Medicine is full of controversies. An example of this is statins, a group of medicines that can help lower the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood. LDL cholesterol is often referred to as “bad cholesterol,” and statins have been touted for years as the best way to reduce the production of it inside the liver. Today many medical specialists believe the use of statins needs a rethink. Statins are some of the most dangerous and widely used pharmaceutical drugs on the market. Longevity’s Gisèle Wertheim Aymes discusses the latest discourse on statins with Dr. Craige Golding. He’s a prominent figure in the field of integrative medicine, about the complex and often controversial topic of statins and cholesterol.
Rethinking Heart Health: Dr. Craige Golding Challenges the Statin and Cholesterol
Throughout our conversation, Dr. Golding touched on the potential harm of widely prescribed statins, as well as the importance of informed patient choice. With that, he began by the sensitivity of the discussion around statins, a topic that remains central to cardiology for decades,
“Cardiologists and physicians have been prescribing statins for a very long time with the belief that cholesterol causes heart disease, particularly coronary artery disease.”
As such, challenging this long-held belief requires a delicate and respectful approach, especially because of the potential medical and legal implications that can arise when advising patients to discontinue statins.
For instance, Dr. Golding references Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, author of The Great Cholesterol Con, and Dr. Zoë Harcombe, both of whom have been vocal about their questioning of the cholesterol-heart disease link. In fact, their stance has resulted in lawsuits due to the medical duo being referred to as “pernicious liars” who risked the lives of millions with debilitating heart attacks and stroke.
As for Dr. Golding’s stance on the matter?
“It’s not cholesterol that causes heart disease. It’s, in fact, insulin, carbohydrates, and seed oils.”
He adds that metabolic syndrome, obesity, and high carbohydrate intake may also play a significant role.
Cholesterol Heals, Not Harms
Despite its perception as heart health’s biggest villain, Dr. Golding proposes that cholesterol is more friend than foe,
“When you’re working in the health paradigm, you can entertain the thought that cholesterol is a healing molecule.”
Elaborating, he states how cholesterol is needed for the production of steroid hormones, vitamin D, and brain support, as well as the regulation of mood, memory, and libido.
Dr. Craige Golding
Dr. Golding references the work of 19th-century researcher Dr. Karl von Rokitansky, who proposed that cholesterol works to prevent further injury by patching up arterial tears,
“Cholesterol plugs the arterial tear, and over time, this encrustation can narrow the artery, eventually leading to clots and heart attacks,” explains Dr. Golding. So, rather than being the cause, cholesterol may just be a response to arterial damage, in an effort to repair it.
Redefining Cholesterol
In challenging cholesterol’s reputation as the villain of heart health, Dr. Golding also targets the idea of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol,
“LDL is the so-called bad cholesterol, and HDL is the so-called good cholesterol. That’s also a myth,” he says, explaining that neither LDL nor HDL are types of cholesterol, but rather lipoproteins—particles that transport cholesterol molecules. This distinction is essential as understanding lipoproteins’ size and density can offer deeper insights into cardiovascular health.
Rather than focusing solely on cholesterol for heart disease risk, Dr. Golding chooses to assess particle sizes of LDL and HDL, apolipoprotein B (which transports both HDL and LDL particles), and lipoprotein A (a dense particle linked to inflammation). According to Golding, the smaller and denser a particle, the higher the risk for oxidization and inflammation, both of which are terrible for heart health.
Another tool to analyze the state of your heart is by monitoring specific ratios, with Dr. Golding suggesting that these metrics can be more predictive than total cholesterol alone. Per Golding, HDL should be four times higher than total cholesterol and anything less translates to a cholesterol issue,
“If HDL is 3 and total cholesterol is 10, the result of 12 (3 x 4) is safely above the total cholesterol level.”
Another useful ratio is the triglyceride-to-HDL ratio,
“Take your triglyceride level and divide it by HDL,” Dr. Golding says. “That should be less than two. If it’s sitting at three or four, then your risk for heart disease is very high.”
Should We Stay With Statins?
Well, we first need to understand Dr. Golding’s apprehension.
As mentioned, the body needs cholesterol and the manner in which statins are often prescribed encourages the reduction of cholesterol levels to as low as possible, which can be harmful, especially for your neurological health,
“Your brain needs cholesterol as it is essential for forming the myelin sheath that protects neurons in the brain. Removing cholesterol from the brain can lead to neurodegenerative issues.”
Yet, despite his reservations, Dr. Golding isn’t advocating for the universal discontinuation of statins: “I’m not standing on top of a mountain saying no more statins,” he clarifies.
Acknowledging that some genetic conditions, like familial hyperlipidaemia, may warrant statins, Dr. Golding urges patients to educate themselves and to seek informed discussions with their healthcare providers, especially if they begin to experience side effects,
“Take it up with your specialist and say, ‘I’m not happy to continue a statin. I have cognitive impairment; I have aches and pains.’”
He also encourages patients to discuss alternatives and discuss potential remedies for common statin side effects, such as CoQ10 supplementation.
Inflammation and Oxidative Stress: The Real Heart Culprits
“The real cause of heart disease…is inflammation and oxidative stress. Cholesterol is a healing molecule. If it gets inflamed and oxidized…then it creates the playground for a clot to happen.”
If you’re really concerned about your cardiovascular health, then Dr. Golding advises that you tackle inflammation and oxidative stress, which arises from free radicals and causes damage to cellular membranes and accelerates aging.
“That’s why we need antioxidants,” he says, advocating for a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, as well as supplements like vitamin C.
