cholesterol, depression, blood-fats
I remember when Lowell Barron (Ann) wrote:
“DH is slightly high on LDL but OK on the others - we are trying to modify that.
”
And also:
“I quite believe the connection between cholesterol and depression. I have
low/normal total cholesterol - very high HDL and very low LDL (both off the
scale) and very low triglycerides. I eat 3 eggs every day - from a farm lady -
and try to eat more fat to get/keep cholesterol up! Cholesterol is also
necessary for the making of various hormones. Last time mine was checked it was
on the low end of normal - an improvement. Low cholesterol is also connected to
cancer and a number of other problems. So we are all different.”
The stuff I’ve been reading about cholesterol and fats is very, very
interesting. And my new book: “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon and Mary
Enig, Ph.D. is in full support of cholesterol-rich foods and fats, especially
animal fats. It should be noted that much of the fats we ate before the 20th
century were animal fats. It has been recommended in the book that less than 4%
of the fats we eat should be vegetable fats! I’m in trouble… I do eat a very
healthy home-made mayonaisse, balanced EFAs and lots of olive oil, good by the
numbers but what I’ve read confirms everything I’ve felt and how I’ve developed
while eating a diet high in beef fat. Even though I consume a lot of animal fat
by comparison to my American peers (that includes YOU!), I don’t meet the
recommended amount from experts such as Mary Enig and some other proponents of
paleoithic, low-carb diets. There is a lot of information, and I’ve only looked
at snippets here and there, but it seems if there is any kind of fat to be
fearful of, it’s the polyunsaturated omega-6s, which are way too high in the
typical American diet. Three eggs a day, that sounds great! I applaud you.
Whenever I’ve eaten a cholesterol-rich food I’ve been extra hungry before the
next meal, from what I’ve been learning this makes sense as we use the
cholesterol in our diet (when we do get it) for our own bile acids. I think my
digestive ability has been compromised, though I got so used to it from
vegetarianism I couldn’t tell. This summer of meat-centered and low-carb eating
has really changed how I feel. Liver, eggs, and kidneys! I’m looking for more
cholesterol-rich foods but those seem to be the only real sources… dear meat
(venison) is the highest in cholesterol of all the muscle-meats I’ve seen. Oh
yeah, and brain. Brain is PACKED with cholesterol, but I the meat vendors I’ve
met at my Farmer’s Market have been reticent to ask for it from their
processors… the whole prion “mad-cow” BSE CJD thing… I read in the
“Nourishing Traditions” that the condition results from nutritional deficiencies
leading to suceptibility and exposure to other animals in the feed, not
prions… but who knows. It’s like with grass-fed naturally-raised animals, they
can socialize with other herds, becoming exposed to the same animals as others
of their kind and won’t develop the more common livestock diseases… simply
because they are naturally-raised and strong, naturally immune, as they should
be! What’s interesting is apparently animals that eat foods that are grasses or
grains that are the poisened (pesticides) and artificially fertilized variety
are also much more susceptible to developing diseases (not to mention containing
those poisenous residues in their flesh!) and that animals that eat natural
foods, especially organic and wholesome plants from nutritionally rich soil are
free of many diseases… it can really make a difference! Why, I’d bet if humans
ate good food then they’d…
If you look at the digestive system web-site I provided you will see an brief
note on that one old dude who ate like 25 eggs a day, no problems, good blood
profile. The human body produces about 80% of the cholesterol it uses… eating
cholesterol just eases the burdon on cholesterol production, and not only am I
sodium deficient (humbling to Mr. Smarty Pants) but I don’t think I’m eating my
quota of cholesterol everyday… sigh, I’ve still got a lot of improving to do.
I’ll have to include that into my visualizations. BTW the old dude is pretty
popular as a dramatic example of the non-evilness of eggs and cholesterol, he’s
made it into “Protein Power” too!
I’ve finished Drs. Richard and Rachael F. Heller’s “The Carbohydrate Addict’s
Lifespan Program”. Not bad, but not as good as Drs. Michael and Mary Eades’
“Protein Power”. Can you imagine: a tag-team match between the CAD Drs. Richard
and RAchael Heller and PP Drs. Michael and Mary Eades? I think the “Protein
Power” duo would win. Or maybe the cardiologist Dr. Robert Atkins would jump in
and kick everyone’s ass! Yeah!!!
