The Truth About Cholesterol You Need to Know

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]Hi everyone, this is Isha Chopra. I'm an actor, a screenwriter, and a host, and today is an extra special day because I am going to be interviewing none other than my father, Dr. Lok Chopra, who is a consultant cardiologist, a functional medicine expert, and more recently and uh Instagram influencer.

[00:00:21]Yes.

[00:00:21]>> Yes? How do you like the attention?

[00:00:23]Wonderful.

[00:00:24]>> [laughter] >> As a solid professional, you shouldn't be saying things like that, Dr. But, uh recently, one of your reels that was about egg yolks and cholesterol kind of went a little bit viral, and we felt that it was a good idea to just sort of come in here and have a real conversation about it because it seems that cholesterol is a very misunderstood thing. So, Dad, I mean, Dr. Chopra, uh what is this controversy about cholesterol? Is it friend or foe? First of all, cholesterol has become a swear word. Everybody thinks it's evil. And the moment the cholesterol goes around 200, everybody gets a pill. You must understand that cholesterol is essential for life. Where does cholesterol come from? I put this question to most of my patients, and they'll say, "Obviously from food." I said, "Yes." Yes? Not at all. 85% of the cholesterol is made in our body. How can it be bad?

[00:01:21]Kaisa ho sakta hai? Okay, even I didn't know that, that cholesterol actually is made in our body and doesn't come from food. Uh so, why does the body make cholesterol? Why is it needed? What are the different jobs it has to do in our body?

[00:01:35]Well, it's got something like 10, 13, 14 jobs to do. And I'm trying to put them together because the number of jobs are multiplying from time to time.

[00:01:45]So, let's start with the first one. The most important one, or not the first important one, structural integrity.

[00:01:50]Now, without cholesterol, the uh body cannot, you know, cover the membranes of the cells. And there are it makes a protective barrier to make the cells sturdy, to make the arteries sturdy, so that they can eat and prevents all the turbulence that may happen in the heart.

[00:02:07]And so the next job it does is making lipid life savers. What are they?

[00:02:12]Cholesterol makes some rafts. And these rafts carry the proteins to what it where it is needed and for other important needs. Also, it helps in the communication with the cells. If there is no cholesterol, the nervous system runs down, congenital abnormalities can come up and other things like autism, etc. The third one is a vital brain matter. Now, there is a thing called myelin. Now, this myelin coats every cell, every nerve fiber, gives it insulation, nourishment, and protection.

[00:02:40]And this myelin is made by cholesterol. And therefore, other things like memory, connection with synapses. Synapses means how each nerve endings are together. And obviously, other things like your intelligence and your mental issues, everything is being run by cholesterol.

[00:02:57]Number four is that it's a necessary product of the body. So, the body makes cholesterol and it makes it as it is needed.

[00:03:06]Now, whether it is needed or not needed, there is no effect on the blood cells.

[00:03:10]It's working on its own. So, when we have more cholesterol, the body produces less.

[00:03:16]And when we have less cholesterol, the body makes more.

[00:03:21]So, even if you don't have cholesterol, the body is still making it. That's how important it is.

[00:03:26]Number five is the dangers of low cholesterol. First of all, it creates a lot of emotional instability. And a lot of criminal behavior is linked now with low cholesterol in the form of crime, aggression, violence, suicide, etc. The sixth one is about our endocrine glands. Now, we all know that the adrenals and our sex glands and our steroids are made from cholesterol.

[00:03:50]Cholesterol also is involved in the making of testosterone, progesterone, cortisol, aldosterone, and estrogen. And hence we understand that cholesterol is very essential for every sort of metabolism, including energy, brains, our behavior, muscles, bone, reproduction, emotions.

[00:04:08]So much is connected with cholesterol.

[00:04:11]We all know that the adrenal glands are responsible for our endocrine needs.

[00:04:17]And as a result and and what happens is that when we don't have cholesterol, there is a thing called adrenal exhaustion. And therefore adrenal exhaustion means that we cannot function properly.

[00:04:27]Even infertility a large part of infertility is connected with low cholesterol. Number seven is liver and vitamin regulation. Bile is made by cholesterol and we all know that bile is very essential for digestion. And most people who get troubled for times on end for gut issues are connected with low cholesterol. So, number eight is our immune health. Now, did you know that cholesterol is deeply linked with our immunity? It does a damn good job for that. I don't understand that. How can cholesterol be linked to your immunity?

