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Unhealthy cholesterol? Warning about eggs and butter lifted
For years, warnings were given about cholesterol-containing foods. A high intake of eggs, butter and co has been associated with health risks to the heart. More and more experts now point out that cholesterol in food is no health hazard.
Delete cholesterol warnings
Physicians and nutrition experts have warned for decades to ingest too much cholesterol food. Increased consumption of eggs, butter and co. Has been associated with health risks - especially for the heart. It has been considered that such foods have a negative impact on cholesterol levels and thus on the risk of stroke and heart attack. Meanwhile, more and more studies indicate that cholesterol in food is only a moderate or no health risk.
Milk and butter are no longer vilified. Image: Maksim Kostenko - fotolia Earlier in the year, experts in the US announced that the cholesterol warning for foods such as eggs and butter should be deleted. On the other hand, scientists also point out that cholesterol can be harmful. Among other things, a role is played by which type of cholesterol is absorbed. The discussions about good and bad cholesterol continue.
Consequences of an elevated cholesterol level
Cholesterol is not harmful in itself. Most of it is produced by the body itself. The problem is the LDL cholesterol ("low density lipoprotein"), also called "bad cholesterol". About every third person cholesterol is too high. The consequences of this lipid metabolism disorder can be serious. A frequent consequence of an increased cholesterol level is arteriosclerosis (arteriosclerosis). In this disease, deposits on the insides of the vessels occur, gradually reducing the diameter of the arteries until the affected area is eventually completely blocked. It can cause diseases such as coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, angina pectoris, circulatory disorders and renal insufficiency.
Diet or medication
At high cholesterol levels, a change in diet is usually recommended. If this is not enough, cholesterol-lowering medications are often prescribed. However, some health experts say it is not useful for all patients to lower cholesterol levels. Although cholesterol is sometimes bad for the heart, it is also a building material for the synapses, those junctions that ensure that the billions of nerve cells in the brain can meaningfully connect. As reported by "Welt" online, individuals who start taking statins or other cholesterol-lowering drugs "have nearly four times as many memory dysfunctions the next month as those who do not lower their cholesterol levels." The more "the cholesterol-lowering effect of a drug, the more the brain suffers". Some medications can cause side effects such as attention and perception disorders as well as mental confusion.
Lower cholesterol not in all patients
According to the newspaper, the Danish physician Uffe Ravnskov has long been warning against lowering cholesterol in all patients. This would do more harm than good. "50 percent of people who have a heart attack have high cholesterol," says Ravnskov, who set up an international research network of cholesterol skeptics years ago. "The other half has low cholesterol and yet atherosclerosis." Although blood lipid levels are normal, their vessels stick together. Although it is undisputed that cholesterol-lowering drugs actually displace the fat from the vessels. "But whether this also leads to a reduction in heart attack risk, is not at all safe."
Consider various factors
This skepticism is confirmed by a recent study by the independent research network Cochrane Collaboration. "If 1000 people take a statin for five years, 18 will avoid a heart attack," says the scientists. According to the research, it usually makes no sense to prescribe a statin or a comparable remedy. According to Nikolaus Marx of the German Society of Cardiology, before each prescription "other factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, age, gender and a possible family predisposition, must be taken into account".
Reduce the risk of a second infarction
Despite all criticism, it is also pointed out that statins are indeed effective and necessary - but only for a group of patients: In people who have already suffered a heart attack, statins reduce the risk of a second infarction. "We should not further confuse these patients," said Jonathan Schertzer of McMaster University, Ontario, "but work to improve the medication." The Canadian biochemist and his team have succeeded in defusing the insulin-inhibiting effect of statins with a kind of urea sheath. In addition, a change in diet could increase the effectiveness of the medication and reduce side effects. He advises in this context to a Japanese-inspired food, with plenty of green tea and fish.
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