The Great Cholesterol Myth, Revised and Expanded: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won't Prevent Heart Disease--and the Statin-Free Plan that Will - National Bestseller

Years ago, as new young nurse, I remember working on the cardiology floor at in Manchester Memorial Hosptal in Connecticut. There, Dr Sinatra was beloved and deeply respected. The older nurses who were training me called him the "wonderkid doc", like "Here comes the wonderkid doc to make his rounds". I asked why they called him that. They replied, "Because almost all his patients get better!" And that, let me assure you, did not normally happen on the cardiology floor. He was the nicest guy, but more importantly, he was the cardiologist, despite his baby face, that you wanted your beloved grandpa with heart disease to be a patient of. Well, now it's decades later, and I no longer work in that field or even live in that region. Frankly, I'd long ago forgotten about hospital nursing and Dr. Sinatra. But researching my own seemingly alarming lab results, I stumbled onto this book. I wanted to make informed decisions about what my current doctor was reccomending (Statins), but had these vague memories from my work in Connecticut at that hospital that were giving me pause on the whole accepted notions regarding cholesterol and its role in heart disease. Seeing the name of Dr. Sinatra as the author obviously rang a bell, so I looked him up, and sure enough, he was that same smiling, warmhearted cardiologist from the 1990's, just not so baby faced anymore. Knowing that he was way beyond smart, caring and deeply respected way back there in my Connecticut hospital days, I bought this book without hesitation, and am so grateful for the education it provided. It has changed my understanding of cholesterol, heart disease and its causes, and enabled me to actually feel able to prevent heart disease. This will not be via statins or by worrying about eating too much grass fed beef or cheese, but by controlling sugar/"bad" carb intake, which leads to insulin resistance, which leads to pre-diabetes, which is what really leads to heart disease. These conditons create the environment that damages the sub-type of cholesterol that is an issue, to allow it to become deformed into a dangerous shape, and to insert itself where it shouldn't, in the walls of arteries. He argues very convincingly that the amount cholesterol is not the problem for most of us-it is found at the scene of the accident, but it is not the root cause of the accident . He has a way of explaining complicated scientific concepts in a way even kids can grasp, which is a rare gift. For those who feels he and his co-author ignored research or studies and are re-writing accepted medical facts, I strongly disagree. I did the work of looking up many of the studies cited in the bibliography and many more studies released since this book was published in pubmed. His explanation of how modern medicine got here by believing the cherry picked data from the JUPITER ('Justification for use of statins preventatively, or something like that name....') study, was quite a revelation to me, since only data from a few countries out of the 18 countries collected from was actually used to promote the authors preconceived conclusion. Countries with traditionally low "bad" carb intakes had data that completely contradicted the 'high cholesterol causes heart disease so you need statins to lower it' conclusions, so the majority of the countries studied had their data simply omitted. I found this book reliable, thorough, comprehensible, and despite being a few years old, in agreement with more current published studies. The majority of people will read on their favorite news site, "studies say such and such causes such and such ....." , and they will believe the interpretation of the author without looking up and reading the study for themselves, finding out if it had 50,000 or only five participants, etc. They will not be aware if the author(s) of the study has a bias, or if the study itself was free of financial conflicts of interests, or if it was sponsored by a pharmecutical corporation. These authors have looked at the original studies, who did the, the data they show regarding heart disease, cholesterol, diebetes, etc, and have come to starkly different conclusions than many others. I believe they have done a huge service for many of us searching for accurate information free from financially motivated bias. This book will help many of us to make educated decisions and to take care of ourselves and our loved ones as best we can and prevent heart disease and its leading causes. TLDR: 1. Your triglycerides to HDL ratio matters the most. The higher it is, the higher your risk. It should be a low ratio, 1:1 is best. If your HDL is 80 and your triglyceides are 80, Dr. Sinatra believes you can throw away the book because your risk is so low. 2. Don't eat much sugar or (bad) carbs because they are literally giving us heart disease. 3. Statins are antiinflammatory and may benefit men under age 69 years old who have already had a coronary event or are at a very high risk. But they also do a lot of other things that might not be so good, especially for women and for everyone age 70 or older.So maybe read the book, get a CT score scan and some more detailed bloodwork, talk to your doc about the findings, and make more thoroughly educated decisions.

