Cholesterol, Fat, Saturated Fat, and More!

I get a lot of questions about fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and heart disease.  People are always asking about what numbers are really important to look at.  Instead of re-writing what has already been written, I thought I would post some articles I have seen over the past few days. 

First, this is one written by Chris Kresser, which I thought was full of useful info:

http://chriskresser.com/5-reasons-not-to-worry-about-your-cholesterol-numbers

Also, here is a video with some more info:

http://chriskresser.com/i-have-high-cholesterol-and-i-dont-care

One more:

http://chriskresser.com/the-saturated-fat-myth-debunked-in-two-minutes-and-thirty-five-seconds

Also, Mark Sisson has some interesting things to say about all the different cholesterol numbers:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-interpret-cholesterol-test-results/#axzz1hptqXGUC

And, we talked with David Getoff a few weeks back about many of these topics:

http://www.huntingforhealth.com/2011/11/hunting-for-health-5-david-getoff.html
I think the take home message here is that when it comes to heart disease, you have to look at the big picture. 

Sounds like there are more appropriate markers than total cholesterol and LDL that we might want to look at.  These probably would include HDL:triglyceride ratio, and LDL particle size (VAP test).  And if your total cholesterol is extremely high (> than 300), it may be a better idea to figure out what is causing that, rather than trying to lower that number with statin drugs, which have numerous side effects. 

No matter what the numbers are, I would recommend a high-quality/nutrient-dense diet, using real fats (saturated and mono-unsaturated) in place of processed seed oils (vegetable oil, corn oil soybean oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil), trans-fats, and hydrogenated fats of any kind.  That may mean having eggs for breakfast instead of cereal or toast.  Just something to think about.

As always, post any thoughts or comments in the comment section of this post, or email me: hacopeland3@gmail.com .