01/18/2025
Cholesterol does not clog arteries! (Dr. Don Clum)
The idea that cholesterol floating around the inside of your arteries somehow sticks to your artery walls and builds plaque, is inaccurate.
Cholesterol plaques build in the lining of the artery, in the actual artery wall itself, not inside the actual space within the artery.
Arterial plaque contains more white blood cells than actual cholesterol, meaning this plaque buildup is an immune reaction to inflammation. This is key.
As the arterial plaque builds up, it builds from within the artery, from the base of the artery below, pushing inward.
It's sort of like an air bubble bulging outward on your car tires. The air did not accumulate from outside the tire and build that bulging bubble; it came from inside.
This is why efforts and procedures to push back the bulge, such as angioplasty, and efforts to open the artery space inside, like using stents, have not been shown to reduce heart attack risks or save lives. It is like cutting the ends of your hair to make it grow faster when it grows from the root, not the end!
This is also why statin drugs for high cholesterol can not reduce heart attack risks because all they do is stop the formation of SOME of the cholesterol in the liver where your body makes cholesterol....they do not unblock arteries, nor stop blocked arteries from forming.
Statin medications make it harder for the body to make the cholesterol it needs. If the need for cholesterol is still there, the body will take it from other sources, namely, your brain....hence the mental and cognitive decline in statin users.
This is also why attacking cholesterol in the diet by cutting foods with cholesterol will make the body work harder to either make more cholesterol in the liver or steal it from your brain or other sources.
Inflammation and cellular oxidation weaken arteries. Cholesterol and white blood cells make a transient "scar" tissue, or "patch," that strengthens arteries. Plaque builds in response to inflammation.
Like patching a bulging air bubble on your tire, if you don't want bulges and the risk of a blowout (HEART ATTACK), build STRONGER tires!
Continuing to put patch after patch on a tire and then blaming the patch for the weakness and blowout is ridiculous....but that is exactly how they medically approach cholesterol in your blood.
If you are concerned about your cholesterol, heart, and arterial health, then you need to build a stronger system. Reduce the oxidation and inflammation that are causing this whole cascade of issues and actually work to get well, not just dabble in patchwork.
Just my 2 cents, my friends.
Oh, and don't forget, the lower your cholesterol, the shorter your life span and the higher your risk for dementia and Alzheimer's.
We can do better!