Let’s Talk Genetics
Aside from inflammation and oxidative stress, Dr. Golding reveals that another crucial factor in understanding heart disease is genetics,
“If you come in and your cholesterol is 12, the first thing I’m going to ask is, does your family have high cholesterol?” he says, adding that a family history of high cholesterol may require monitoring for inflammation, oxidative stress and other risk factors, “This comprehensive approach is essential for truly personalized healthcare.”
Vitamin D: More Than Just Sunshine
It may be known as the sunshine vitamin, but vitamin D deficiency is extremely common, especially in cities where people sit inside all day.
With that, Dr. Golding stresses the importance of maintaining optimal, rather than average, vitamin D levels, highlighting its potential to protect against coronary artery disease and other health issues.
Eat for heart health
If you’re looking to improve your cardiovascular dietary habits, then Dr. Golding warns against seed oils,
“If you go into the store…you’ll see olive oil with canola oil. Canola oil and seed oil, it’s terrible for your health,” he says. Instead, he advocates for pure extra-virgin olive oil as common oils like sunflower and canola, while less expensive, have been linked to inflammation and as such pose a risk to heart health.
What about red meat?
Countless studies have highlighted the benefits of quitting red meat, but Dr. Golding takes a balanced stance, suggesting the use of nutrigenomics (the study of how food affects a person’s genes and how genetics influences the body’s response to food) to guide dietary choices.
Nutrigenomics can reveal predispositions to inflammation, oxidative stress, and fat metabolism, and analysing the results can allow us to make intelligent dietary decisions.
Now, while excess red meat can lead to inflammation. However, Dr. Golding cautions against blanket statements when it comes to its consumption,
“Not everyone can be vegan. Some people get quite sick when they try and go vegan.”
Also, in acknowledging that some people on carnivorous diets have seen marked improvements in their metabolic health, Dr. Golding once again underscores the importance of personalized and evidence-based dietary advice,
“To say red meat is the big cause of heart disease, then you’re going to go back down the Ancel Keys rabbit hole and say statins are needed.”
It’s A Toxic World
“Our food is full of chemicals, antibiotics, estrogen, and metal. This “chemical soup” within our bodies contributes to inflammation and can exacerbate health conditions like heart disease, cancer, and dementia.”
As environmental pollutants and food additives can further increase our risk for poor health, one of the cornerstones of Dr. Golding’s approach is detoxification, which serves to counteract the ‘chemical soup’ of modern living.
As for how to detoxify, Dr. Golding suggests saunas, supplements like glutathione and humic acids, and lifestyle changes.
Testing for Heart Disease
To help patients have a clearer understanding of their cardiovascular health, Dr. Golding employs advanced imaging techniques, such as the CT angiography, which checks for narrowed or blocked arteries in the heart.
There’s also the carotid doppler, which measures arterial thickness,
“If the intermediate thickness is bad, then you know you’ve got a lot of atherosclerosis,” he explains.
Is Big Pharma the Real Villain?
While Dr. Golding may not see cholesterol as the villain, he certainly views pharmaceutical companies that way, especially because of their sponsorship of clinical trials, which of course raises the risk for potential biases,
“Most of these trials are run by pharmaceutical companies, and obviously there’s a financial incentive,” he asserts, warning that since clinical studies can be designed to reach desired outcomes, the widespread acceptance of the cholesterol-heart disease theory may be as a result of such biases.
As controversial as his views may be for a doctor, Dr. Golding adds that many conventional doctors end up looking too heavily at pharmaceuticals as their primary tools in their treatment arsenal,
“As physicians, by the time you finish training at med school after 11, 12 years, you’re a “pharma puppet”. I mean, your toolkit is pharmaceuticals.”
As a board-certified in anti-aging medicine, with a master’s degree in medical sciences from the University of South Florida, Dr. Golding is clear about his message: health starts with foundational changes rather than pharmaceutical interventions.
“Get off the pharma and try and get healthy, you know, with your food and lifestyle.”
Despite his unconventional thoughts about medicinal application, Dr. Golding maintains respect for traditional doctors, “We can’t be critical of our specialists. I think they’re just trained all wrong,” he says, adding that the issue lies not with individual doctors but rather with the broader system that focuses on symptom management rather than preventive care.
In fact, he believes many chronic diseases cannot only be managed, but even potentially reversed through lifestyle changes,
“You can reverse that completely with lifestyle changes and the right nutraceuticals, check your nutrigenomics, change your food, change your habits, sleep better, manage your stress.”
Should we be worried about vaccines?
Without straying away from medical controversy, Dr. Golding is also vocal about the impact of COVID-19 and vaccine side effects, mentions issues like “turbo cancers” and immune suppression.
Referencing current findings that suggest T cell reduction and IgG4 suppression in some vaccine recipients, Golding believes that this may contribute to certain types of cancer, “We didn’t know that in 2020. Now we do,” he notes.
As for addressing this potential risk, Dr. Golding touches on ‘vaccine flush protocols’, which include substances like curcumin, bromelain, NAC and horsetail.
Take Control of Your Health
With all that’s said and done, as well as a landscape filled with conflicting health information, Dr. Golding’s advice is for us to take ownership of our health, and not run towards pharmaceuticals every time we begin to experience symptoms.
Rather, he suggests that we prioritize wellness through lifestyle changes and natural therapies,
“These factors [nutrition, stress management and sleep] don’t cost much if you do it properly before you take 20 supplements.”
Watch The Interview
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References
Raszek M, Cowley D, Redwan EM, Uversky VN, Rubio-Casillas A. (2024). Exploring the possible link between the spike protein immunoglobulin G4 antibodies and cancer progression. Explor Immunol. 4:267–84. https://doi.org/10.37349/ei.2024.00140