[00:05:03]Because that's its job. I can't help that. It has so many jobs.

[00:05:08]>> [laughter] >> Well, anyway, it is also deactivating bacteria, controlling infections, protecting damage, reducing the chances of AIDS, Alzheimer's, recovery from illness. All that is done by cholesterol. Now, within that, I'm coming to that later, but for the moment, I have used caviar, cod liver oil, and eggs in high doses to help the immunity with the help of cholesterol. So, then point number nine is the varying levels of cholesterol.

[00:05:40]So, the cholesterol varies in different times of the day, different seasons, different parts of the year. With winter it increases. With summer, it decreases.

[00:05:49]It increases after infections, increases after surgery, dental treatment. Even stress increases it. And when when we are relaxed, then the cholesterol comes down.

[00:05:59]That's how versatile it is. You seem to be a little bit in love with cholesterol. I think I noticed a spark in your eyes right [laughter] now when you were talking about it.

[00:06:08]Well, that's true. I love cholesterol and I always tell people, "Do you know what my cholesterol is?"

[00:06:14]Take a deep breath.

[00:06:16]It's 325.

[00:06:18]"Really?" Yes, it is. And I'm still alive.

[00:06:23]Okay, number 10. Now, cholesterol is a marvelous healing agent. Now, whenever there is any injury or problems to our body, the liver sends cholesterol to the site where it is needed.

[00:06:35]And it just sits down and repairs everything that is needed. Cholesterol is also an antioxidant, helps in free radical damage. When surgery damages the arteries and veins, it helps there.

[00:06:46]Cholesterol heals all the other wounds, even for dental work.

[00:06:49]So, when And then it is wrongly interpretated as bad.

[00:06:57]That's not true. Cholesterol is doing its job very well. Are you saying that when it comes to wound healing, the cholesterol rises and goes high, it's not a result or a problem that the cholesterol has gone high, it's gone high because it's regenerating itself in order to heal the wound. Yes, that's true. Now, I'm not trying to say that cholesterol is the only thing that is helping in recovery.

[00:07:20]Our body is made of many other things, but cholesterol is doing a very major job. So, high cholesterol means that it's actually getting generated in order to heal something in the body.

[00:07:30]>> Absolutely. And now it is misinterpreted that when something is going wrong, cholesterol goes up. And therefore, it is they are trying to equate the fact that cholesterol is rising to the occasion. They are thinking that it's the cholesterol which caused the injury.

[00:07:45]So, they are connected, but in a helpful way, not actually in a way that they're linked as symptoms of each other. Yes.

[00:07:51]So, is there anything known as good cholesterol and bad cholesterol? Is that even a thing?

[00:07:57]And we keep hearing about these things called LDL, HDL, triglycerides. What do all these words mean?

[00:08:04]Well, let me try and simplify it.

[00:08:08]You see uh HDL is called good cholesterol. LDL is called bad cholesterol. I sometimes wonder how we have accepted this.

[00:08:18]And how is the world accepting it?

[00:08:19]Because the world is not as concerned with cholesterol as you are.

[00:08:23]They are of course they are.

[00:08:25]My god, nobody nobody come goes away without talking about cholesterol. It has to be It has to be that. Not true.

[00:08:31]Not true at all.

[00:08:33]I What I was trying to say is that how have we taken this into ourselves that in that same one body there is a good cholesterol and there's a bad cholesterol. Does it mean there's a good cholesterol in her left arm and a right cholesterol in her right arm? How ridiculous is it?

[00:08:50]It sounds very ridiculous when you put it that way, but so what is the So, I always ask my patients, what is HDL? What is LDL? They say it's a cholesterol. I said, "Okay."

[00:09:01]I said, "You know what it is?

[00:09:03]It is a taxi."

[00:09:05]"Taxi?" "Yes, it's a taxi.

[00:09:07]It's a taxi which is carrying a passenger and they're called cholesterol. And were it not for LDL, the jobs the 14-15 jobs that we talked about or less or more wouldn't have happened.

[00:09:21]It wouldn't have happened if the LDL did not take the cholesterol to the site of action. What What does LDL stand for?

