The Great Cholesterol Con

Malcolm Kendrick's new book "The Great Cholesterol Con" is out debunking the myths about cholesterol and heart disease. This book is easy to read, quite accessible, and does a great slash-and-burn of the diet/cholesterol/heart disease hypothesis. There's not much here to disagree with.

Kendrick has easily laid to waste the ideas that fat and especially saturated fat have anything to do with heart disease. The studies he cites indicate that once somebody decided that saturated fat caused heart disease, nothing would change their minds. The researchers have managed to twist their "findings" to fit their hypothesis in every way imaginable.

Kendrick takes on statin therapy with as much vigor as he does cholesterol. He has an entire chapter that details the reality of the statin situation, that these meds only work for a very small number of people.

If you want the alternative viewpoint on cholesterol and heart disease, a viewpoint that is generally not conveyed in the mainstream media, this book is an informative, often humorous, and easy-to-understand read.

(Crossposted in "Heart" forum)

[live4fitness]

WOW thanks for the info. I am so glad this ONE guy has written a book about how all those hundreds and thousands of books about  diet/cholesterol/heart disease are all lies. This is great I will believe this one guy because he MUST know more than anyone else.

again, THANKS SO MUCH for opening all our eyes.

[barn babe]

It's not the only book out there on this topic. There is actually quite a bit of research questioning the mainstream thinking on cholesterol and the low fat diet, and it's pretty compelling. Open-mindedness doesn't appear to be  a strong suit of yours, however.

In other news, it looks like you hired yourself an editor, at least for the spell-checking. Your grammar still stinks, unfortunately.

[Persephone55]

Have you ever read the contra-indications on cholesterol meds (statins)
They cause liver cancer, kidney failure and "fatal events" among just a few. I always wondered exactly what a fatal event was. All my drs are always trying to push these damm drugs on me and I simply will not take them. I eat healthy get flax seed and vinegar with "mother", excercise and call it good. I personally am glad someone is questioning the validity of these drugs. And as it happens, I worked at a University with an economics professor who was often called as an expert witness. He explained to me how research "facts" can and are scewed to meet the criteria of whomever will profit.

[Persephone55]

Again long story but my stomach and everything else is full of calcified e-coli. It is almost impossible for me to digest proteins, they just sit in my stomach. Without carbs I get so sick I cannot do anything

[Persephone55]

unfortunately when riding a bicycle 30 miles I cannot lower my carb intake. Although I do use rice as pretty much my only carb. I have been working with body builders. It is a long story but the jist is I was in a coma for two weeks and they did not put a feeding tube in cause the thought I would die and that I was brain dead. So I woke up weighing 67 lbs. Every since then my weight blew up and no amount of dieting could reduce it. I have finally become healthy enough to do real excercise and so I am weight lifting, riding my bicycle and jogging on the tread mill. I learned the hard way you HAVE to have calories to build muscle and have the energy for long rides. I have a friend who is 85 rides an 18 speed touring bike and always eats pancakes and peanut butter before a long ride. (Oh and the 30 somethings cannot keep up with him)!

[barn babe]

I ride further than 30 miles without carbs. I do zero carb and can run about 18 miles before I need any carbs on board, and even at that point, I control the carb intake very carefully just for the remaining mileage.

Nobody is going to argue with you that you need calories for exercise. But those calories sure as sh*t don't need to be carbs. I'm doing the Alcatraz Triathlon this summer, I'm doing a marathon in September in which I'm planning to BQ (Boston Qualify), and I just swam the Golden Gate. I won't need carbs for any of this except the marathon, and only then at the 18-20 mile mark.

Don't buy into the hype that you need carbs for exercise. You don't. There is some research  out there indicating that fat-adapted people do just fine with long vigorous exercise. There's not a lot of research on it because in our society we diss low-carb diets in general, and the prevailing dogma is that we *require* carbs for exercise. It's baloney.  And I'm an example.

It takes a while for your body to get adapted to burning  body fat instead of glucose (carbs). It could take as long as six weeks for some people. But if you stay with it, the rewards are amazing. : ) If you want to burn your body fat, stop eating carbs, or go as low as you can go.

