because it needs cholesterol. Memory lapses are now anecdotally linked with the
regular use of statins drugs. Statins also kill your sex drive by shutting down
your sex hormone production, and the pharmaceutical companies know it.
Cholesterol is the parent from which these hormones are made. These drugs
don’t even come with a warning that they will shut down these hormones for
life.
Oh, one more thing—statins drugs or a lowered cholesterol level can possibly
increase your risk of cancer. In the summer of 2007, researchers from Tufts
University reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that
lowering cholesterol as much as possible may reduce the risk of heart disease,
but with a price—it could raise the risk of cancer. The issue is still unsettled.
I rarely bother with my patients’ cholesterol levels unless they are greatly
elevated. Believe it or not, most cholesterol abnormalities can be corrected with
a proper diet and natural hormone supplementation (if you’re deficient), not
statins drugs.
What Is Cholesterol, and Why Do We Need It?
Cholesterol is essential for survival. It’s made in your body when glucose is
converted into a two-carbon molecule to make acetyl-Co; later, it’s fully
converted into cholesterol. Therefore, it’s naturally produced in our bodies. It is
used to make sex hormones and stabilize cell walls.
Figure 16.1: Functions of Cholesterol
• Formation and maintenance of cell membranes (helps cells resist changes
in temperature and protects and insulates nerve fibers)• Formation of sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) and
cortisol• Production of bile salts, which help digest food• Conversion into vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlightWe’ve already discussed the terms bad cholesterol and good cholesterol, but
let me explain further. Cholesterol is not soluble, so it gets around in the
bloodstream by being carried by a protein called LDL. This LDL is portrayed as