The British Journal of Medicine published a controversial piece of research suggesting that perhaps bad cholesterol just isn’t that bad for you, especially if you are over 60 years old. There was some data in the study to suggest that high “bad” cholesterol or LDL cholesterol might even be associated with less overall mortality in older folks.
As you might expect, there are many critiques of the research that draw into question the validity of the findings.
But while the medical community and researchers argue over whether cholesterol does or doesn’t matter when it comes to heart disease, we thought we would look at it a different way–one that’s a little more forest, and a little less trees.
Here’s what we know for sure does matter in preventing and even reversing heart disease:
- Exercising regularly matters
- Eating a diet high in whole foods, good fats and lean proteins matters
- Getting enough sleep matters
- Quitting smoking matters.
Focus on making these things matter…and there’s a very good chance your cholesterol won’t.