Should You Worry About High LDL Cholesterol?

Doctors fear it. Internet influencers embrace it. Consumers bet their lives on it. Is LDL cholesterol deadly or healthy?

VIDEOS:

End LDL-Cholesterol Fear Mongering: Life Insurance Companies Don't Even Care! (FACTS) By Mike Mutzel, High Intensity Health

Lipids Series: HDL Can It Be Too High? Is Treatment Available? By Iftikhar Kullo, Mayo Clinic

Addressing Abnormal HDL Levels

Unraveling the Controversy: Stanford Twin Study Explained

LIFE INSURANCE DOCUMENTS

Life Insurance Field Underwriting Guide MAY 15, 2023

MetLife Condensed Underwriting Guide May 2013

PAPERS:

Framingham Heart Study Hard Coronary Heart Disease (10-year risk)

Plasma HDL cholesterol and risk of myocardial infarction: a mendelian randomisation study

Extreme high high-density lipoprotein cholesterol is paradoxically associated with high mortality in men and women: two prospective cohort studies

Lack of an association or an inverse association between low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review

0:00 Life insurance companies and LDL
2:48 The research behind LDL
5:45 Is high HDL harmful?
7:08 The Internet and HDL
8:21 The LDL is good for you bandwagon

[tomgoff]

Your remarks about these cholesterol sceptics are very kind. I wonder how many people have had their lives cut short or had their health ruined as a result of believing these influencers.

[joeh]

Another entry for the "people love to hear good news about their bad habits" file : )

[VeganLinked]

The only thing I hate about your content is it has me repeatedly say the same thing over and over again. Man your stuff is Great! So top shelf! I just can't thank you enough for being exactly who you are 💚

[spencerprice]

I just heard my brother with very high LDL saying that since his HDL is also high, that he's good. Thanks for covering this relevant topic

[Typhoonbladefist]

Thanks for addressing the obvious survivor bias of the high LDL 60+ year old people.

I’m tired of people making money on YouTube through sensationalism and ignorance.

Thanks for not following that trend.

[xx-mm-dd]

What a treasure of a channel! I'm someone who needs to be convinced by science. I also have learned a great deal about gut health recently, and seeing your science based, open and accountable approach to every health related question is SO refreshing. I'm still an omnivore but learning to go vegan. I see the writing on the wall of my mind- the science has spoken and its up to me to either accept it or pretend it doesn't exist.


Thank you! Genuinely, this is such a wonderful resource!

[John-xkud]

Thanks for bringing some sanity to the internet. Followed you to your interview on Simon Hill and then viewed Dr Tom Dayspringer aka Dr Lipid, now there is someone that knows what they are talking about on Cholesterol. He answered all my questions and dispelled many myths. Thank!

[Drstephenstokes]

MIC DROP!!!! After many years, working in clinical practice and being part of the cholesterol does not matter bandwagon, I started getting worried about my own cholesterol when as a result of a high protein higher fat diet it got dangerously high. Back in November I switch to a vegan diet primarily because of this channel and I saw my cholesterol drop from 300 to below 150. My LDL is now at 75. Honestly, I was amazed that a change in diet. Basically eliminating animal sources would drop my cholesterol so much. This morning I watched the video in question and was thinking about giving a response since I had just published my own video on the importance of cholesterol. it is always good to see other like-minded people speaking up against this nonsense.

[VTA-SNPCA-x]

You summed up very well as usual, Chris.
Funny how LDL deniers trust statisticians and correlations only when the study in question supports their pre-established views.
And they always pull out a doctor and one or two studies to ring the bell. And meta studies that assay a carefully selected body of previous researches.

