Ray Peat on Cholesterol

Short answer: Ray Peat wrote that everything doctors know about cholesterol is wrong. He described cholesterol as a protective substance and the raw material for the steroid hormones, and saw high cholesterol mainly as a sign of low thyroid function.

What Ray Peat wrote about cholesterol

He called cholesterol protective against oxidative and cell-destroying damage. The trouble starts when it is not turned over: in hypothyroidism it sits in the blood long enough to become oxidized and lose that protective role. Source: Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health

He read the rise of cholesterol with age as partial compensation for declining thyroid function. When stress suppresses the thyroid, more cholesterol may allow more progesterone to be made. Source: Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health

Cholesterol is converted to pregnenolone, the first of the steroid hormones. He suspected vitamin A is needed for that step, alongside thyroid hormone. Source: Multiple Sclerosis and other hormone related brain syndromes, Alzheimer's: The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality — part 2

Because progesterone and its brain-protective relatives depend on cholesterol, he considered a low cholesterol level a problem in itself. Source: Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy

He pointed to heart failure research in which higher cholesterol goes with better survival, and described cholesterol-lowering as harmful in that setting. Source: Heart and hormones

He explained how unsaturated oils lower cholesterol: as one more toxic action, with the liver holding its cholesterol back defensively. Source: Coconut Oil ↗

For atherosclerosis he looked past the fat in the plaque to clotting, spasm, blood viscosity and the build-up of iron and calcium. High iron stores increase its incidence. Source: Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health

What he suggested in practice

• Treat high cholesterol as a reason to check thyroid function.
• Seafood for selenium, which he calls extremely protective in animal experiments with excess cholesterol.
• Coconut oil: the regular users he knew had cholesterol around 160.

Where he wrote about it

This topic comes up in 54 of the articles on his site. These are the most relevant ones:

• Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Alzheimer's: The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality — part 1 · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Alzheimer's: The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality — part 2 · original on raypeat.com ↗
• The Great Fish Oil Experiment · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Coconut Oil ↗ · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Unsaturated Vegetable Oils: Toxic · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Sugar issues · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Thyroid: Therapies, Confusion, and Fraud · original on raypeat.com ↗

My take

Cholesterol is the sole precursor of every steroid hormone and of bile acids. HDL and LDL are not cholesterol, they are carriers. If your blood cholesterol is high, you have a metabolic issue: ATP, vitamin A and T3 are what turn it into hormones.

Quick answers

What did Ray Peat say about cholesterol?

That it is a protective substance and the precursor of the steroid hormones, and that high cholesterol usually reflects low thyroid function rather than a disease of its own.

What did Ray Peat say about high cholesterol?

He wrote that the rise of cholesterol with age is probably a partial compensation for declining thyroid function, and that thyroid hormone is needed to convert cholesterol into protective steroids.