bad cholesterol, even though it’s essential since it carries cholesterol to the cells
and tissues. Cholesterol is recycled back to the liver by another protein called
HDL, which is also known as good cholesterol.
The ratio of bad cholesterol to good cholesterol is more important than your
total cholesterol levels alone. In other words, if you have enough good
cholesterol to remove the bad cholesterol to be recycled, you’re fine. At times, a
glitch can happen and cholesterol stays at the surface to clog the arteries. This
may be related to a diet that’s heavy in refined carbohydrates, sugar, and trans
fats. It’s also possible that it’s related to an infectious etiology that can trigger
inflammation in the arteries. But this inflammation is not caused by eating too
much saturated fat, animal products, or cholesterolrich foods.
High cholesterol in the bloodstream is a manifestation of the body’s needs at
the time, an inflammation in the arteries, or a hormone deficiency as we grow
older. Cholesterol can be compared to firefighters who come to a burning
building to extinguish a fire. The firefighters didn’t cause the fire, they came to
extinguish it. The cholesterol comes to heal the tissues, and clogs may form.
Cholesterol by itself is not the real culprit, but when oxidized, it may clog the
arteries.
As I’ve mentioned, cholesterol becomes damaged when it’s oxidized from
your consumption of heated polyunsaturated oils, eating too much sugar, or
smoking. These things make cholesterol sticky and cause it to adhere to the
arterial walls. In the presence of a poor diet, a lethal cascade goes through the
body and turns “on” the inflammation button. You need to radically change your
diet if you want to lower your cholesterol.
Follow a HighFat/LowCarb Diet to Lower Cholesterol
I know I’ve been telling you to eat more fat all along in this book, and you may
be wondering about your cholesterol level on the Perfect 10 Diet. It will be much
lower on the Perfect 10 Diet than on a low-fat diet. When you follow a low-
fat/highcarb diet, the metabolized sugar is converted into triglycerides.
Triglycerides are really bad components of the cholesterol profile, and a high
level is a risk factor for heart disease. Paradoxically, triglyceride levels go down
on highfat/lowcarb diets.
On the other hand, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which gets all the attention,
is not that important. It’s hard for most people to believe that a higher-fat diet is
superior to a lower-fat diet when it comes to improving cholesterol levels, but
it’s true.
You see, insulin and glucagon play a role in the synthesis of cholesterol.