Free Your Heart of Cholesterol Worry

I love writing for Home Cures That Work. Why? Because I am confident that we do our best to demystify the confusion surrounding many of today’s common illnesses. Cholesterol is no exception.

Here in America, heart disease is still the number one killer; it accounts for one in four deaths.[1] This statistic remains unchanged, even with:

• Billions of dollars spent on research
• Countless clinical trials
• Over-hyped medications
• Strict dietary restrictions

It seems to me that if we continue doing the same thing with little to no change, then shouldn’t we be trying something else? After all, this is the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

For decades, Big Pharma has told us that saturated fats, like butter, are BAD. Yet Time magazine recently recommended that we eat butter![2] Maybe it is time for a change!

Most of us grew up being told that foods like butter, red meat, eggs and bacon raise our cholesterol levels. Doctors have demonized cholesterol and created a one-size-fits-all “safe” level of cholesterol. But they don’t think twice about taking into account an individual’s constitution or heredity.

Let me use myself for an example! If you were to meet me, you would never guess my age. I have blood pressure and heart markers that of a teenager. Even though my family has always had elevated cholesterol levels, there is no family history of heart disease.

But what if I ignored my robust health and followed the guidelines of the American Heart Association for elevated cholesterol levels? [3] I would be on statin drugs to lower my cholesterol!

If you research statins, then you will be shocked to discover that they are linked to:

• Diabetes
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Arthritis
• And a host of other degenerative conditions

Brain Drain

Just this afternoon, my mom called me because of a commercial she had seen that made her laugh. Inspired by Snow White, it featured a woman gazing into the mirror saying, “Mirror, mirror on the wall…Why am I so fat?” The answer: We equate eating fat with getting fat. We are afraid of fat!

As long as the medical world condemns cholesterol and fats as evil, and continues to scare you into removing them from your diet, another very important part of your body will pay the price…your brain!

Your brain is primarily made of fat and cholesterol. The bulk of the fatty acids in your brain are actually saturated.[4] A diet that skimps on healthy saturated fat robs your brain of the raw materials it needs to function optimally.

Is it any wonder that statins, which dramatically lower your cholesterol, are linked to Alzheimer’s disease? Since statins hit the market, Alzheimer’s diagnosis has spiked.[5]

Searching online for “How much of the brain is saturated fat?” would lead you to an excellent article by Dr. Mercola explaining why saturated fats are essential.[6] Yet right below Mercola’s article, WebMD would tell you just the opposite! It’s no wonder that the public is so confused, misinformed, and afraid…Who do you believe?

Unfortunately, innocent and unsuspecting people fall prey to the professionals they trust for their health and well-being.

They tell you that you must lower your cholesterol and shun saturated fats. But saturated fat is imperative to brain health! This is outrageous! A recent Mayo Clinic study found that those individuals consuming the most saturated fat experienced a 36% reduction in risk for developing dementia.[7]

Doctors blindly enforce an impractical theory that adheres to the same stringent health markers across the board. But isn’t every single person different and deserve individual attention? I know this may sound a bit harsh, but it is a trifle maddening.

Where is our common sense? Health is not an issue of “all or nothing at all.” It is about balance.

Obviously, we don’t need to seek out more saturated fats. Yet we should also not obsess about removing them from our diets either.

Our family has been blessed to have three centenarians. They lived with sharp minds and healthy hearts past a hundred years of age. Wouldn’t common sense tell you that you could learn a lot more from someone who outlived all his or her physicians?

Years ago, on a visit with my Grandma, she shared some pearls of wisdom on our last drive together. Though there were no signs that she was slowing down, Grandma said,

“Dear, remember, don’t eat more than you need. If you want it sweet, use a little sugar. If it’s too bland, add a little salt. Don’t use any artificial things. You know, some day they’ll come up with fat-free potato chips, don’t eat them.

And don’t worry so much, dear. You are the most talented young man in the world. Everything will always work out for you.”

Amazingly, two years after Grandma went home to be with the Lord, Procter and Gamble invented Olean. Olean was used to create fat-free, cholesterol-free potato chips that literally caused irreversible intestinal issues and was banned as a toxic substance.

Thank you, Grandma, for everything. My Grandma’s generation didn’t use the Food Pyramid. They simply employed common sense, a limited commodity in today’s culture.

When it comes down to it, we all want to live a long, healthy life. We are brought up our whole life surrounded by guidelines that help us get to where we want to go. But if these guidelines are incorrect, they lead us in a direction we don’t want to go.

We cannot sit around and allow people to be pointed in the direction of poor health. Let the statistics in this article shock you and open your eyes. Don’t become a statistic. I for one want to be one who eats healthy, exercises and has a healthy heart.

A Healthy Heart is Free of Worry

But is a healthy heart merely a byproduct of what we eat? I don’t believe so!

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?”Matthew 6:3

The key word here is worry. Natural health and medical practitioners agree that stress is a killer. Stress is the nemesis of a healthy heart.

If you knew that your needs would be taken care of and that there was NEVER a reason to worry about anything, how would that make you feel?

Here is the rest of the story in Matthew 6.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

I don’t have to tell you that life has its share of troubles. Just watch the news: countries at war, civil unrest, economic instability, and racial tension. Trouble is difficult to ignore.

Interestingly enough, the Bible predicted a time that would be hauntingly similar to what we’re experiencing today. It goes on to say, “Men’s hearts would fail them for fear.” Luke 21:26

But, there is a way to live at peace in the midst of turbulence and keep your heart and mind intact. Invite Jesus to live in your heart and you will finally know what it’s like to “Cast ALL of your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

He is our only hope in a world sadly devoid of it.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12

Most of us think of our emotional or spiritual heart when we read this, and that is certainly appropriate. But science is now proving that what this verse says is true of our physical hearts, as well. Hope deferred creates a diseased heart, both emotionally and physically.

I hope you follow the way to a healthy heart and truly feel the benefits that come along with the freedom that God brings from worry.

I love to hear from you, please feel free to write me at, Home Cures That Work and let me know if my words have been a help to you.

 

Sources:
[1] http://www.theheartfoundation.org/heart-disease-facts/heart-disease-statistics/
[2] http://time.com/286227/ending-the-war-on-fat/
[3] http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/AboutCholesterol/What-Your-Cholesterol-Levels-Mean_UCM_305562_Article.jsp
[4] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/22/7-reasons-to-eat-more-saturated-fat.aspx
[5] http://healthimpactnews.com/2012/the-clue-to-why-low-fat-diet-and-statins-may-cause-alzheimers/
[6] Mercola
[7] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-optimalist/201310/your-healthy-diet-could-be-quietly-killing-your-brain