[00:09:27]What does HDL? Low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein. And what makes one good and the other bad in people's minds?

[00:09:35]They don't know. The answer is that they don't know. It's whichever people who are put this into their heads have convinced them that this is what is right and they're not wrong or whatever.

[00:09:46]So, therefore, what I'm trying to tell is that LDL is responsible for taking cholesterol to all those number of sites that we talked about.

[00:09:56]What is HDL?

[00:09:58]HDL brings back the unused cholesterol back to the liver for remaking.

[00:10:04]Maybe that's why they call it good.

[00:10:06]Oh, so one takes the cholesterol that's been created in the liver, correct?

[00:10:11]>> No. LDL takes it to the site of action.

[00:10:14]And HDL brings it back for reevaluation.

[00:10:18]>> Okay, so I've understood that cholesterol is made in the body and by the body, but what are the dietary sources of cholesterol?

[00:10:26]Well, there are many, but I can tell you about five or six important ones. The bigger one is caviar.

[00:10:33]Followed by cod liver oil.

[00:10:34]Followed by my famous eggs, the egg yolks, I mean.

[00:10:38]Uh next is butter, cold water fish like shellfish, salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, shrimps.

[00:10:48]And lastly, lard. Now, I know lard is a sounds like a bad word, but it's not.

[00:10:54]Lump of lard? Yeah, it's lump of lard because that's how You see, that's how people think about cholesterol.

[00:11:01]Lard can be good or bad. Good when it's used properly, bad when it's overused.

[00:11:06]And what goes with anything?

[00:11:07]>> What is lard exactly? Lard is a composition of fat.

[00:11:12]Oh. It's a localized fat.

[00:11:15]It's funny, we keep using these words and they get used colloquially and in language.

[00:11:19]>> And then it became reality.

[00:11:20]>> science and it's not really true. Yeah.

[00:11:23]So, a lump of lard is a good thing.

[00:11:26]Okay, so in one line what should we do? I'll give you three-word answer.

[00:11:31]Or four word answer. Please listen to me. And I'm not trying to get some you know, medals for this. I'm very concerned about people. That nobody is understanding it, nobody is accepting it, and that is why one of the main reasons that chronic illnesses don't go away is lack of cholesterol.

[00:11:52]I'm going to add pantocid also because pantocid is having the same problems like cholesterol.

[00:11:58]Mhm. We'll talk about that later.

[00:12:00]Misunderstood warriors. Yes, these two warriors. And I'm telling you that lack of cholesterol and lack of acid in our body is the cause for chronic illnesses.

[00:12:10]Let's not the cause, but the major cause.

[00:12:13]Okay, next question.

[00:12:14]What are statins? Are they good, bad, ugly, and do they have any side effect on the body?

[00:12:20]You know, the funny thing is that statins can actually be called bad and good.

[00:12:25]>> [laughter] >> Truly, I'll tell you why.

[00:12:28]See, first of all, statins are good and then also rogues. And let me explain that.

[00:12:34]Now, statins are actually anti-inflammatory agents.

[00:12:38]Which means that it reduces the inflammation in your arteries.

[00:12:42]So, it's good.

[00:12:44]Okay? But, the problem is that when we overuse statins, as everybody does, and many doctors are either pushing it for some unknown reason, or they don't know better.

[00:12:56]They're actually giving statins for years on end.

[00:13:00]I give statins in people where I've understood that their arteries are inflamed.

[00:13:07]And I can handle this with statins in about 3 weeks, 6 weeks at the most. Once that is done, the role of statins is over. So, is statins also something created by the body or is something we take from outside?

[00:13:21]>> statin is taken from outside. It's like a drug. And it is doing a job to reduce the inflammation in the artery. Okay, so I've understood the good part of statins, which was interesting, but what is the bad part of statins?

[00:13:36]Cholesterol and statins are not friends.

[00:13:38]Remember that. It's It's like seeing some guy on the road and saying hello to him and passing by. You're not going to see him again.

[00:13:45]So, statins has other roles other bad effects like diabetes, like breaking down your muscles by causing conditions like Alzheimer's or dementia in the long run.

[00:13:58]Yes, it's done its good job, but when it's done its good job, tell it to go home.