Cholesterol: What It Is, HDL vs LDL, Levels, and How to Lower It

Q: What is the normal cholesterol level?

Total cholesterol below 5 mmol/l is normal, 5–6 mmol/l is borderline, and above 6 mmol/l is too high. For LDL, below 3.0 mmol/l is normal, while people with heart disease or high risk aim for below 1.4–1.8 mmol/l. HDL should be above 1 mmol/l (men) or 1.2 mmol/l (women).

Q: Is dietary cholesterol the cause of high blood cholesterol?

Most cholesterol is produced in the liver, not obtained from food. The medix position is that excess production is driven largely by chronic inflammation — with sugar (glucose) a major inflammatory trigger — rather than by dietary cholesterol or genetics alone.

Q: What is the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol?

HDL (high-density lipoprotein) is the "good" cholesterol that removes excess from the body. LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is called "bad" because, amid chronic inflammation, it can become trapped in artery walls, oxidise, and form plaques (atherosclerosis). Both are essential to life.

Q: Can cholesterol be lowered without statins?

A ketogenic diet and medicinal mushrooms are presented as approaches. The first-generation statins were themselves extracted from mushrooms. A precision formula combining several complementary cholesterol pathways, such as AURI 25 by Zenius Labs™, is studied as more effective than single ingredients. Always discuss any change with your doctor.

Home›Cholesterol›Cholesterol: What It Is, HDL vs LDL, Levels, and How to Lower It

Key Takeaways

Cholesterol is essential — for cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and digestion; most is made by the liver, not from food.
HDL ("good") removes excess; LDL ("bad") can oxidise and form arterial plaques (atherosclerosis) amid chronic inflammation.
The medix position: inflammation (driven heavily by sugar), not dietary cholesterol, is the real root cause.
Beyond statins: a ketogenic approach and a multi-pathway mushroom-based formula are presented as alternatives — discuss any change with your doctor.

What is cholesterol, and why do we have it?

The body cannot function without cholesterol. It helps the body break down fats (lipids) in the small intestine so they can be absorbed into the bloodstream. In the liver, cholesterol combines with lipids and proteins to form complex compounds called lipoproteins. Cholesterol is essential for forming cell membranes, producing hormones, digesting food, and contributing to vitamin D production when the skin is exposed to sunlight. It allows human cells to move and change shape (which plants cannot do, because they have no cholesterol). Fundamentally, it is needed for the production and growth of new cells — which is why there is so much cholesterol in eggs.

High cholesterol

So where does the problem of high cholesterol lie? Evidently, in too much production in the liver. A cholesterol level that is too high is associated with cardiovascular disease: atherosclerosis, stroke, heart attack, heart failure, pericarditis, coronary heart disease. Heart disease is the world's number-one killer (the second is cancer).²⁶ The body has a mechanism to regulate the cholesterol balance: it produces so-called "good" cholesterol (HDL — high-density lipoprotein) which removes the "bad."

Are there two cholesterols? Good (HDL) and bad (LDL)?

LDL cholesterol is the one called "bad." Why is it called bad, when it is one of the most important substances in the body — without it we would die? An excessive amount of this cholesterol is associated with coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke and other circulatory and heart-related conditions. When the artery walls are damaged (we discuss why below), LDL cholesterol is sent to the site of damage as a "repair material." The problem arises when, because of unceasing inflammation, LDL becomes trapped inside the artery wall, oxidises, and together with immune cells forms plaques. This process, which narrows the arteries, is called atherosclerosis.

Cholesterol levels (norms)

At first glance, blood cholesterol figures can seem a little complicated. Cholesterol is measured in millimoles per litre of blood (sometimes mg/dl).

Measure	Range	Meaning
Total cholesterol	< 5 mmol/l	Normal
Total cholesterol	5–6 mmol/l	Borderline
Total cholesterol	> 6 mmol/l	Too high
LDL (lower is better)	< 1.4 mmol/l	Target for people with heart disease or high risk
LDL	< 1.8 mmol/l	Target for people with heart disease or attack risk
LDL	< 3.0 mmol/l	Normal
LDL	> 5.0 mmol/l	Very high
HDL (higher is better)	< 1 mmol/l (men), < 1.2 mmol/l (women)	Very poor

So where does TOO MUCH cholesterol come from?

The key question remains: why does your body produce too much cholesterol (we have already established that elevated cholesterol does not "come from" food, as you are usually led to believe)? "It's the genes!" your doctor may say; "Yes, it's DNA!" echo the big drug manufacturers. But do you really believe it is your grandmother's fault? Then where were the cholesterol problems, say, 300 years ago? Back then people consumed two or three times more calories per day, most of it from animal-source food. Genes do not change that fast, so a cholesterol "epidemic" (like the one now) would already have existed centuries ago. The cause lies elsewhere.

Cholesterol drugs (statins)

As mentioned, cholesterol is produced in the body. This synthesis is a complex process involving about 30 chemical reactions. The critical moment is when the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase produces mevalonate. This enzyme is especially significant because it controls whether cholesterol is produced or not. Because HMG-CoA reductase is the critical controller of cholesterol synthesis, statins intervene in this reaction and block it — and presto, cholesterol production is halted. But this does not address why the enzyme keeps receiving the signal to produce cholesterol in the first place.

Side effects of cholesterol drugs

The active ingredient in most cholesterol-lowering drugs prescribed to you is "statins." It is worth looking into their side effects — and the likelihood of them is considerable. And you would have to take them for life. Dr. Malcolm Kendrick argues that the drawbacks of statins outweigh the potential benefit for many people. Statin prescriptions rise by nearly 30% every year. Patients should ask their doctors: "How much longer will I live if I take statins — and what will the quality of that time be?"

What really drives high cholesterol

This may be entirely unexpected, but there is a great deal of research, and those who look can readily find the answers. So what drives excessive cholesterol production in your body? In short — sugar (glucose). How does this happen? It is known that cholesterol forms atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries and clogs blood vessels. But once you understand that cholesterol is a tool for controlling inflammation and managing the damage inflammation causes, the picture of the "system" becomes clear. The cause of chronic disease is inflammation, not cholesterol.²⁰ The real culprit is inflammation — and what most inflames your blood vessels? Sugar causes enormous inflammation.

Lowering cholesterol

As mentioned, for many people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) can be dangerous. The best diet in that case is ketogenic. This diet is fairly hard to follow, because the proportions of all foods are the reverse of what we are used to. About 80% of all calories should come from fats (good fats, not heated oils or trans fats), about 15% from protein, and about 5% from carbohydrates — only from non-starchy vegetables (no starch). That means cauliflower, broccoli, courgette, cucumber and all leafy greens. So no porridge, no buns, no potatoes, bread, alcohol, fruit, flour or sugar.

How to maximally lower your cholesterol and improve your circulatory system without statins?

The answer is medicinal mushrooms. The first-generation statins were extracted from mushrooms and had no side effects. Do you know the biggest problem with medicinal mushrooms? They cannot be patented (the "patent" belongs to nature), so the big drug companies cannot monopolise markets and generate enormous cash flows. In Asia, medicinal mushrooms have been used for centuries, while in the Western hemisphere mushroom research has only been "catching up" in recent decades. Research scientifically supports the traditional use of medicinal mushrooms — and a precision formula combining several complementary cholesterol pathways is more effective than any single ingredient.

Related supplement

First-generation statins came from mushrooms. A precision formula combining several complementary cholesterol pathways is studied as more effective than any single ingredient.

AURI 25 by Zenius Labs™ →

What is the normal cholesterol level?