Here's Steven Phinney on low carb and exercise. He's the guy from UC Davis who did the low-carb research on the professional cyclists and found that they did not have any problems with their performance once they fat-adapted.  

http://hoe.kgnu.net/hoeradioshow.php?show_id=184

Good luck with your training.

[barn babe]

The first bit of evidence anybody should question is how "healthy" cholesterol levels have been systematically lowered over the years. A "healthy" total cholesterol used to be something like 230. But the total cholesterol number that they have deemed appropriate for medicating has been lowered several times over the years. Who is behind this?  Somehow, we have been led to believe that continuing to decrease what is considered a "healthy" total cholesterol is evidence-based by studies indicating that heart disease and heart attacks are not found in populations with these cholesterol levels. In fact, there is NO evidence that people with low total cholesterols are immune  from heart disease and myocardial infarctions.

It's all bunk.

Follow a low-carb diet. If you can, push your carbs lower and lower until you gradually get to 50 carbs or less per day. We could probably stop type 2 diabetes in its tracks in this country if this is the only change people made in their diets. I've been on an essentially zero-carb diet for several years (zero carb meaning 5 grams of carbs or less per day), and prior to that time was on Atkins (about 50-75 grams carbs per day) for 15 years.

Here's a good website by a medical doctor who does not believe in the cholesterol hypothesis. In fact, he reads the current medical literature about cholesterol, fats, heart disease, diet and nutrition, and tears apart the research that's out there. He has good arguments and evidence for why saturated fats are not harmful. He also responds to comments and questions.

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/?m=20070516

[barn babe]

I'm really sorry about your condition. : (

For myself, I would probably go into a massive depression if I ever had to eat a high-carb diet again. I think it's unhealthy.  I've been off carbs for over 15 years and never felt (or looked) better.  

Sounds like it works for you, though. Good luck with the weight loss and the exercise.  Maybe you can keep us posted of your progress.  I would be interested in reading about how you are doing.

[Persephone55]

I set a new record for myself yesterday. 42 miles!! I thought I was riding on the flat along side a lake. When I finally got so tired I could not pedal and had to turn around I discovered I had been gaining elevation for 15 miles!!  The ride home was a breeze, well most of the way. Oh, I am 57, have congestive heart failure, e-coli, been dead once(100% heart, lung and brain failure was what they called it, I guess that is one of those "fatal events")  and sent home 3 times to die by drs who insisted there was nothing they could do for me!  I was diagnosed with MS 7 years ago but I am now positive that was the e-coli.I did try eating roasted chicken when I got home yesterday. Unfortunately my stomach swelled up and became extremely painful. I do eat a mixture of proteins and carbs. I make bone marrow soup to help get the protein in something my stomach can digest.

[barn babe]

Marrow soups are extremely nutritious. I made them frequently myself.

Congratulations on your extended ride - I love these little breakthroughs that happen when we are least expecting it.  It's happened to me with running, where I will go out to do  10 miles, but then the next thing I know, I've run 4 or 5  miles  longer than what I planned and I don't feel winded at all.  It's a great feeling.

Keep up the great work!

[micaela27]

from a medical nutrition perspective, a zero carb diet is murder on your body.  i'm sure this book is "revolutionary" or whatever, but i seriously question the person who can honestly say a carb free existence is healthy or beneficial to your body.

i have my degree in nutrition so i'm not going off anyone else's book for my knowledge.  i've gone through the courses required to gain a full and complete understanding of metabolism, and from my professional standpoint you are killing your body slowly but surely.

nevermind the fact that your body is in a perpetual state of ketosis, if not ketoacidosis (which, no matter what any schmuck author writes, is NOT healthy).  forget about all of that.  focus for a minute on the fact that brain matter requires GLUCOSE to function, and does so in a poor and sloppy manner with the absence of this vital component to diets, instead relying on poorly broken down proteins and amino acids to piecemeal together a lackluster and insufficient "meal" for itself.  and don't forget that while all this is happening, your blood acidity is rising in a dangerous and erratic pattern.

really, do the research in medical books, not fad novels.

