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| Cholesterol Cholesterol is something that a lot of folks don't really understand. They think of it as simply "fat-stuff", and know they should be concerned, but it's actually a lot more complicated than that! I went to Dr. Atkins website- and these are some of the entries I found: Maura Blackburn from NY writes: "Our success is almost too good to be true. People don’t recognize us. Sometimes it is even hard to believe it myself. My husband lost 85 lbs. He went from a size 42 waist to a 30 waist. I lost 75 lbs. I went from a size 18 to a size 4. We both feel great. Most of all I no longer suffer from bursitis and my asthma is much better. My husband’s cholesterol and blood pressure are now within normal levels. We constantly recommend your diet and will live by it for the rest of our lives." Gail Isbell from NY writes: "With this new lease on life you have given me, eating the foods I love and steadily losing weight, I am proud to say I lost 98 pounds. Under Dr. Atkins/ diet, my sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels are normal. I love this diet; six ladies in my real estate office are now following your routine and losing, too." Many people on this List will tell you the same thing. That they've seen amazing results, and their "bad" cholesterol has gone down, their "good" cholesterol has gone up, and they are within normal ranges for the first time in years. They say "amazing", mostly because of the brainwashing we've been getting for years from the "powers that be" about what our diets should be. The same people that told you that the foods on this diet, like meats and eggs, and heavy cream, would raise your cholesterol are also the same people that told you that eating pasta and white bread and 600 grams of carbs a day were "good for you"! Hah!!! =============== From Dr. Atkins site: Doctors at The Atkins Center have long been concerned about the medical establishment's apparent "fixation" on one's total cholesterol level as a major health risk factor. A person's cholesterol level is composed of both bad (LDL) and good (HDL) cholesterol. HDL cholesterol is the building block for many key hormones in the body, including those involved in growth and sex drive. A low-fat diet tends to lower both LDL and HDL, leaving many people no better off than when they started. ==================== From iVilliage - Dr. Spreen Even if you eat absolutely ZERO cholesterol your body will manufacture it, as it's a vital molecule for many bodily functions, especially hormone production. The big fear we hear about in the media is the deposition of cholesterol in the interior of blood vessels, which causes a narrowing of that vessel, and subsequent decreasing blood flow through it. (This is part of the process called 'atherosclerosis'.) Though cholesterol may be an indicator of heart-disease risk, it's not the best, and is similar to the speedometer in your car reading 100 ... it's an indication that your car is going too fast ... it's not the cause. Cholesterol is a much-maligned molecule (it's actually an alcohol with fat-like properties) that is VITAL for hormonal and other functions in the body. You can't go without it, which is why the body has a mechanism to make its own if you don't eat it. It is found normally in our brain tissue, bile, blood, nerve sheaths, liver, kidney, and adrenal glands. Virtually all cells of the body form it, as many of the membranous structures of all cells use it. In fact, even the famous Framingham study, used to prove how bad cholesterol is, actually found that low cholesterol levels (below 160) showed increased heart disease rates. So ever lower is not always better (though high levels also showed increased rates of heart disease). Better indicators of cardiovascular disease are serum triglycerides and serum homocysteine, both now found to be more closely related to cardiovascular risk than cholesterol is. Seven out of eight people lower their triglyceride levels by using a high-protein diet (with cholesterol), and 2/3 of those simultaneously lower their cholesterol levels. Serum homocysteine levels can be quickly lowered using folic acid, vitamin B-12 and vitamin B-6. However, you can lower cholesterol safely and without side effects using Cholestin, a natural dietary herbal supplement available at most large drug stores. (It's from a company called Pharmanex.) For many, avoiding sugar, white flour (and anything made with it), potato starch (especially deep fried, like french fries or potato chips), and other refined starches is a good start to avoiding cholesterol problems, as the sugar from these foods is converted to fat if not immediately burned for energy. These fats are used to help make cholesterol, and this tends to raise cholesterol levels higher than eating cholesterol for at least 2/3 of Americans. (I found this to be the case in my practice, as did Robert Atkins after evaluating 10,000 patients. I'm not for putting everyone on super-high protein diets, but it does indicate that just cutting out cholesterol is usually too simple an approach.) One final comment: Eggs, for most, are fine, including the yolks (the research "proving" otherwise was done using powdered eggs). However, cook them leaving the yolks intact (avoid omelettes and scrambled eggs), as cholesterol that is heated and exposed to air during cooking changes its form (oxidizes), becoming a different molecule altogether and one worth
avoiding. The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnskov, M.D., Ph.D. |