Your first link is to the leading causes of death, which means nothing since high cholesterol lowers all cause mortality. And in elderly people it is protective against dementia. Your second link goes to a site that directly says that cholesterol is not bad. In fact, cholesterol is the foundation of the human hormone system -- it is likely the dearth of animal fats and red meat in our western diet over the last few decades that has led to the explosion in depression, ADHD, bi-polar disorder, and so forth.

A healthy amount of cholesterol is good for you. Too much LDL is bad for you. Your body makes the amount you need. Too much more of it leads to health issues like heart disease [1]. This is why doctors put people on LDL lowering medications when they get high (e.g., statins).

To quote the link, "But too much cholesterol can pose a problem." If you click through, "Learn more about cholesterol"[2] there are things in it like, "Cholesterol can join with other substances to form a thick, hard deposit on the inside of the arteries. This can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible – a condition known as atherosclerosis. If a blood clot forms and blocks one of these narrowed arteries, a heart attack or stroke can result."

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/cholesterol/ldl_hdl.htm

[2] https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/about-cho...

Frankly I don't believe that statins are necessary in 99.9% of cases and I think that people focus far too simplistically on cholesterol.

I can remember that days before the HDL/LDL distinction. Now it turns out that moderately high LDL is not necessarily bad if it not accompanied by other negative risk factors (obese, pre-diabetic, etc).

The fact of the matter is that there is a single diet that is ideal for all humans, just as is the case with every other animal species on the planet.

Homo Sapiens are obligate carnivores and we do best when eliminating all plant-based material from our diet. And we certainly don't find heart disease in the indigenous populations that follow an entirely carnivorous diet, such as the Maasai and the Inuit, unless they have adopted a more plant-heavy, processed-food Western-style diet. (Note that we have to "process" plant-based food, but we can just eat meat and eggs raw -- another sign that we are obligate carnivores).

I agree that high cholesterol may be a problem is you're obese, as almost all Americans are, and if you don't follow a 100% carnivorous diet focusing on red meat.

FYI, the scientific studies have shown that the people who live the healthiest and longest (with good health in old age) primarily eat plant based. Read up on the blue zones to learn more. This is even in places in the US where they have carried out detailed studies.

The carnivore's we most relate to biologically (i.e. primates) eat a predominately plant based diet getting few of their calories from other things.

The carnivore's we talk about relating to have different teeth and GI tracks. For example when comparing for size, humans have a far longer GI track than something like a lion. Biologically we are different.

There's a lot of data on this now. Primarily from researches focused on health and aging. There are many studies showing causation and some of this they can explain how it functions in a fair amount of detail.