[live4fitness]

well put :)

[livinghealth]

Does Malcolm Kendrick's new book "The Great Cholesterol Con" provide the references for his arguments?
Has a medical professional provided any response to Kendrick's book?
High Cholesterol may not be the cause of heart disease but Kendrick fails to explain what is causing heart disease.
I am not aware that he is promoting a low carb diet, and hopefully not particularly supporting a high sat fat diet or obesity.
It will be a financial relief not to pay for statin medication, but is there any further clarity or confirmation on what causes heart disease?

[llc.espace]

Hi - Anthony Colpo wrote that book, The Great Cholesterol Con.  I own the book.  He isn't the only one who has books out on the cholesterol and fat farce.  There are several.  He gives references for 100s of studies for everything stated in the book.  The book is a comprehensive study in itself, examining several studies going back 50 years.  The book includes excerpts from medical doctors who back it up.  Anthony Colpo does explain the probable causes of heart disease, based on studies.  I could never understand how people can make judgements about something they have never seen and know nothing about.  Pro or con, have you ever looked at the studies yourself.  Why don't you just read the book, unless you are one of those people who is afraid to have their beliefs challenged/afraid to think outside the box.  All I know is my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents ate lots of saturated fat, they ate low carb simply because they didn't have all those carbs back in the day, and maybe that's why they didn't have MI, obesity and diabetes back in the day either, and neither did my family.  I've been on a low carb diet for years.  I'm 55.  I've had 5 kids.  I've been a jogger for 15 years.  I'm healthier and thinner than most women my age and even a lot of the younger ones nowaday.   Stress, lack of exercise and a high-carb diet is what is causing the heart disease, diabetes and obesity.  My daughter studied in Germany for a summer.  She said there was hardly any obesity there.  The German people she met never heard of the low-fat diet.  My daughter described it to them and they thought it was stupid.  When I went to grade school, about 1% of children were obese.  I never believed those headlines that hit the newspapers back in the mid 70s that saturated fat and cholesterol were dangerous and I still do not.  People need to start being more skeptical and use their common sense or we will all lose our freedom.  

[micaela27]

"Stress, lack of exercise and a high-carb diet is what is causing the heart disease, diabetes and obesity."

yes, all three definitely are *contributing to* the obesity epidemic.  i absolutely agree with you on that point.

but i'll be damned if i keep my mouth shut when you say saturated fat consumption has nothing to do with heart disease and diabetes.  that's 100% untrue and i have decades of prolific, repeated and scientifically sound medical documentation behind me in my statement to your contrary.

your daughter's semester abroad observations are sweet and well intentioned, but hardly any reason to make blanket judgments about the health and well being of an entire population of a country.  your elementary school recollections are wildly concocted at best (what 7 year old kid is doing anthropometric assessments and skinfold measurements on his 2nd grade classmates to determine that 1% of them are clinically obese?)

[Vorpent]

"I have my degree in nutrition so i'm not going off anyone else's book for my knowledge.  i've gone through the courses required to gain a full and complete understanding of metabolism, and from my professional standpoint you are killing your body slowly but surely."

Where then did you get your information if not from other people's books.  You didn't write your own.  You cannot pass your exams if you do not relate back to the examiners what they want to know and what they want to know is that you have read the course books, whatever they may be and however out of date or plain WRONG.

A low/no carb diet is very healthy and sustainable and bodies work perfectly fine on ketones.  Even the brain.  Ketogenic diets are recommended to treat epilepsy.  Gluconeogenesis in the liver provides any glucose that the body might need but it runs very efficiently on ketones.  And another fact you got wrong:  ketosis and ketoacidosis are nothing alike.  Ketoacidosis only occurs in type 1 diabetics whose ketones have risen to toxic levels TOGETHER with a high blood sugar.  This cannot occur in a low carber because we do not have the elevated levels of blood sugar, in fact ours are usually below normal levels.  Having a degree does not make you a professional

[caregiver222]

I agree with Kendrick (not that my opinion counts for much). The material is worth reading. I also believe statins are overprescribed, heavily promoted by drug companies for profit, and have unknown long-term side effects.