The Cholesterol Conspiracy: The Fireman vs. The Arsonist

For decades, we’ve been told a simple story about Cholesterol. It goes like this:

Cholesterol is the villain.
Lower it at all costs.
Take the pill.
Avoid the eggs.

It’s a neat narrative. Fear-based. Easy to remember. And very profitable.

But when I looked at the evidence with the cold detachment of Sherlock Holmes, the facts didn’t fit the crime.

This is not medical advice.
This is a Sherlock-style investigation into a story we’ve been taught not to question.

Sherlock Investigation #1

The Cholesterol Crime Scene: My Blood Test

The numbers were there in black and white.

High cholesterol.
Highlighted in red — because fear works better that way.

My mind immediately jumped to the usual conclusions:

lifelong medication
heart attack
stroke
“you should have known better”

I remembered a friend who ate pies with abandon and swallowed cholesterol pills like insurance.
Twenty years later, he’s still on the pills — heavier, not healthier.

Another memory surfaced: someone quietly reduced both cholesterol and medication simply by changing food choices — grapefruit included.

At that point, the real question appeared:

What does high cholesterol actually mean?

So I put on my Sherlock hat and started from first principles.

Clue #1: The Fireman Fallacy

Doctors find cholesterol at the site of clogged arteries.

The conclusion is immediate:

“Cholesterol caused this.”

But Sherlock would ask a different question:

Why is the cholesterol there?

If firemen appear at every house fire, do we arrest the firemen — or look for the arsonist?

Cholesterol is not a random vandal.
It’s a repair molecule.

When blood vessels are damaged by inflammation, the body sends LDL cholesterol to patch the wound and prevent rupture.

Blaming cholesterol for heart disease is like:

arresting the firemen while the arsonist walks free.

Clue #2: The Real Arsonist — Inflammation

So who’s starting the fires?

This is where things get uncomfortable.

For me, the culprit wasn’t obvious at first — because my diet looked “healthy”.

My daily routine looked like this:

Breakfast: porridge with oat milk and banana
Lunch: Huel (protein drink, “complete meal”)
Dinner: meat and vegetables
Evening: chocolate

I exercised. I ate “clean”.
And yet my cholesterol was high.

Sherlock logic demands we examine patterns, not intentions.

Clue #3: The Glucose Rollercoaster

What I discovered was structural, not moral.

Porridge + oat milk + banana = major carbohydrate hit
Blood glucose spikes early
Insulin follows
Energy crashes later

By evening, my brain wasn’t weak — it was panicking.

Chocolate wasn’t indulgence. I wasn’t being weak-willed or naughty.
Chocolate was my emergency fuel!

Clue #4: The Satiety Gap

There was another missing signal.

My diet was:

high carb early
liquid protein at lunch
lean dinner
low fat overall

My brain never received the “we are safe and full” signal (leptin).

So it kept asking for more.

Again: not willpower.
Biology.

The Bigger Cholesterol Pattern: Sugar, Stress, and Damage

Here’s what the investigation revealed:

Sugar spikes insulin, creating micro-damage in vessel walls
Seed oils oxidise easily, increasing inflammation
Stress raises cortisol, keeping the body in emergency mode

When damage occurs, cholesterol is dispatched to repair it.

This was certainly bad news for me as I am a chocoholic. I was eating what I thought was a healthy diet during the day and then binging on chocolate in the evening. As a result, my blood sugar levels increased, and inflammation also increased, leading to higher cholesterol levels.

High cholesterol isn’t the mistake.
It’s the response.

Follow the Money

Sherlock’s golden rule: follow incentives.

There is no money in calm, well-fed, low-stress humans.

There is enormous money in:

statins
fear-based thresholds
constantly shifting “normal” ranges

The goalposts keep moving — not because humans changed, but because industries depend on lifelong customers.

Fear keeps people compliant and encourages them to reach into their pockets to fund their treatment.
Calm makes people curious.

The Long Game: Cholesterol and Longevity

Step back. Look at the whole board.

Large population studies of older adults repeatedly show:

higher LDL often correlates with longer life
better cognitive function
reduced dementia risk

Your brain is roughly 20% cholesterol.

Lowering it aggressively doesn’t “clean pipes”.
It may starve the very organ you need to think clearly.

Interestingly, scientific research has observed what’s known as a “cholesterol paradox” among older adults.

A systematic review of cohort studies found that higher LDL cholesterol was associated with lower mortality in many people over 60 — a finding that runs counter to the conventional cholesterol hypothesis and suggests that the role of LDL may change with age.¹

Another observational analysis in community-living older adults also reported that higher cholesterol levels were not linked with higher death risk.² These patterns have even shown up in longevity research among older populations with exceptional lifespan, such as Sardinia’s seniors.³

Sherlock’s Deduction

Here’s the conclusion — not advice, just logic:

Cholesterol is essential
Cholesterol repairs damage
Cholesterol responds to inflammation
Sugar and stress create the damage

Arresting cholesterol while ignoring inflammation is solving the wrong crime.

Taking Back Control (Without Panic)

If you want better questions to ask — not orders to follow: Ask yourself these questions to get to the root of your cholesterol problems.

What’s driving inflammation in my life?
How stable is my blood sugar?
How stressed am I — really?
Am I measuring causes or just reacting to numbers?

That’s being the CEO of your own bloodwork.

Final Words On Cholesterol

Cholesterol is not your enemy.
Your body is not trying to kill you.
It’s trying to survive in a system stacked against it.

Be sceptical.
Investigate.
Think like Sherlock.

If you want to develop a Sherlock mindset for real-world problems, you can explore that further at BestSherlock.com.

Disclaimer

I am not a medical professional. This article is not medical advice. It reflects personal experience, independent research, and logical analysis. Always consult qualified professionals and do your own investigation.

Sources

Cholesterol paradox in community-living older adults.

Sardinia

High LDL-C was inversely associated with mortality in most people over 60 years (systematic review).

Calm Economy

The Cholesterol Conspiracy: Control Your Health