Low cholesterol associated with increased mortality risk, too low can be dangerous

Have you been told or have you read that the more you lower your cholesterol the better off you are?
You may also have heard that having high cholesterol is healthy. So what is correct?

More and more research documents that it may be dangerous to lower your cholesterol too much, but the reviewed research is shedding some light on this (Bae J M et al. 2012).

Screenings from 12,740 adults between the ages of 40 and 69 years were included in the study, and they were followed from 1993 to 2008. The results were probably surprising to a lot of people.

Cholesterol below 160 mg/dl as well as above 240 mg/dl was associated with higher cardiovascular disease mortality. As with many physiological functions the risk ratio has a U-formed curve.

Both too little and too much is not good, it needs to be between certain levels.

Cholesterol has often been presented as a bad thing we would be better off without.

That could not be further from the truth. Cholesterol is necessary for many functions; the body makes it for a reason.

Eating more nuts, seeds and olive oil and less high glycemic index carbohydrates would help to keep your cholesterol in a healthy range.

Bae JM¹, Yang YJ, Li ZM, Ahn YO. Low cholesterol is associated with mortality from cardiovascular diseases: a dynamic cohort study in Korean adults. J Korean Med Sci. 2012 Jan;27(1):58-63. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2012.27.1.58. Epub 2011 Dec 19.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.