The myth that lowering cholesterol with statin drugs will prolong a person's life is harder to kill than the proverbial cat with nine lives. Despite more than 900 studies proving the opposite, statins live on.

Some 36 million customers ingest these inefficacious and dangerous chemical cure-alls every day. New guidelines issued by the American Heart Association could double that to 72 million.

But cholesterol is far from a villain; it is vital for life, all life. It is an essential ingredient in cell membranes, hormones, some vitamins, and necessary for digestion. Cholesterol is crucial for neurological function. Twenty-five percent of the body's cholesterol is concentrated in a three-pound organ called the brain.

On the other hand, statin drugs cause nerve damage, dizziness, cognitive impairment, increased risk of cancer, decreased function of the immune system, depression, liver problems, chronic fatigue, thyroid disruption, diabetes, high blood pressure, and birth defects, to cite a few of their side effects.

So how did cholesterol end up wearing the black hat and statins sporting the white? The role reversal started about 60 years ago.

In response to mounting deaths from heart attacks, a number of studies were done to determine the cause of this growing epidemic. Many of them pointed an accusing finger at two culprits: cholesterol and saturated fats, that is, fats that are solid at room temperature. Ergo, eliminating these causative agents from the diet will decrease mortality.

Foods which were once consumed with relish, in a society relatively free of heart disease in 1900, were now demonized by the government and the medical establishment in 1950. Whole milk, cheese, red meat, butter, coconut butter, saturated fats, and those real bad boys of artery-clogging foods, eggs, were castigated. Recommended replacements were skim milk, low-fat cheese, lean red meat, margarine, unsaturated fats, grains, and a commercial egg substitute.

Simple. Only it didn't work. Today we are the fattest nation on the planet with heart attacks at a record number. Just look at the numbers of deaths in the U.S. caused by heart failure, measured in units of 100,000:

In 1900, it was 15/100,000. Heart disease and obesity were rare. In 1950 it increased to 400. Fifty years later it was 600. And in 2010, it was a record 746/100,000.

The cholesterol myth gained traction in the 1970s with the advent of statin drugs. Since then manufacturing cholesterol lowering pharmaceuticals has mushroomed into a Fortune 500 $31-billion-a-year business. “Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel.”

But how could decreasing dietary cholesterol, eliminating saturated fats, and taking Lipitor, Atorvastatin, or Zocor, be such dismal failures at preventing heart fatalities?

The body tightly regulates the amount of cholesterol circulating in the blood. If a person's cholesterol is too low or too high, the body will manufacture more or less cholesterol in response.

“There is no convincing evidence to link an increased intake of dietary cholesterol or eggs with coronary heart disease,” said Dr. Bruce Griffin, professor of nutritional metabolism at Surrey University, UK, an authority in lipid metabolism and cardiovascular disease.

So skip the yolk-less omelets. Eggs, especially the yolks, are powerhouses of nutrition. They are packed with B vitamins and choline, a nutrient deficient in 90 percent of Americans. But don't overcook them; the yolk should still be liquid.

But what, then, is the real cause of rampart heart disease and ballooning obesity? No, it's not a lack of Lipitor or its chemical cohorts. It was something that was added to our diet that increased in lockstep with heart disease and obesity and that something was sugar.

Here's why. Sugar, and grains, too, are digested easily and enter the blood stream quickly. In response to an overload of sugar, the body secretes insulin to clear the blood of excess sugar.

In time, the body will need more and more insulin to do its job. It's called insulin resistance; a precursor to diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart diseases, and premature death.

So cut way back on sugar and carbs. Consume more vegetables, nuts, seeds, and healthful fats such as butter, coconut butter, cheese, avocados, and grass-fed beef. Have oily fish more often. Salmon and sardines are loaded with beneficial omega 3 fats. Take a brisk walk daily, avoid stress, get sufficient sleep, and eat your way to a ideal blood lipid profile.

Bon appétit.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA