Despite the mountain of evidence that messing with cholesterol is a bad idea, especially when it comes to muscle and mitochondrial health, statins remain one of the most widely prescribed drugs. Even toddlers are now on the list of potential patients eligible to receive a statin prescription and the list of conditions compatible with statin medication keeps growing. Unbeknownst to even most doctors, in 2018 the US FDA quietly removed its warnings about dietary cholesterol and its link to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Namely, FDA no longer claims that there is a risk of eating high-cholesterol food and developing CVD. The same group of studies that led to the FDA revoking its dietary cholesterol warning also vindicated saturated fats (SFA), but the FDA did not dare revoke its dietary warning on SFA, at least for now.<\/p>\n
The study below once again demonstrates the absolutely crucial role cholesterol availability plays in cellular health. Not only is cholesterol the precursor of all steroids and is also a crucial component of cellular structure, it now seems that cholesterol has a functional (bioenergetic) role too. Namely, inhibiting cholesterol synthesis (which is what statins do) or its transport into the cell (which is partially what dietary cholesterol restriction does) literally poisons the cell through the accumulation of mitochondrial debris and free fatty acids. Both of those entities have indisputable toxicity, with the former robustly activating systemic inflammatory pathways through the endotoxin receptor TLR4, while the latter is toxic simply by its presence in large amounts (hence the medical term lipotoxicity) and also through the inflammatory mediators it serves as the precursor for (if the fatty acids are PUFA). In addition, the study may provide part of the answer to the question why cholesterol levels increase with age. Ray said this increase is adaptive, to compensate for decrease in steroid synthesis due to declining thyroid function with age. However, the study provide an additional explanation. Namely, the cells need more cholesterol in order to handle the increasing rate of mitochondrial breakdown and increase in lipid accumulation that also increase with advancing age. So, it seems that one of the most reliable methods of ensuring premature cell aging and death is simply to follow the official recommendations of mainstream medicine – i.e. restruct dietary cholesterol as much as possible and take a statin daily.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-026-77423-1<\/a><\/p>\n