First off, this not intended to be an exhaustive review of cholesterol science. Because, a) you'd get bored, and b) Peter Attia did an insurmountable job of that in his 10 part series here.
The purpose of this article is just to shed a bit of light on a confusing topic to help get readers up to speed on the current understanding of cholesterol measurements and ultimately, some serious relevance to your health and longevity.
Pretty much everybody I know has either been recommended cholesterol meds, or they know parents, grandparents, or friends that have. Our society has been inundated with an absurd ubiquitousness regarding "fattening" foods and heart disease, and I would love for people to be armed with some actual knowledge on the subject that surpasses the "oh, enjoy that steak, good luck with your heart disease" conversation.
And I'm going to try muzzle my inner nerd and not get too science heavy, so stick with me through a few moderately intangible concepts, as I've included pretty pictures to lubricate the assimilation process. So hide the margarine, here we go.
Very few nutrition or medical experts are making recommendations based on the most current scientific data, some are quite a bit farther behind than others. The reasons for this discordance are numerous and will be touched upon later.
The information provided here should be taken as opinion, not medical advice. This opinion, however, is based on an extensive review of published scientific literature, books and other published sources from a small number of true experts, as well as years of intricately analyzing lab tests from clients and watching how values change given specific dietary and lifestyle interventions.