The info provided in this extremely eye opening book is backed up by case study citations. My LDL cholesterol & triglycerides have been high since my early 30’s, despite being a vegetarian, a highly competitive athlete, in good physical shape, and avoiding animal fats as was recommended by the AMA during the 80’s and beyond. I was never able to comprehend how in the world my cholesterol was so elevated despite my “ healthy vegetarian” lifestyle. I just “assumed” it was my genetics. Hmmmm. We all have been told for decades that animal fats are bad for us & will cause high cholesterol and heart disease. Enter margarine, highly processed seed oils, and man made “Frankenfats”. I had squarely fallen into this mindset, and have lived my life avoiding full fat foods and always sought out low fat or no fat everything. So now in my 60’s my insulin resistance is impaired, I have a mild case of NAFL, and my triglycerides are high. Hmmmmm. At one point a Dr. put me on a statin and it messed me up so badly, I took myself off it. Chronic leg pain and severe brain fog. It was horrible. Not to mention it didn’t really decrease my cholesterol. A friend of mine gave me a copy of this book to borrow, and after reading the first 10 pages I bought my own copy. The info and studies throughout this book have convinced me that in my case, my no fat or low fat way of life was NOT a healthy way for me to live. And for me, my health was definitely paying the price for it since I avoided healthy fats and ate more carbs. for more than 3 decades. Argggh For the past 8 months we have eaten locally grown grass fed meats, I render my own local pork fat for lard, eat full fat cheese, free range organic eggs, forest raised pork/bacon, and organic butter. My triglycerides have dropped 103 points and my insulin resistance is starting to drop. We have cut out all packaged foods. Eliminated all seed oils, and 95% of wheat and corn products. As well as dropped our carbohydrate intake to occasional sweet potatoes, quinoa, or rice. We eat a lot of walnuts, raw almonds, cashews, and pumpkin seeds. Eating a healthy nutrient dense fats and lowering carb intake switches your metabolism to burn the fat first and give you more energy. It has worked for me. We are sleeping better, feeling better, have more energy, no brain fog, and I have shed the 10 lbs. I have never been able to get rid of despite all of my cardio exercise. We feel a lot better eating this way and the bloodwork results are proving it for me. Not saying that this would work for everyone, as we all have very different circumstances. But, it is clearly working very well for us. Give the book a read and come to your own conclusions. It just might help you take control of your own health situations and help improve them. It certainly did for us!

Very informative. Gave to my cardiology NP to read. Has helped me take less medication.

This was a good overview of cholesterol, how it impacts the body, and when levels might be problematic. There is discussion of research regarding statin use and why it may not be the magic pill your doctor has been telling you. The authors delve into what they call "the real cause of heart disease," which I found compelling. While I appreciated the discussion of diet and supplements, it was cursory and a little overwhelming. The appendix includes explanations of additional tests your doctor may order to help evaluate heart health. As with any book regarding health and wellness, I wouldn't limit yourself to just this one resource, but it is a good manual to read and refer to in your quest for knowledge and understanding.

Cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra MD is RIGHT ON THE MONEY. We owe my husband's continued life to the TRUTH as revealed by Dr. Stephen Sinatra as he discusses in his books including The Sinatra Solution: Metabolic Cardiology and Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? . When I heard the Great Cholesterol Myth was coming out I quickly nabbed a copy from our local library - I have since purchased a copy here on Amazon to be able to share with our many friends who are overly concerned with their cholesterol to the detriment of over-looking inflammation. Be sure to get the NEW & UPDATED 2015 version of the The Great Cholesterol Myth Now Includes 100 Recipes. The Great Cholesterol Myth Now Includes 100 Recipes for Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won't Prevent Heart Disease-and the Statin-Free Plan that Will Dr. Sinatra discussed The Great Cholesterol Myth in good detail on the Dr. Oz show. Both Dr. Oz and Dr. Sinatra have publicly stated they no longer believe so many people should be prescribed statin drugs and they both have discussed why children should NOT be taking statin drugs. When entire teams of cardiologists sent my husband home to die and gave us NO advice to keeping him alive, a friend told us about The Sinatra Solution: Metabolic Cardiology and Lower Your Blood Pressure in Eight Weeks: A Revolutionary Program for a Longer, Healthier Life . We also found Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late and The Doctor's Heart Cure, Beyond the Modern Myths of Diet and Exercise: The Clinically-Proven Plan of Breakthrough Health Secrets That Helps You Build a Powerful, Disease-Free Heart informative as well. In Dr. Sinatra's books we learned the truth of the Awesome Foursome (supplements) and how to re-energize the heart at the cellular level. Instead the 10 years prior his former medical doctors always lectured him about his cholesterol levels (never high, but they wanted his levels lower due to his former diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (now "resolved" per our primary care M.D.) and hypertension (under far better control now since we learned the truth of Metabolic Cardiology.) Despite being prescribed statins, high blood pressure medications and diabetes medications, my husband developed END STAGE heart disease. After 4 stents his ejection fraction was still less than 15%, he could not get out of bed to get a shower, he was weak, sick, frail and pale. Today he's growing stronger, vibrant, glowing skin and is the picture of improving health. ALL because of healthy eating and VERY wise supplementation including the Awesome Foursome as Sinatra writes to great length about - magnesium, l-carnitine, d-ribose, and co-enzymeQ10 (though we prefer to use ubiquinol with PQQ instead.) INFLAMMATION IS THE PROBLEM. Lack of NUTRITION is the problem. OVER-PROCESSED FOOD is the problem (we refer to this as chemicalized sludge). OVER-MEDICATION is the problem! Egotistical medical doctors who deny the truth further contribute to the problem! HEAVY METALS is ALSO part of the problem. Find a ACAM doctor willing to do an IV Chelation challenge with urinalysis and see which heavy metals are involved - we're repeatedly seeing MERCURY, LEAD, THALLIUM and MRI Contrast GADOLINIUM among our friends and acquaintances on local support groups. We will NEVER EVER EVER consent to an MRI with contrast EVER AGAIN, GADOLINIUM IS TOXIC! GADOLINIUM CAUSED MY HUSBAND's ATRIAL FIBRILLATION AND PARTIAL PARALYSIS. The answer is NUTRITION, supplementation wisely, ANTI-OXIDANTS for reducing inflammation, EDTA treatments followed up mineral supplementation to remove heavy metals, etc. We use LOTS of turmeric in our home for cooking rice, soups, stews, homemade french salad dressing, etc. Turmeric is an awesome anti-inflammatory - so much so my husband controlled pain from surgery to repair his hip fracture - yes, turmeric is indeed that powerful! This is why turmeric has been used so widely in Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as in Ayurvedic medicine (India) as practiced the past 4,000 - 8,000 years, respectively. Garlic and the other culinary herbs have so many wonderful phytonutrients that also help to further reduce inflammation and increase overall cardiovascular health, this is why they have been so widely used over many thousands of years. Our ancestors were far wiser than we generally give them credit. By the way, STATIN DRUGS deplete Co-enzyme Q 10 which causes MUSCLE PAIN, JOINT PAIN, CRIPPLED "arthritic" HANDS, BACK PAIN, etc. Read THE GREAT CHOLESTEROL MYTH for the truth... you will be surprised. Highly Recommend! EVERYONE concerned with heart disease should read The Great Cholesterol Myth. We feel this is so vital that we are giving a copy to our cardiologist and primary care doctor so they are on the same page with us. Please consider giving a copy of this book to YOUR primary care doctor and YOUR cardiologist, let's get them ALL on the same page for the benefit of our entire society as a whole. Big Pharma is NOT looking out for our best interests.

Must read and must share book. Our medical system would be best described as a scam or a lie. This book shreds the science of cholesterol and makes the reader realize that we need cholesterol and the medical system tells us to keep it to dangerously low levels for health. Personal story….I went to a wellness doctor and had an extensive blood panel. It was determined that my LDL was elevated to ‘dangerous’ level and I could have a heart attack or a a stroke…Dr drew two parallel lines with big lumps representing blockage….Unlike other doctors she prescribed 2000mg of Niacin a day…think sweaty tomato with tingling and heat flash feel. I had my testosterone at 975 at 57. I religiously did the niacin everyday for six months and lowered my cholesterol to 1300, a more acceptable level according to our corrupt and inverted medical system. My testosterone dropped to 750. I asked the dr if there was a correlation to LDL to testosterone…she said yes and I asked her how old the research was for modern treatment of cholesterol…she did not know. Answer is old…over 60 years and statin in 1987. After listening to book I dropped all niacin and went back to 2-3 pasture raised eggs and an avocado 5 days a week. Next blood panel….My ldl cholesterol went back to 2300, but my testosterone jumped to 1125 at 58. She gave me the same spill and this time i had ammunition and recommended the book to my trained wrong Dr…..she has changed her mind….this book is a must read to navigate this inverted medical system. Recommend to anyone that wants to beat the system and be a better, healthier version of themselves….