“The Carbohydrate Addict’s Lifespan Program” was okay, it explains insulin’s
role pretty well, but the program itself is inferior in my opinion to the
Eades’, even to Atkins’ diet plans. It has a daily reward meal that allows for
equal portions of salad, meat, and carbs. Also has a one hour all-you-can-eat
food-a-thon, I can see it being easier for people who have problems giving up
catering to their desires. The recipe sections leaves a lot to be desired, yucky
ingredients in my opinion. And they subscribe to the anti-fat (and especially
anti-animal-fat of course 
) deal… very sad. I wonder when I read this kind
of attitude from these low-carb doctors if they are just writing that way to
escape persecution and to gain greater acceptance to make more money and/or help
more people. Same suspicions for Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo, no offense. It would be
VERY difficult to maintain credibility within the established nutritional
circles and with the brainwashed/brainwashing media if any of these highly
visible authors were to take on the establishment with a pro-animal-fat angle.
Dr. Robert Atkins (the cardiologist) is my favorite for this, his diet is the
most extreme, even by low-carb standards but his is designed for people who are
overweight and/or have insulin-related dysfunctions. Although his diet receives
the most criticism it doesn’t deserve as much as it’s gotten, his diet isn’t as
clear as the others and really does benefit from inclusion of his supplemental
books about, er, supplements. People also have a difficult time understanding
what the diet is, basically –but then that’s true of all of these diets… I
understand, my ability to think and comprehend information is compromised when
my diet isn’t good, so the struggling masses have my sympathies. Where I’m going
is: the cardiologist is the boldest pusher of the high-fat and high animal fat
low-carb diet, he simply isn’t afraid to suggest lots of FAT! And animal fat at
that! My only problem is the prevalance of pork and pork fat in the diet, but
those not hip to the BTD won’t care anyway. I figure it’s just another example
of the many advantages to fitting the various pieces of the puzzle together.
Anyone else here who has been keeping up with the BB’s discussion on fat? I was
surprised with the discussion on saturated fat in particular, the hot topic has
been that for some people (strength of the BTD) over 50% of the diet’s fat
should be saturated fat! This helps in the proper absorption of calcium, and for
the proper metabolization of EFAs… I’m hip to the EFA issue and mono and
saturated fat, I’ve felt that my body’s ability to use the EFAs in my diet has
been much enhanced since I’ve been eating lots of beef fat, of course, in my
beef fat from grass-fed cows I’m also getting a whole bunch of the EFAs in a
very healthy ratio already! Well, some nutritional circles are going as high as
50% or over on the sat. fats. This is from studies too… study after study
after study, so many different controlled studies! Which to believe? Well, BTD’s
polymorphism explains why results can and will differ, but I am confused and
overwhelmed by the various results from the nutritional studies. I don’t like
how many of them are done anyway, too simplistic, too narrow-minded. Isolating
compounds and foods to the point of unapplicability to a real person’s life.
Western science is in the habit of isolating, refining, categorizing, and
generally futzing with things to the point of unreality, and though medline is a
good resource it is time-consuming to weed out the obnoxious misguided studies
from the quality ones. And the medical establishment has basically lost my
trust. The average American’s body is probably so metabolically out of whack
(i.e. dysfunctional) that it doesn’t even reflect on how a person on a real diet
will do with a given food or food-ingredient! Most of it doesn’t even apply.
Take calcium metabolism for example: vegetarian argument against meat and
calcium excretion with the BTD’s insight into O’s acidity necessary for calcium
absorption and add the saturated fat ratios into the equation and you have an
argument spanning the two extremes on diet and something as basic as the mineral
calcium! I think it is safer to stick with the BTD, understanding diet from an
evolutionary perspective and persuing a personal diet with those principles and
tailoring it to one’s personal experiences with the evolving diet. Hard to go
wrong, evolutionarily speaking, we are evolved beings after all, and the diet we
ate for hundreds of thousands of years is a pretty safe diet to follow… it’s
the new, modern diet that is scary; look at the incredible rise in diseases! Not
good at all…
Suspicious cave man O and very positive about it, secretor status still unknown
but should be known within the week!