Statins may not cut risk of cancer

Statins may not cut risk of cancer

November 1st, 2011
Author: Philip Ridley


The Journal of the National Cancer Institute have suggested that a cholesterol reducing drug called simvastatin helps keep cancer at bay, and it is being proposed for breast cancer victims.


All of the newspapers have picked up on this press release, as they always do, without question. The Institute itself have stated that further studies are required and they only make the claim that these statins may avoid breast cancer relapse. There is also widespread, readily available evidence from a growing number of scientists and doctors that statins are not beneficial and that they can cause significant harm.

The truth is, that cholesterol can only cause cancer if it is oxidized and becomes a free radical. Cholesterol is a very delicate compound, which is why the body encases it in protein when transporting it. LDL, purportedly the bad cholesterol, is the protein casing for cholesterol traveling from the liver to where it is required, and HDL, purportedly the good cholesterol, is the protein casing for cholesterol when it returns to the liver for recycling.

If all cholesterol produced by the liver was bad, then how did we survive as a species to date? If the liver is well nourished with sufficient nutrient dense foods, it produces a perfectly healthy LDL cholesterol. However, the protein casing becomes malformed when the liver is malnourished, leaving the cholesterol it produces vulnerable to oxidation. The liver is a very fatty organ which requires liberal quantities of fats and fat soluble vitamins to function properly, particularly vitamin A. Unfortunately, with natural animal fats blamed for “bad” cholesterol, people are avoiding the very foods necessary for proper cholesterol production.


The other major source of oxidised cholesterol is processed food. Cholesterol, being a delicate molecule, is always protected in natural whole foods. However, many common foods are now highly processed. This tends to damage the protection foods provide to cholesterol, thus allowing it to oxidize and become harmful. Culprits include powdered milk. This is added to many ice-creams and low fat dairy products to add bulk. It is also used to standardize the fat content in milk, with now even the organic Marks and Spencers milk being standardized. I see it also in many other processed foods. Powdered eggs also have oxidised cholesterol and are used in many processed foods. This is only a very short list of the many high pressure, high temperature processes that should be avoided.

We are told to avoid animal products, but processing is done just as much to products containing polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Unfortunately, they are far more delicate and are more likely to become damaged and rancid, exposing us to free radicals and trans-fats at far lower heats and temperatures. This is why seed oils tend to be sold cold pressed and in dark bottles to protect them from sunlight when sold at health food stores. Yet these are the primary fats used for cooking and in processed foods. And then there is the recent fad of purchasing cold pressed rapeseed oil and cooking with it!

Ironically, properly formed LDL cholesterol is a potent anti-oxidant, helping protect the body from cancer. This is just one of cholesterol's many roles. The consumption of antioxidants reduces blood cholesterol levels because those antioxidants will do cholesterols’ work, and the liver will only produce cholesterol that the body needs. Therefore, whilst statins may reduce oxidized cholesterol, it will also reduce beneficial healthy cholesterol, potentially leading to more free radicals and a greater chance of cancer, particularly for those who do not consume many antioxidants and who continue to eat processed food.

Philip Ridley is London Chapter Leader of the Weston A. Price Foundation: westonaprice.org/london