[Nicksonian]

“Plant influencers” appeal to authority. “Animal influencers” disrespect authority…except when they can craft bits and pieces of data to conform to their narrative. Plant people generally use scientific research as their authority while animal people tend to have a circular influencer authority, based on each other’s opinions. I’m not a vegan or even vegetarian but after years of searching, I’ve found Chris here, and Drs. Carvalho and Greger, to be the most credible sources on YouTube. I have yet to find a fully credible source on the other side. And the more I learn, the more laughably biased I find many of those other influencers.

[Parker_Miller_M.S.]

The evidence for cholesterol, more specifically Apo-B lipoprotein particles which contain cholesterol, causing ASCVD is so enormous and so consistent it truly is just denialism at this point. Very fortunate with a plant heavy diet and active lifestyle my non HDL cholesterol is just around 65mg/dL.

Edit: it's funny how people who are cholesterol denialists will often say Keys cherry picked his data (David Diamond), then will turn around and either cherry pick data to support their position, or completely misrepresent the data so it looks like LDL is not causing heart disease.

As always, great content Chris!

[elsmooth]

Wonderfully done video, Chris! I always enjoy your videos, and respect the fact that as a scientist you can intelligently distinguish between studies of quality, and those with a slant towards researchers getting the outcomes they desire (to satisfy whatever motivation). I can't remember who it was, but I remember reading something from a scientist that went something like, "a good scientist is one who fights like hell to prove their own theories false." I'm paraphrasing, but the spirit of the quote was one of anti-hubris...a trait we seem as a culture to be in short supply of lately

In late August of 2023 I dropped the remainder of my animal product intake (last thing to go were the eggs from my hens). Looking at my last 4 readings as an omnivore and my first 4 readings as a full herbivore, my average total cholesterol went from 192 to 162. These are all from blood donation readings...soon I'll be getting my full workup so I'm excited to see the breakout. I'm a 44 year old male, 5'7, 119 lbs (been over 200 twice in my life...yikes), avg bp of 114/64, avg resting heart rate of 56, and active on my property from sun up to sun down, with some time set aside for the gym.

From this point on, I'm gonna roll the dice in favor of full time plant consumption (for many reasons which include my health...plus I'm growing a load of fruit and veg, so it's a solid closed-loop system). Now I'm just a personal case study (low form of evidence), and of course have my own bias now based upon my experience, but eating WFBP and being fibered up like crazy seems to have helped me to level up my wellness, and I would encourage those who are plant-curious to take an informed step forward if they're looking to level up their health and wellness, too.

Thanks again for all the work that you do in bringing high quality content to this platform! Wishing you and your loved ones all the best.

[SALVATlN]

The only thing I would have added was a note about actuaries and insurance companies and how they're pulling out of areas of the country with climate change most prevalent. Surely if you believe in actuaries then you must be greatly concerned about climate change.

[davidhogg]

Mike, so focussed on his berber snake potion reads what he wants to read as long as it bolsters his product sales.

[Patricia-lzzo]

Thank you for this. My cardiologist freaked when my "good" cholesterol was too high. He said, it works against you when too high. Signal of something being amiss.

[chuckv]

Thanks again for the help you’re trying to provide

[Bbarfo]

I quit statins two years ago. I eat low carb/low sugar foods with intermittent fasting every day. Not seed oils or processed foods, including processed plant-based products. Plenty of eggs and beef in my diet. A moderate number of vegetables and a little fish. I'm 64 and weigh the same as at age 20. Total Cholesterol 304, HDL 95, LDL 189 and Trig 85. CRP is 0.02, Glucose is 85 A1C 4.9. CAC score at age 62 was 32. No worries. The saying goes, "is cholesterol the arsonist or the fireman?" Cut the sugar, lose weight stay off plant based processed soy garbage and you'll be fine.

[susanniemann]

I just recently discovered your fabulous channel and look forward to viewing all of your videos and look forward to new ones!!! Thanks for the science!

[mariacallas]

As much as i admire and love your work, it is as the same time truly depressing how much it’s needed.

[liamtaylor]

Thank you for mentioning the difference between appeal to authority and appeal to expertise.