Dr. Aseem Malhotra

then, and we know saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, that means LDL cholesterol can't be that important.

So, and if LDL cholesterol or total cholesterol isn't that important as a risk factor, how does statins work?

But I knew statins had a separate effect to lowering cholesterol, which is their anti-inflammatory and their anti-clotting.

And I knew this even, it's well known within cardiology circles.

You know, I trained as an interventional cardiologist and that means keel heart surgery, stents, for example.

Patient comes in, we didn't even check their cholesterol.

Maybe some of the thinking was the lower the better, which we'll come on to as well.

So it doesn't matter what their cholesterol is starting from.

The lower your cholesterol, the better.

In fact, 2011, our cardiologist, one of the editors, I think, of the American Journal of Cardiology wrote an article, which I mentioned in my book, A Statin-Free Life, which was entitled, It's the Cholesterol Stupid, right?

And what did he say in that?

He said, you can be an obese diabetic smoker that doesn't exercise.

It sounds crazy, right?

But as long as your cholesterol is low enough, you're not going to get heart disease.

That's crazy.

Like, really?

So, okay, I had to unpick that.

And what I also then did moving forward from 2003, so that's how I got down this track, realizing that our obsession with LDL lowering has been a problem.

Both observational data and randomized controlled trials.

No benefit, like in lowering it, no association, nothing.