The body controls 'cholesterol levels' - actually the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) through the action of LDL receptors in the liver. If the LDL level rises, LDL receptors on the liver catch hold of it, drag it back into the liver and recycle the cholesterol contained within the LDL.

If you have a lack of LDL receptors - the underlying cause of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) - your LDL/cholesterol level will rise. Not, because of anything you eat. In fact, despite anything you eat. In short, the body normally controls LDL/cholesterol levels within certain levels, completely independent of diet. If this system fails, it has nothing whatsoever to do with what you eat. It is entirely due to errors within your homeostatic system. It is as simple at that.

Cholesterol is perhaps the most important biochemical in our bodies. The true cause of heart attacks and strokes is a form of inflammation. For the past 40 years our dietary guidelines have been wrong. Is anyone coming out with an apology for all this - some words from our national leadership? Don't hold your breath while you are waiting.

What this really means is that the entire dietary fiasco from the fifties that has guided our national diet for decades has been proven false. The restrictions on butter, whole milk and eggs no longer applies. If my grandmother still were alive she would say, "I told you so."



No one at the American Medical Association, American Heart Association or FDA is going to say this but, trust me, "One egg a day gets the okay" is the best they can do after their forty year investment in the wrong dietary counsel.



Big Pharma alone has made some 75 billion in profits from the use of statins to lower cholesterol and the food industry has taken its share as well. Doctors are guilty by not asking more questions. They are supposed to be highly educated leaders in the community, not passive followers.

Meanwhile the game has changed. Statins work to lower cardiovascular risk not by cholesterol reduction, which they do well, but by inflammation reduction. The same doctors who put you on statins for cholesterol reduction are keeping you on statins for their anti-inflammatory properties, but testing your blood for cholesterol? Forget about it!

From now on we should be using the C-reactive protein test for the level of inflammation in your bloodstream.

Malcolm Kendrick, M.D.

Dr. Kendrick has worked in family practice for twenty years.

He has specialized in heart disease and set up the on-line educational website for the European Society of Cardiology.

He is a peer-reviewer for the British Medical Journal.

Duane Graveline MD MPH

Former USAF Flight Surgeon

Former NASA Astronaut

Retired Family Doctor



Updated January 2016

