Luis Celis

Professor Greg Liszt

The Science of Health

4 March 2020

The Importance of Cholesterol

1. Popular Press Article:

Does ‘good’ cholesterol still matter? – The Washington Post, 2017

The title of popular press articles can be very misleading, like it is in the case

of Does ‘’good’’ cholesterol still matter? Posted in the Washington Post in 2017. The

article talks about the common beliefs linked to cholesterol, like what having bad

cholesterol means. LDL, low-density lipoprotein (a substance made out of fat and

protein that carries cholesterol through the bloodstream), is considered to be

prejudicial because it deposits excess of cholesterol in arteries, creating plaques that

would increase the likelihood of heart disease. Good cholesterol, HDL (High density

lipoprotein) is essential to prevent heart disease because it carries the unneeded

cholesterol to the liver so it can be excreted. The argument made in the article is that

HDL is not necessarily good or indispensable to prevent heart disease.

But they only really focus on the results from a study about how artificially

raised HDL has no correlation with the decrease of heart disease. "There is no

evidence for a benefit from any HDL-raising drug". Studies have proved that

patients with induced HDL have the same heart conditions than before the
treatment, meaning that there is no other cure from bad cholesterol besides good

diet and healthy habits like exercise. They reinforce the hypothesis by saying that

‘’Increasing HDL levels artificially, without behavioral changes, doesn't reduce risk

at all.’’

2. Scientific Experimental Study:

Information, Policy, and the Sources of Fat and Cholesterol in the U.S. Diet -

By Pauline M. Ippolito and Alan D. Mathios

This study argues that consumers ‘‘changed their diets in response to

information linking fat and cholesterol consumption to heart disease and cancer

risk’’. The information they refer to is the one provided by producers of food

‘’products’’, meaning food companies. In this study, the authors analyzed how

advertisement strategies of such companies affected consumers from 1977 through

1990.

The authors also take into consideration how the government and public

health authorities regulate advertisement. For example, there was a remarkable

decline of fat consumption in the late 1980s in the United States because of efforts

made by food authorities to make advertisements more transparent. Before, 1985

‘’producers were allowed to make truthful nutrient claims’’ but were not free to

advertise violently against other less beneficial products. After 1985, companies

could advertise their products more freely and make statements like ‘’Saturated fat

raises blood cholesterol more than anything else. So choose Bran X oil – ½ the
saturated fat of leading oils’’. This kind of freedom ended in 1990, during the

Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, the Food and Drug Administration was

authorized to sharply limit health and nutrition claims on food labels, but it

certainly did make a great impact on fat consumption reduction.

The results on the article are very conclusive. The studies done during 1977

to 1990 on men and women, ranging from 19 to 50 years of age, show a notorious

decline of average fat consumption in the United States, with the largest decline

between 1985 and 1990: average daily fat consumption fell by 10.7 grams and 9.8

for men.