Some of the real causes of the heart disease are

• Inflammation
• Problems with Nitric Oxide Production
  
• Lack of Collagen Integrity
• Inadequate Methylation and High Homocysteine Levels
• Oxidative Damage
• High Sugar Diet
• Insulin Resistance
• Improper Digestion
• Poor Liver Function
• Imbalanced Omega 6 to Omega 3 Ratio
• Trans Fats and Hydrogenated Oils

It may be surprising to see that cholesterol may not even figure in one of them. Total obsession and unwarranted fixation on cholesterol as the main cause of the heart disease for several decades side tracked the whole set of issues that need more attention to build a healthy life style for the humanity. Cholesterol is a life sustaining substance, forms part of the cellular membrane, is the basic raw material for all the hormones, is used for repair and rebuilding and Vitamin D is made from it. Almost 80% of the cholesterol is manufactured by the liver, so one can see the importance of it. While cholesterol in itself may not be a culprit, an oxidized cholesterol can initiate the damage, but oxidative injury is not just limited to cholesterol alone, but to all components of the body.

Cholesterol is C₂₇H₄₅OH with a hydroxyl group, four hydrocarbon rings and a hydrocarbon tail. Cholesterol is an alcohol because of its hydroxyl group (Ethanol is C₂H₅OH) and is a steroid because of its four ring structure making it a sterol in the end. Cholesterol is a fat like waxy substance to which liver mixes lipoproteins called VLDL (very low-density lipoproteins) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) to make it mix in blood for circulation. VLDL becomes LDL in the bloodstream. In addition to producing cholesterol, liver also clears cholesterol through receptors and this clearing can get into issues if the liver is congested when regular flushing is not happening properly. Liver also participates in a feedback loop to adjust its production of cholesterol if there is excess dietary cholesterol coming in. As per the flawed theory of heart disease, cholesterol combines with cellular waste products, calcium, fibrin etc. and deposits itself on the surface of the artery walls there by constricting them and an increase in cholesterol can pose bigger threat. This theory fails to explain why there are no extensive blockages all over the body if there is an excess of cholesterol.

A sensible analysis of the problem of why heart disease occurs in the first place does not have much of a role for cholesterol. Arteries near the heart are mechanically strained every second by contracting and expanding and have high amounts of muscle tissues to meet this mechanical stress, which is not the case with rest of the veins in the body. A lot of things can go wrong with arteries making them injured and inflammed. Body uses cholesterol to patch the injury sites as a means to save our lives without which we would be bled to death internally without even knowing it. Cholesterol in fact is a savior of sorts. A high cholesterol itself is not the issue here. The injury process of the arterial wall is the main issue in heart disease and not the high cholesterol by itself. There are no short cuts to fixing heart disease by just taking cholesterol lowering pills. Though statins may be useful because of their anti inflammatory component to a certain extent but not because of their cholesterol lowering effect, there are several other much safer ways to achieve anti inflammatory benefits. Unless arterial wall injury process is addressed in a comprehensive fashion by taking several healthy steps as outlined in the beginning of this post, true relief from heart disease cannot be obtained.

Rest of the posts in this series will take a comprehensive look at addressing the real causes of heart disease as outlined at the beginning of this post.

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