Despite what we are told, cholesterol does not cause heart disease. This statement may come as a surprise to many people, but a huge body of scientific evidence exists to show that we are being made to worry about cholesterol unnecessarily.
There are a number of fundamental flaws associated with the idea that cholesterol causes heart disease. These include:
- No connection at all between a raised cholesterol level and heart disease. For example, official data from the World Health Organisation shows that the average cholesterol level in the United Kingdom is low when compared with other countries. Despite this, the United Kingdom has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the world.
Average Cholesterol Levels in Various Countries:
- The fact that cholesterol levels have been falling for decades in developed countries that continue to have the highest rates of heart disease. For example, the table below contains the official data for England:
- The fact that a 'high' cholesterol level is, in most cases, just a normal cholesterol level for that individual person. For example, the Framingham Study is the largest study ever done on cholesterol levels. In this study it was found that cholesterol naturally varies from 105 mg/dl (2.8 mmol/l) to 343 mg/dl (8.8 mmol/l) in healthy people without heart disease!
