By Dr. Andres Bircher

Cholesterol plays a vital role in our health. It’s a very significant component of bile acids and sex hormones. The white matter of the central nervous system and nerves is rich in cholesterol, and it’s very important for stabilizing the cell membranes. 

Only 10 percent of cholesterol comes from food, while 90 percent of it is produced in the liver and the intestinal mucosa. Since cholesterol is not water-soluble, it is enveloped by lipoproteins, covered in polyunsaturated fatty acids. As LDL cholesterol, it is transported from the liver and the intestinal mucosa into the whole body. As HDL cholesterol, it is transported back to the liver.

The widespread consumption of unnatural foods in the modern diet increases levels of LDL cholesterol, creating oxidative stress. When fatty acids are oxidized, they are deposited in places with strong currents as “fatty streaks” in the inner wall of the arteries, marking the beginning of arteriosclerosis, even at a young age. Atherosclerosis is not caused by cholesterol, therefore, but by oxidative stress from a diet high in unnatural foods, which cause acidic metabolic waste products and amyloids to be stored in the intercellular substance. 

Arteriosclerosis cannot be prevented with a low-cholesterol diet, but with a plant-based whole-food diet with a high proportion of raw vegetables. To learn more, read the manuals at Bircher-Benner.com/en.

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Dr. Andres Bircher is the director of the Bircher-Benner Centre for Scientific Natural Medicine, in Braunwald, Switzerland.