

If you are concerned about cholesterol levels – focus
on eating whole foods and whole food concentrates
as follows:

  • Include healthy oils in your food plan, especially Omega 3 oils like flaxseed oil (Linum B6) and healthy fish oil.
  • Include foods rich in iodine for healthy metabolism of fats.
  • Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits for vitamin complexes, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. (See TNE 1 &18)
  • Avoid unhealthful, unnatural “foods” like processed flour, sugar, oils and margarine and junk “foods.” Avoid fake “fats”!
  • Take the Sugar Challenge! (See TNE 11)
  • Support your healthy life with whole food concentrates from Standard Process.

Ask me which Whole Food Concentrates might be right for you!


  1. Ravnskov U. An elevated serum cholesterol is secondary, not causal, in coronary heart disease. Medical Hypotheses 1991;36:238-41.
  2. Krumholz HM and others. Lack of association between cholesterol and coronary heart disease mortality
    and morbidity and all-cause mortality in persons older than 70 years. Journal of the American Medical
    Association 272, 1335-1340, 1990.
  3. Paterson JC, Armstrong R, Armstrong EC. Serum lipid levels and the severity of coronary and cerebral
    atherosclerosis in adequately nourished men, 60 to 69 years of age. Circulation 1963;27:229-236.
  4. Mathur KS, and others. Serum cholesterol and atherosclerosis in man. Circulation 1961;23:847-852.
  5. Marek Z, Jaegermann K, Ciba T. Atherosclerosis and levels of serum cholesterol in postmortem
    investigations. American Heart Journal 1962;63: 768-774.
  6. Méndez J, Tejada C. Relationship between serum lipids and aortic atherosclerotic lesions in sudden
    accidental deaths in Guatemala City. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1967;20:1113-1117.
  7. Cabin HS, Roberts WC. Relation of serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels to the amount and
    extent of coronary arterial narrowing by atherosclerotic plaque in coronary heart disease. American
    Journal of Medicine 1982;73:227-234.
  8. Gore I, Hirst AE, Koseki Y. Comparison of aortic atherosclerosis in the United States, Japan, and
    Guatemala. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1959;7:50-54.
  9. Resch JA, Okabe N, Kimoto K. Cerebral atherosclerosis. Geriatrics 1969;November:111-132.
  10. U. Ravnskov. Is atherosclerosis caused by high cholesterol? published in Quarterly Journal of Medicine
    (2002; 95:397–403)
  11. Kroneld R, and others. Hälsobeteende och riskfaktorer för hjärt- och kärlsjukdomar i östra och sydvästra
    Finland. Suomen Lääkärilehti 1990;45:735-739.
  12. Ravnskov U. Implications of 4S evidence on baseline lipid levels. The Lancet 1995;346:181.
  13. Q J Med 2003; 96: 927-934 U. Ravnskov High cholesterol may protect against infections and
    atherosclerosis.

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products
are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. They are to support your health.


This LiveIt! Lifestyle Lesson is brought to you by:

Natural Health Improvement Center
Scott T. Damanti, DC

1171 NE Cleveland Street
Clearwater, FL 33755
(727)-447-6442

Share this Information with a friend – Thank You!

What Did You Learn?

High cholesterol is a consequence in an unhealthy person

High cholesterol does not cause disease but is present in certain disease conditions.1 The facts support the concept that cholesterol has a healing effect and is elevated when needed by the body to effect a change.

Drugs recommended to reduce cholesterol interrupt normal physiology and are laden with serious side effects.

Following LiveIt! Lifestyle, helps prevent high cholesterol.