Dr Zoë Harcombe, PhD: "If you held cholesterol in your hand it would be like a vanilla-colored candle had sort of melted on your hand. It's a sort of creamy-colored waxy substance. That's kind of what it looks like. The chemical formula for cholesterol is C₂₇H₄₆O […]
"First thing people need to know about cholesterol is it is so utterly life vital. I can't even use any words to describe how important it is. It is so life vital that it is not what we call an essential nutrient. You don't have to consume it. It's so important that the body makes it for you. The body is not going to leave it to chance that you're going to get it in food. It's just too important.
"It is the essence of every single cell that we've got in the body. If I were just able to go [snaps fingers], 'Magic, you've got no cholesterol in your body right now,' you would be a puddle on the floor. You would have no structure, no form, no cells, no nothing. That's how important it is.
"It's one of the most important repair tools that we've got in the body. I think if it is anything it might be a marker. I have known people say, 'Oh, my cholesterol is higher than it was at my last test.' And I'll say, 'OK, given that it's a repair tool and the body makes it, the body is making more of it right now because there's something to repair. Tell me what you think there could be to repair. Have you had an injury? Have you been overexercising? Are you particularly stressed at the moment? What's going on in your life?'
"And 19 times out of 20 they'll tell you, 'Oh yeah, I sprained my ankle,' or 'I broke my leg,' or 'I've had this chest infection that I just couldn't shift,' or whatever. They'll tell you something. And I'll say, 'OK, your body is trying to repair itself. That's why your cholesterol has gone higher.'
"I've done a whole blog on just how inaccurate the cholesterol test is. […]
"The normal distribution for cholesterol will go anywhere from 2—3 mmol/L at the low end up to double figures at the higher end. […] Even though the actual norm for cholesterol was probably around 7—8 mmol/L before we started statinating everyone, the medical industry has decreed that we're now going to call five 'high.' Now hang on. Like five is to the left of the average on the normal distribution. You're now telling me that everyone else to the right is not normal, they're high. Even people who are average you're now calling high. Now why would you do that?
"Well probably because statins are just about the most lucrative pharmaceutical until the covid jabs to come onto the market. One statin, Lipitor, made by Pfizer, last time I looked, had $279B for Pfizer. That's one statin, one company. You know, there is a massive industry in lowering cholesterol.
"I don't ever want my cholesterol lowered. I don't want it measured. I don't care what it is. It's going to be what it's going to be, because my body is going to make what it needs to repair me if I need repair.
"I would worry much more about lower cholesterol, personally, than I would about higher cholesterol, because the brain is hosting about 25% of the cholesterol in the body, which is why one of the side effects of statins is cognitive malfunction, basically. You get memory loss, mood impairment, mind disturbances or whatever. A lot of people do on statins because you've got so much cholesterol in the brain and then you go impair the production of that cholesterol. Not completely, because if you did you'd be the puddle on the floor. But statins impair enough to lower cholesterol. Your doctor's then happy, but your body isn't."
Dr Zoë Harcombe, PhD with Jerm @ 46:11—51:02 https://podbay.fm/p/jerm-warfare-the-battle-of-ideas/e/1739869806?t=2771