It’s my opinion that the majority of what you hear about cholesterol from the major news outlets is a load of crap. If I hear one more person call HDL the “good cholesterol” and LDL “bad cholesterol”, I may hurt someone. :) It’s an outdated, oversimplified view of cholesterol and heart disease that has been thoroughly disproved. Unfortunately, it may take family physicians and the nightly news another decade to acknowledge that!

So why do I think this? Is it just because I want to feel better about my current diet? Hoping that in saving myself from diabetes I’m not just going to kill myself with heart disease? Well I’d like to think I’m not that self-delusional but you never know. No! I used to buy into the lipid hypothesis but as I’ve delved deeper into understand exactly what is HDL and LDL and the latest theories on what causes heart disease, I’ve come to see that the majority of people are operating on stale data.

In an effort to once again regurgitate other people’s thoughts so that I can understand it better, I’ve added two articles to my main site.

Bio 101: HDL and LDL – This should be devoid of controversial ideas, simply going over at a high level what all these terms are when people discuss cholesterol.

Cholesterol and Heart Disease – My attempt at deductive reasoning, starting with the definition of LDL, touching on the effects of diet on LDL composition and the implications for heart disease.

Consider this “ammunition” the next time your doctor insists that your LDL is too high or that a low-carb diet will raise your triglycerides. He may not listen but at least you’ll feel more confident telling him that he needs to hit the books.