Cholesterol Testing for Babies?

Many studies that show the benefits of cholesterol and why it is critical for proper health are being ignored in favor of the unproven, but widely accepted, lipid theory of heart disease. The lipid theory states, basically, that all saturated fats are bad for us, that they will raise our cholesterol levels, and that they cause arterial plaque build-up and heart disease. Cholesterol has been made into a demon that must be banished at all costs and now, a group of British doctors are saying that children as young as 15 months old (babies, really) should be tested for high cholesterol levels.

There are just a couple of problems with that proposal. Mother’s milk, the perfect food for babies, is very high in saturated fat and cholesterol. [1] Babies and growing children need cholesterol for the proper and healthy development of their brains and nervous systems. [2]

It has been shown in several studies that the people who have high cholesterol levels live longer than those who do not. Professor David R. Jacobs, et al. (Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota), researched the results of more than 15 large-scale studies of over 65 thousand deaths. The results showed that there was a higher risk of dying from gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases by those people who had low cholesterol levels. [3]

The following statement was published in The Lancet, Vol. 358, Number 9279, Aug. 2001: “Our data accord with previous findings of increased mortality in elderly people with low serum cholesterol, and show that long-term persistence of low cholesterol actually increases the risk of death. Thus, the earlier that patients start to have lower cholesterol concentrations, the greater the risk of death.” [4]

And what is the treatment for people with, supposedly, high cholesterol? Statin drugs like Lipitor. But those drugs are not the wonder drugs that the pharmaceutical companies who make them would have you believe. In a study of 20 people with regular heart capacities, after six months on a regimen of low dose Lipitor (20 mg/day), the study group’s heart functions became abnormal. They had low levels of a necessary chemical called “Co-Q 10. This led to muscle pain and weakness. [5] Among the symptoms are slurred speech, balance problems, and severe fatigue. [6]

So what would the good doctors treat babies with, if they found they had, supposedly, high cholesterol levels? Statins? The testing done and the negative effects of statins were all on adults, usually over 40 years old. What would happen to small children who would be forced to take this medicine for perhaps years?

Cholesterol is not our enemy. It is necessary for normal development and healthy living right through our old age and up to our deaths. In 1948 a study was begun in Framingham, Massachusetts: The Framingham Heart Study. Forty years later the director of the program was forced to admit the following: “In Framingham, Mass, the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol. . . we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.” The study did show that those people who were overweight and had “abnormally” high levels of cholesterol had a somewhat greater risk for heart problems, but not by much. [7]

So what can be considered to be normal or good levels of cholesterol? According to Mary Enig, PhD, an internationally recognized expert in dietary fats, if your cholesterol levels are between 200 and 240, they are normal. [8]

There is so much to this cholesterol issue that is not being told by the people who are funding many medical researchers—large food processing and pharmaceutical companies. To be fully informed we all need to take the time to do a little research on our own. After all, it’s our health that we are talking about. With good health we can live good lives, whether we are rich or poor. Below are several sites within the Weston A. Price Foundation web pages. All their articles and claims are backed by reviewable studies.

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[1] http://www.westonaprice.org/children/humanmilk.html

[2] http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html#chol

[3] http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/benefits_cholest.html

[4] http://www.westonaprice.org/askdoctor/lowcholesterol.html

[5] http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin.html

[6] Ibid.

[7] http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html

[8] http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/fats_phony.html