I've been struggling with high cholesterol for years and the doctor always wanted to pump me full of statins, but I refused because of my Uncle's serious side effects from them. I tried just making some modest lower fat changes to my diet before, had no effect. Tried watching calories, didn't really work for me. I tried Atkins and while I did lose some weight, it didn't really improve my cholesterol and seemed impossible to stay on because if you go off of it for one day, you start a whole new 7-14 day cycle before you even start seeing improvements again. I tried serious 18 hour intermittent fasting, lost 15 lbs. and then plateaued for 6 months with no additional progress, but cholesterol went up. 13 months ago I had another blood test, Total Cholesterol was 388, LDL was 286, and HDL was 69. I bought this book toward the end of last August and just changed what I was eating based on the excellent guidelines in this book... So I started the diet about a year ago. It took me a few months to sort out which foods met the criteria and to find equally satisfying alternatives/replacements/recipes, etc. Once I figured it out though, it just became habit and I love all the food I eat and I eat plenty of it! I'm never hungry and always have multiple options to enjoy and satisfy cravings. I mainly changed my eating habits (I don't consider it a diet because it doesn't feel like a diet) to lower my cholesterol, having given up on losing significant weight years ago, but I was absolutely amazed that losing weight was an incredible side effect of the changes to my eating habits. I've consistently lost 4 lbs. a month for the last year. I'm down just over 50 lbs. over the last year. My HDL is down by 140 pts. LDL is down by 137 pts. HDL is up by 22 pts. My A1C went from 6.1 to 5.5. My BP is down 20 pts from 130/79 to 110/61 and I feel great! Had to buy a bunch of new clothes, went from the largest hole on a 34-36 Medium belt to the fourth hole on a small 30-32 belt. The best thing about my new eating habits is it has become a lifestyle that I prefer and I don't have to worry about an occasional variance from my new normal eating habits. For example, I took a trip to visit my brother in Vegas on 6/21. I weighed 163.4 on 6/20. Ate an airplane 3 cheese omelet on the flight out, had a huge ribeye steak, baked potato with sour cream that night, next day ate a mess of Cane's Chicken fingers with sauce & some fries, and Caprese Salad and Chicken Alfredo at the Italian restaurant they took us to for dinner. I think I had some airplane food on the flight back too. None of that food is in my usual eating habits now. I weighed myself when we got back on the red-eye the next day, and sure enough, I gained 2 lbs. But, unlike when I was on Atkins, six days after my return, I weighed 161.7, 1.7 lbs. less than I weighed nine days earlier the day before we left. Same thing happened the next month. A good friend of ours had their huge annual cookout and had us bring my mom's signature authentic warm German Potato Salad. That salad is about the worst thing you can eat for my diet. For 5 lbs. of potatoes, there is 2 lbs. of bacon, the fat drippings from which form the base of the dressing along with a cup of sugar and some vinegar. At the cookout, I had a cheeseburger, hot dog, and a huge helping of the potato salad. I do have to say, I didn't feel well after eating that...like my blood sugar was off or something. We kept a few servings of the salad at home and I had two controlled portion sizes (like 200 grams) each day for the next 2 days. Those didn't effect how I felt. I did however go from 159.6 to 162.3 after 3 days of not eating my normal diet. The salad was gone and I continued my new normal habits and by 5 days later I set a new low of 159.2. That was July 20th. This morning (9/3), I weighed 153 on the dot. I haven't weighed that in at least 25 years. I haven't really done any material additional exercise other than maybe 1000 more steps a day than during the pandemic, and still about 1000 steps fewer than average and in the bottom half for my age group. Friends tell me I look great and I should be proud of what I accomplished with the weight loss. I don't because it was really easy to do...nothing to be proud of. The authors and researchers that did the work are the ones that should be proud! No statins, no Ozempic or Wegovy and none of their side effects! It did take some time to read ingredients and nutrition information and sort out what I should be eating that I'd enjoy. But I have so many delicious options and recipes I've figured out, I literally do not feel like I'm missing a thing. And I know, now that it is habit, I will never get overweight again. It may not work for everyone because we are all different. I'm just glad it works for me!!! Thanks Dr. Bowden & Sinatra!

Incredible book! Put it in your cart right now! You will learn so much and like me you’ll go back to your doctor armed with fabulous information!!! So worth the read!!!

So informative

Libro interessantissimo che racconta in modo scientifico ma relativamente semplice il "Mito del colesterolo" una teoria pseudo scientifica che è stata imposta da politici e mass media e da alcuni scienziati, ma che non corrisponde a quello che le evidenze scientifiche dimostrano. Nel libro, scritto da due medici, troverete non solo interessanti ricerche, ma anche consigli per la vostra salute, con tanto di ricettario finale (seppure quella sia la parte meno interessante,. Naturalmente il problema è che questo, come molti altri libri simili, è scritto in inglese, con tutti i problemi del caso, per quanto uno conosca la lingua. Ma in Italia ti fanno leggere solo quello che vogliono loro, purtroppo...

Sehr gut mit Verweisen auf Studienlage belegt. Wissenschaftlich absolut aktuell und seriös.

Claro, conciso y educativo,basado en meta estudios para evidenciar con investigaciones a largo plazo, un libro que abre los ojos.

Wow! What a revelation this book has been to me! Read it and learn how to take control of your own health and wellbeing, and to not take as gospel everything your health care team tells you. I love that every assertion the authors make includes copious references to the relevant scientific studies, and detailed explanations of cause and effect. I keep rereading sections to gain deeper understanding, and am so grateful to the authors for creating this amazing work.