and less butter had the highest numbers of heart attacks. Further studies revealed that heart attack patients
had consumed the least amounts of animal fats.
In this context, it is important to differentiate between processed and unprocessed fats. It has been
discovered that people who died from a heart attack were found to have many more of the harmful fatty
acids derived from the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in their fat tissue than those who survived.
These so-called "faulty" fats (trans-fatty acids) envelop and congest the membranes of cells, including
those that make up the heart and coronary arteries. This practically starves the cells of oxygen, nutrients,
and water, and eventually kills them. In another more comprehensive study, 85,000 nurses working in
American hospitals observed a higher risk for heart disease in patients who consumed margarine, crisps,
potato chips, biscuits, cookies, cakes, and white bread, all of which contain trans fats.
Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53 percent over eating the same amount of
butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study. While actually increasing LDL cholesterol,
margarine lowers the beneficial HDL cholesterol. It also increases the risk of cancers up to five times.
Margarine suppresses both the immune response and insulin response. This highly processed and artificial
product is practically resistant to destruction, being one molecule away from plastic. Flies, bacteria, fungi,
etc. won't go near it because it has no nutritional value and cannot be broken down by them. It can last for
years, not just outside the body, but inside as well. It is very apparent that eating damaged, rancid fats or
trans-fats can destroy any healthy organism and should be avoided by anyone. In 2007 New York City
banned the use of trans fats in its restaurants; however, the trans fats are merely being replaced with new
artificial fats that have the same or worse effects.
Healthy Today—Sick Tomorrow
Unfortunately, high cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) has become the dominating health concern of
the 21st century. It is actually an invented disease that doesn't show up as one. Even the healthiest people
may have elevated serum cholesterol and yet their health remains perfect. But they are instantly turned
into patients when a routine blood test reveals that they have a "cholesterol problem."
Since feeling good is actually a symptom of high cholesterol, the cholesterol issue has confused
millions of people. To be declared sick when you actually feel great is a hard nut to swallow. So it may
take a lot of effort on behalf of a practicing physician to convince his patients that they are sick and need
to take one or more expensive drugs for the rest of their lives. These healthy individuals may become
depressed when they are being told they will need to take potentially harmful drugs to lower their
cholesterol levels on a long-term, daily basis. When they also learn that they will require regular checkups
and blood tests, their worry-free, good life is now over.
These doctors cannot be blamed for the blunder of converting healthy people into patients. Behind
them stands the full force of the U.S. government, the media, the medical establishment, agencies, and of
course, the pharmaceutical companies. All of them have collaborated to create relentless pressure in
disseminating the cholesterol myth and convincing the population that high cholesterol is its number one
enemy. We are told that we need to combat it by all means possible to keep us safe from the dreadful
consequences of hypercholesterolemia.
The definition of a "healthy" level of cholesterol has been repeatedly adjusted during the past 30 years,
which certainly does not give me much confidence in a system of medicine that professes to be founded
on sound scientific principles. In the early days of measuring cholesterol levels, a person at risk was any
middle-aged man whose cholesterol was over 240 and possessed other risk factors, such as smoking or
being overweight.