Its totally frustrating trying to figure out heart disease, the standard model of cholesterol seems like utter horse crap...I'm leaning towards the infection model, as genetic tests are finding 50 some bacterias and 30 funguses in the plaque.
Yup but the standard model sells a LOT of drugs and if big pharma picks their study participants carefully and ends any research that is going the wrong way early, they can show a tiny benefit to taking them. I think I just read something about 'preventative' statin use now being authorized. However, since my brain and cell membranes require cholesterol to function, I think I'll pass on trying to block its production if possible. ;-P Also consider that cholesterol lowering drugs increase the chance of cancer (which is believed to occur due to defects in immune system response).
Personally I try to eat mostly paleo style. (minus some of the extreme stuff some of the diehards go to). That means I eat natural saturated fats like lard and coconut oil and try to avoid the veggie oils which go rancid and develop transfats easily. Natural fats taste better too, conveniently but for those too nervous of the science to try, real olive oil would be a middle road. Ironically, most studies that show the dangers of a 'high fat western diet' deal a lot with hydrogenated vegetable oils. Whereas studies using coconut for their 'high fat diet' found protective effects. Some very powerful protection against liver damage was found when rats were fed coconut oil with their alcohol to the point of almost complete prevention of liver damage. Interesting considering that rats generally do not do well on high fat, their natural diet is not super similar to humans. Rats fed crisco like diets, which is usually the diet used for them to prove the dangers of a high fat diet, do really poorly. I would suggest the same is probalby true of humans, hydrogenated veggie oils are not natural for any creature. However some feel (and there is good evidence for) the danger is polunsaturated fatty acids do not mix well with high sugar diets, so the 2 togother are like a perfect storm. The various fats really need to be looked at on a case by case basis and should not be lumped together. Interestingly, saturated fat and cholesterol have been linked with improved immune response as well. Anyway, there is much still to learn..
- Researchers induced liver disease by feeding mice a combination of
alcohol and omega-3-rich fish oil. They then stopped the alcohol and
split the mice into two groups, one fed fish oil plus glucose, the other
palm oil plus glucose. (Palm oil consists predominantly of saturated
fat, and is less than 10% polyunsaturated.) Livers of the fish oil group
failed to recover, but the palm oil group “showed near normalization.”
The researchers hailed saturated fat as “a novel treatment for liver disease.” [2] - Mice fed 27.5% of calories as alcohol developed severe liver disease
and metabolic syndrome when given a corn oil diet, but no disease at
all when given a cocoa butter diet. (Corn oil is 55% polyunsaturated,
cocoa butter is predominantly saturated fat and is less than 3%
polyunsaturated.) The first line of this paper begins, “The protective effect of dietary saturated fatty acids against the development of alcoholic liver disease has long been known.” [3] - Scientists induced liver disease in mice by feeding alcohol plus
corn oil. They then substituted a saturated-fat rich mix based on beef
tallow and coconut oil for 20%, 45%, and 67% of the corn oil. The more
saturated fat, the healthier the liver. [4]
[1] Holahan CJ et al. Late-Life Alcohol Consumption and 20-Year Mortality.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2010 Aug 24. [Epub ahead of print]
http://pmid.us/20735372. Full text:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01286.x/pdf. (Hat tip: Robin Hanson,
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/09/alcohol-is-healthy.html)[2] Nanji AA et al. Dietary saturated fatty acids: a novel treatment for alcoholic liver disease.
Gastroenterology. 1995 Aug;109(2):547-54.
http://pmid.us/7615205.[3] You M et al. Role of adiponectin in the protective action of dietary saturated fat against alcoholic fatty liver in mice.
Hepatology. 2005 Sep;42(3):568-77.
http://pmid.us/16108051.[4] Ronis MJ et al. Dietary saturated fat reduces alcoholic
hepatotoxicity in rats by altering fatty acid metabolism and membrane
composition.
J Nutr. 2004 Apr;134(4):904-12.
http://pmid.us/15051845.
-Eva