Reader, Have a look at the graph on your right.
It shows that if your HDL is high enough — even if your total cholesterol is 300 or higher… Your chance of having a heart attack is almost zero.
You see, despite what you hear from conventionally trained doctors, cholesterol does not cause heart disease.
Cholesterol is what heart disease acts upon.
And cholesterol is a good thing. The more you have, the longer you'll live.
But studies show that the benefits of cholesterol go far beyond your heart…
Because cholesterol is highly protective and performs dozens of vital functions in your body. - Dutch researchers found that higher cholesterol protects your brain from cognitive decline.1
- In 2021, Australian researchers discovered that higher cholesterol lowers your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.2
- Researchers at Texas A&M University found that cholesterol boosts muscle gain from exercising – while lower cholesterol reduces muscle gain.3
- And finally, a combined study that included researchers from the U.S., Japan, Sweden, England, and Ireland found that low cholesterol is associated with a high risk of all-cause mortality…4
In other words, low cholesterol raises your risk of dying. And Unfortunately, many people who rely on mainstream medicine for health information still haven't gotten the message.
The way modern medicine treats cholesterol is the same as saying… "You have Alzheimer's disease, let's cut off your head."
It's like if you come to me to have your bone mineral density measured, and I say…"We've found a problem with your bones. We have to take them out."
You treat the problem, not the part of your anatomy that the problem is affecting.
But that's what we've done with cholesterol. Because it's diseased doesn't mean you want to get rid of it. You want to get rid of the disease.
Cholesterol is a normal and important part of your anatomy. You need your cholesterol. It becomes diseased because there are unnatural inflammatory and oxidative pressures that are distorting it and causing it to be diseased.
Cholesterol isn't the bad guy. It's the oxidation and inflammation that are the bad guys.
The solution I use with my patients who have inflammation is to try and get their HDL to be as high as half of their triglycerides.
There's no evidence that high cholesterol increases heart risk if your HDL is at least half your triglycerides.
If you can make your HDL higher than your triglycerides, that's even better.
At the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine, I help my patients raise their cholesterol with omega-3 fatty acids and niacin, also known as vitamin B3. Multiple studies have proven that these two nutrients cause your HDL levels to surge.5,6
But numerous recent studies reveal there is much more you can do... - Eat Three Eggs A Day. Modern advice on eggs has been to not eat them at all, or at least to throw the yolk away. It's a shame, because eggs — every part of them — are the perfect food.
The yolks have all the fat-soluble vitamins, and the whites have all the water-soluble vitamins. Almost every vitamin you need is an egg.
A key study conducted by the University of Connecticut's Department of Nutritional Sciences found that even if you eat just one egg per day, you will boost your body's HDL function.
And eating three eggs raises your HDL function to the point where you never have to worry about your LDL levels again.
- Always Include Exercise. Multiple studies show short bursts of intense exercise will boost HDL levels and its functionality better than any other form of exercise.
One study examined the impact of an 8-week program of high-intensity exercise three times per week and found dramatic improvements in cholesterol function, especially in patients who were "averagely" fit.7,8
That's why I recommend my PACE program to patients.
PACE stands for Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion, and it uses brief but vigorous routines of increasing intensity to increase the strength of your heart and your cholesterol function.
The really great thing about my PACE system is you only need 12 minutes a day. And everyone can do it, no matter your fitness level.
- Supplement With Astaxanthin. This pigment is what gives salmon its pink color — and it's one of the most powerful boosters of HDL in existence.
In the first-ever randomized, placebo-controlled human trial, researchers demonstrated that astaxanthin can raise HDL levels by up to 15%.9
I recommend 10 mg to 12 mg of astaxanthin a day. But avoid synthetic astaxanthin. Studies conducted at Creighton University and Brunswick Laboratories showed that synthetic astaxanthin is more than 20 times weaker than natural astaxanthin.10
I strongly recommend paying the extra money to avoid taking a worthless petrochemical pill.
Look for natural forms of astaxanthin. The bottle will state: "Haematococcus pluvialis algae extract."
To Your Good Health, 
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References: - van Vliet P. "Cholesterol and late-life cognitive decline." J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;30 Suppl 2:S147-62.
- Cochran BJ, et al. "High density lipoproteins and diabetes." Cells. 2021 Apr 9;10(4):850.
- Texas A&M University. "Surprise – cholesterol may actually pose benefits, study shows." www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109173717.htm. Accessed on March 31, 2025.
- Ravnskov U, et al. "Lack of an association or an inverse association between low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review." BMJ. June 12, 2016.
- Rossi CS, Siliprandi N. "New perspectives on the use of niacin in the treatment of lipid disorders." Arch Intern Med. 2004;164(7):697-705.
- Bernstein A, et al. "A Meta-analysis shows at docosahexaenoic acid ... increases HDL-cholesterol ... in persons without coronary heart disease." J Nutr. 2012;142(1):99-104.
- Smoak B, et al. "Changes in lipoprotein profiles during intense military training." J Am Coll Nutr. 9:567-572.
- Berglund I, et al. "The long-term effect of different exercise intensities on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in older men and women using the per protocol approach: The generation 100 study." Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2021 Sep 16;5(5):859-871.
- Yoshida H, Yanai H. "Administration of natural astaxanthin increases serum HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin in subjects with mild hyperlipidemia." Atherosclerosis. 2010 Apr;209(2):520-3.
- Capelli B, et al. "Synthetic astaxanthin is significantly inferior to algal-based astaxanthin as an antioxidant and may not be suitable as a human nutraceutical supplement." Nutrafoods. 2013;12:145
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