Anyone in the advertising world will tell you that sex sells.

Just check out a Victoria’s Secret ad to see this for yourself—those overpriced bras don’t sell themselves; you know. 

But you know what else sells just as effectively.

Fear.

And that’s a choice tactic used by the pharmaceutical industry to sell medications.

There’s nothing like fear to compel you to throw hesitance and gut instincts to the wind and arrive in the land of the medicated.

This is especially true when it comes to statins.  Drug companies play hard on your fear of heart disease (our #1 killer) to compel you to take these poisons, when it would probably be safer if you ate an old shoe for your cholesterol.

Here’s what I mean.

How it started

All we’ve heard repeatedly over the last several decades is that cholesterol causes heart disease.

What most people don’t realize is that cholesterol’s role in the development of heart disease has been extensively overstated.  

The demonization of saturated fats and the low-fat, low-cholesterol theory stems back to 1963, when physiologist Ancel Keys in his "Seven Countries Study" claimed to have found a correlation between total cholesterol and heart disease.  But in reality this was the largely result of cherry-picking data and omitting several countries from his study.

When 16 countries that he conveniently left out were added back into his data, the results showed no relationship between saturated fat and heart disease.

Here’s an interesting tidbit—Keys suffered several strokes in the last few years before he died in 2004. Hmmm.

The success of fear marketing

Pfizer’s cash cow statin Lipitor is the most profitable drug of all time, with sales approaching $1 trillion.  They are very happy that millions of people have been frightened into thinking cholesterol is bad, thank you very much. 

Plus, drug companies strongly influence medical school curriculums, the physician community, medical associations and the prescribing parameters they create.

For instance, take a look at what is considered high total cholesterol.  A few decades ago, high cholesterol was diagnosed in patients with total cholesterol over 240, usually in conjunction with other risk factors of heart disease like smoking. 

Now?  That number has been lowered to 200.  And you know what that means—an expansion in the class of people for whom statin therapy is indicated.

But the inconvenient truth here is that we’re not seeing any measurable decreases in heart disease with all this statin use!  Funny you don’t hear that on any of the drug commercials that bombard every form of media in the US.

Plus, one 2015 study found that the median postponement of death in people taking statins was just 3.2 days—in exchange for a plethora of potential serious side effects (more on that below)!

The real truth about cholesterol and heart disease

Nothing in your body is there by accident, and cholesterol is no exception.

Cholesterol is a substance your body NEEDS.

It functions as an antioxidant, protects you against cancer, it repairs wounds and tears in your arteries, it’s vital for your brain and nervous system, it’s needed for your body to make hormones and vitamin D, and it helps your body use serotonin, which protects against depression.

The true instigator behind heart disease is inflammation in your arteries, and that is very commonly the result of these 4 things:

• Too much glucose coursing through your blood (because of a diet high in processed foods, sugar, soda and refined carbs, as well as stress)
• A buildup of homocysteine in your bloodstream (due to lacking B vitamins)
• Lacking the natural anti-inflammatory Omega-3 essential fatty acids that your body needs to control inflammation
• High blood pressure (which is commonly the result of diet and lacking exercise)

Once inflammation occurs in your arteries then yes, cholesterol is summoned to the scene to do its healing and repair work—but it’s certainly NOT the instigator here!

Don’t be deceived—they are NOT safe!

Although statins are unbelievably touted as “safe” nothing could be farther from the truth. 

Statins can and do cause many serious side effects including: death, muscle pain and weakness, incapacitation, kidney failure, liver damage, type 2 diabetes, memory loss, dementia, depression, anxiety, pancreatic inflammation, sexual dysfunction, gallstones, poor digestion, low energy and abnormal heart rhythm.

They also increase acts of aggression and violence, and raise your risk of suicide.

Plus, they have been linked to the neuromuscular degenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. 

In addition, statins deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which in turn can actually INCREASE your risk of heart disease!  How’s that for a kicker?

Moreover, they inhibit the synthesis of vitamin K2 in your body.  Vitamin K2 protects your arteries from calcification and without it, plaque levels worsen—again raising your heart disease risk.

Sorry, but none of this sounds very “safe” to me.

And the thing is, many times these side effects don’t rear their ugly heads right away, while at the same time your cholesterol might quickly drop by as much as 50 points.  So the medication gets applauded and you get deceived into thinking you’re healthier…when in reality you may be a ticking time bomb.

How to safely support healthy cholesterol levels

A smarter, safer approach here is to naturally support your body in its efforts to control inflammation and maintain a healthy cholesterol level! 

Here are 4 measures that can help:

1- Start with your diet

Eat wholesome REAL foods and ditch the processed junk, sugars, refined carbs and soda. 

And don’t buy into that “all saturated fat is bad” BS either—that is parroted by food companies who make a lot of money selling you their rancid oils and margarines. 

Your body needs saturated fats, so go ahead and have a 3-4 oz. serving of meat (preferably organic) or real butter on your vegetables.

Other good sources of saturated fats include coconut oil and avocado.

2- Get enough Omega-3 essential fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels, they reduce the risk of clots, they improve blood flow and help prevent atherosclerosis. 

As a matter of fact, studies have reported decreases in cholesterol of up to 20 percent in just 10 DAYS by boosting Omega-3 EFA's through diet and supplementation!

Unfortunately, our food supply is severely lacking in these crucial fats.  The best source is wild-caught fatty fish, but that’s not something the average person eats 7 days a week…plus much of the fish commercially available today is farmed (and toxic).

The best way to make sure you have health-supporting levels of Omega-3 fatty acids is by supplementing with a pure fish oil formula like VitalMega-3. 

VitalMega-3 provides an inflammation-soothing 1,200 mg of Omega-3 fats in every daily 2-capsule dose, including the superstars EPA and DHA.

3- Get regular exercise 

Nothing is more effective to help control your blood pressure (and your weight) than working up a sweat at least 3-4 times a week. 

Plus, exercise is the best stress reducer there is, and stress is yet another factor behind high levels of inflammation in your blood vessels.

Just be sure to get your doctor’s OK first—trust me, he or she will be thrilled.

4- Supplement with probiotics

Your liver naturally controls your cholesterol level by eliminating old, worn-out cholesterol through the intestinal tract, but in order for it to effectively do so, a healthy intestinal environment and regular bowel movements are a MUST. 

Supplementing with a full-spectrum probiotic formula like Super Shield can help support your body’s efforts by encouraging healthy, regular BMs and repopulating your supply of helpful intestinal bacteria.

Don't think for one minute longer that dangerous statins (with their potentially deadly side effects) are your only option for supporting healthy cholesterol levels and helping to lower your risk of heart disease.

Instead rely on the power of Nature to help your body work like it’s supposed to!

To your health,