Why Cholesterol is Essential for Optimal Health

There's some serious confusion about cholesterol, and whether high cholesterol levels are responsible for heart disease.

Chris Masterjohn, who recently received his PhD in nutritional sciences from the University of Connecticut, has published five peer-reviewed papers on vitamins and supplementation, and he's currently researching fat-soluble supplements – A, D, and K – at the University of Illinois. (Please note that the opinions expressed here represent Dr. Masterjohn's own positions, and may not represent the position of the University of Illinois.)

He also maintains a blog, The Daily Lipid1, and his website, Cholesterol-And-Health.com2, which are dedicated to the issue of cholesterol. He's also active with the Weston A. Price Foundation. Cholesterol has been demonized since the early 1950's, following the popularization of Ancel Keys' flawed research. As a result, people now spend tens of billions of dollars on cholesterol-reducing drugs each year, thinking they have to lower this "dangerous" molecule lest they keel over from a heart attack.

As a testament to the power of this incredibly effective marketing system, Lipitor was the number one selling drug for 2011. This also reveals why challenging this belief system is met by such intense resistance. There are very powerful, financially-motivated forces backing the continued belief in the cholesterol myth.