Don’t Blame the Butter—Blame the Bread
We’ve all heard it: “Watch your cholesterol!” It’s the caution tape wrapped around every steak, every yolk, and every smear of butter. But what if we told you that cholesterol isn’t the villain it’s made out to be? That in fact, it’s one of the most important molecules in your body?
Here’s the truth: your body makes most of its cholesterol on purpose. Not to hurt you, but to keep you alive.
Even more shocking? Recent studies have shown that cardiovascular disease has more to do with sugar, insulin resistance, and chronic inflammation than it does with high cholesterol levels. So why is mainstream medicine so obsessed with this one single number?
Maybe it’s time we rethink the narrative. Maybe… cholesterol deserves an apology.
Let’s break it down.
1. Your Body Produces 80% of Your Cholesterol
That’s right—around 80% of your cholesterol is made by your own body. Your liver does this for a reason: cholesterol is vital to your health. Only about 20% comes from the food you eat (and even that’s tightly regulated by your body’s internal systems).
If cholesterol were so dangerous, why would your liver go out of its way to make so much of it? That’s not a glitch—it’s by design.
2. Your Body Does Not Produce Mass Poison…
Let’s be real: your body is not in the business of mass-producing self-destructive toxins. Cholesterol isn’t poison—it’s protection. It repairs damaged cells, helps produce hormones, and is essential for brain and nerve function.
If cholesterol is present at the scene of arterial damage, maybe it’s not the criminal… maybe it’s the paramedic.
Blaming cholesterol for heart disease is like blaming firemen for fires. They’re there because something else is going wrong—and they’re trying to help.
3. The Foods They Tell You Are Dangerous… Are the Ones We’ve Eaten the Longest
Let’s take a look at the big picture: meat, eggs, butter, and animal fats have been central to human diets for millennia. These are the foods that built empires, fueled warriors, and nourished entire generations before chronic disease became the norm.
Now contrast that with the “heart-healthy” replacements like canola oil, margarine, breakfast cereals, and low-fat snack packs—all of which skyrocketed in popularity in the 1970s… along with obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disease.
So ask yourself: who benefits from you fearing cholesterol-rich foods? (Hint: it’s not your mitochondria.)
4. The Role of Cholesterol: More Than a Number
Cholesterol isn’t just some number on your blood test—it’s a foundational building block for life.
Here’s what it does:
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Makes up every cell membrane in your body—helping regulate what gets in and out of your cells
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Serves as the raw material for hormone production, including testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, and vitamin D
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Supports immune function by helping repair damaged tissues
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Acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells from free radical damage
It’s not something to fear—it’s something to thank.
5. Your Brain Makes It Too… Because It Needs It
Your brain contains over 20% of the cholesterol in your entire body—and it makes its own because it knows how critical it is.
Why? Because cholesterol helps with:
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Nerve signaling
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Memory formation
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Synaptic plasticity (your brain’s ability to learn new things)
Low cholesterol has been associated with increased risk of depression, anxiety, and even cognitive decline. Think about that next time someone calls butter “bad.”
6. “All That Cholesterol Is Killing You”... Or Is It?
Let’s revisit that famous fear-mongering phrase. If cholesterol is so dangerous, how do we explain the countless populations that eat high-fat, high-cholesterol diets and remain free of heart disease?
It’s not the cholesterol—it’s the context.
Inflammation, seed oils, insulin resistance, and processed sugars are the real culprits behind arterial damage. Cholesterol is there to help clean it up. When those systems are overloaded or dysfunctional, cholesterol gets stuck in the traffic jam—not because it caused the crash, but because it showed up to help.
7. The Maasai Tribe: High Cholesterol, Low Heart Disease
Let’s talk about the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania, a traditional cattle-herding tribe whose diet is rich in red meat, raw milk, and blood. They consume large quantities of saturated fat and cholesterol—yet studies show they have almost no signs of cardiovascular disease.
Their blood lipid profiles would send a modern doctor into a panic… but their arteries are clean, their blood pressure is low, and their bodies are lean and strong.
The Maasai don’t count calories, avoid red meat, or take Lipitor. They just live in alignment with how humans are designed to eat.
8. Stop Fearing Cholesterol
We’ve been sold a lie: that eating fat clogs your arteries and that cholesterol is the Grim Reaper in disguise. But the truth is far more empowering.
Cholesterol is:
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A nutrient
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A building block
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A healing agent
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A protector
It’s time to stop fearing what your body is literally trying to make on your behalf. It’s time to eat like your ancestors—nose to tail, fat and all.
So grab a Carnivore Bar, rich in nourishing beef and tallow. Let every bite remind you: real food is never the enemy.
References:
- Ravnskov, Uffe. The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease. NewTrends Publishing, 2000.
- Mente, Andrew, et al. “Associations of urinary sodium excretion with cardiovascular events in individuals with and without hypertension.” Lancet, vol. 388, no. 10043, 2016, pp. 465–475.
- Mann, George V. “Atherosclerosis in the Maasai.” American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 95, no. 1, 1972, pp. 26–37.
- DiNicolantonio, James, and Fung, Jason. The Cholesterol Conundrum. Victory Belt Publishing, 2020.
- Siri-Tarino, Patty W., et al. “Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 91, no. 3, 2010, pp. 535–546.