Fats, Hormones, and the Brain

The truth is that you can be healthy and have high cholesterol levels, or you can have low cholesterol levels and be sick. High blood sugar can glycosylate cholesterol, which means the sugar attaches to a protein or fat. This can damage cell membranes.

Diabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are high. Eating a healthy diet can minimize the risk of diabetes. Eating too much sugar in the diet damages the cell membranes by attaching sugar molecules to fatty substances.

Cholesterol is the precursor to all the adrenal hormones in the body, including DHEA, pregnenolone, testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and hydrocortisone. For that reason, taking a statin drug would be predicted to disrupt normal production of these essential hormones. Thirty years of practice has shown me that this is the case in many patients.

Though accounting for approximately 5 percent of body weight, a healthy human brain contains more than 25 percent of the body’s cholesterol. The nerves are sheathed in cholesterol. Lowering cholesterol levels is not healthy for the nerve tissue.

That’s why nerve disorders such as brain decline, dementia, and fatigue are associated with cholesterol-lowering medications.