Dietary Cholesterol

"Alan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

X-posted to a.s.d and m.h.d.

There have been a few posts lately on cholesterol levels,
and the relative importance of dietary cholesterol, fats
and carbs in causing high blood cholesterol levels.

Those who argue that we shouldn't eat eggs, prawns
(shrimps) or other high cholesterol foods might find these
two articles interesting. The detailed articles are worth
reading in full.

From The October 2001 Issue of Nutrition Science News
Dietary Cholesterol Intake May Not Matter newh-newh-Open ↗
ope.com/nutritionsciencenews/NSN_backs/Oct_01/news2.cfm

"Dietary cholesterol does not significantly affect serum
cholesterol levels in postmenopausal women, concludes a
study conducted by G.M. Reaven, M.D., of the Department
of Medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
The study included 65 postmenopausal women followed for
12 weeks at either Stanford University or the University
of Alabama at Birmingham. <snip> Researchers conclude
that dietary cholesterol restriction is unnecessary for
people with normal cholesterol levels-although cholesterol-
rich foods are usually also high in saturated fat and
total fat."

and, from Harvard University School of Public Health:

Fats and Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The
Healthy Diet

hsph.harvard.edufats.htmlOpen ↗

"While it's true that dietary cholesterol is linked to
heart disease, it certainly isn't the food villain that
it's been portrayed as. What is of most concern is blood
cholesterol--the cholesterol circulating in your blood.
High blood cholesterol levels greatly increase the risk
for heart disease. But surprisingly, the amount of
cholesterol in food is not very strongly linked to
cholesterol levels in the blood. The biggest influence on
blood cholesterol levels is the mix of fats in the diet."

And from their table:

DIETARY FATS

Monounsaturated: Lowers LDL; raises HDL

Olives; olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil; cashews,
almonds, peanuts, and most other nuts; avocados:

Polyunsaturated: Lowers LDL; raises HDL

Corn, soybean, safflower, and cottonseed oils; fish

Saturated: Raises both LDL and HDL

Whole milk, butter, cheese, and ice cream; red meat;
chocolate; coconuts, coconut milk, and coconut oil

Trans Raises LDL

Most margarines; vegetable shortening; partially
hydrogenated vegetable oil; deep-fried chips; many fast
foods; most commercial baked goods

Cheers, Alan, T2 d&e, Australia. Remove weight and carbs
to email.
--
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.

G'day Alan,

The issue whether eating eggs (containing lots of dietary
cholesterol) contributes to the cholesterol level has been
debated here in depth on a couple of occasions. As well as
that there have been other formal investigations done on
this. The deduction has been that eating eggs does not
contribute to overall cholesterol levels - of course, as you
say, in moderation. A figure of two to four eggs a day was
mentioned as being acceptable. I hope this starts a good
debate on the matter (and not a flame war, as I may be
proven wrong). Eggs, being protein, produce very little
increase in my bg. Besides, I like my scrambled eggs (with
olive oil). I'd be most upset if I found that this is yet
another food which is bad for
me....... naturally, as with anything else we eat, it may be
what ELSE you have with your eggs which is harmful.

Henry Australia

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 17:56:16 +1000, "hemyd" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Alan" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

X-posted to a.s.d and m.h.d.

There have been a few posts lately on cholesterol levels,
and the relative importance of dietary cholesterol, fats
and carbs in causing high blood cholesterol levels.

Those who argue that we shouldn't eat eggs, prawns
(shrimps) or other high cholesterol foods might find
these two articles interesting. The detailed articles are
worth reading in full.

From The October 2001 Issue of Nutrition Science News
Dietary Cholesterol Intake May Not Matter new-new-Open ↗
hope.com/nutritionsciencenews/NSN_backs/Oct_01/news2.cfm

"Dietary cholesterol does not significantly affect serum
cholesterol levels in postmenopausal women, concludes a
study conducted by G.M. Reaven, M.D., of the Department
of Medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
The study included 65 postmenopausal women followed for
12 weeks at either Stanford University or the University
of Alabama at Birmingham. <snip> Researchers conclude
that dietary cholesterol restriction is unnecessary for
people with normal cholesterol levels-although cholesterol-
rich foods are usually also high in saturated fat and
total fat."

and, from Harvard University School of Public Health:

Fats and Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The
Healthy Diet

hsph.harvard.edufats.htmlOpen ↗

"While it's true that dietary cholesterol is linked to
heart disease, it certainly isn't the food villain that
it's been portrayed as. What is of most concern is blood
cholesterol--the cholesterol circulating in your blood.
High blood cholesterol levels greatly increase the risk
for heart disease. But surprisingly, the amount of
cholesterol in food is not very strongly linked to
cholesterol levels in the blood. The biggest influence on
blood cholesterol levels is the mix of fats in the diet."

And from their table:

DIETARY FATS

Monounsaturated: Lowers LDL; raises HDL

Olives; olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil; cashews,
almonds, peanuts, and most other nuts; avocados:

Polyunsaturated: Lowers LDL; raises HDL

Corn, soybean, safflower, and cottonseed oils; fish

Saturated: Raises both LDL and HDL

Whole milk, butter, cheese, and ice cream; red meat;
chocolate; coconuts, coconut milk, and coconut oil

Trans Raises LDL

Most margarines; vegetable shortening; partially
hydrogenated vegetable oil; deep-fried chips; many fast
foods; most commercial baked goods

Cheers, Alan, T2 d&e, Australia. Remove weight and carbs
to email.
--
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.

G'day Alan,

The issue whether eating eggs (containing lots of dietary
cholesterol) contributes to the cholesterol level has been
debated here in depth on a couple of occasions. As well as
that there have been other formal investigations done on
this. The deduction has been that eating eggs does not
contribute to overall cholesterol levels - of course, as
you say, in moderation. A figure of two to four eggs a day
was mentioned as being acceptable. I hope this starts a
good debate on the matter (and not a flame war, as I may be
proven wrong). Eggs, being protein, produce very little
increase in my bg. Besides, I like my scrambled eggs (with
olive oil). I'd be most upset if I found that this is yet
another food which is bad for
me....... naturally, as with anything else we eat, it may
be what ELSE you have with your eggs which is harmful.

Henry Australia

Hi Henry

FWIW, I eat at least one egg daily, prawns and crabs when I
can afford them, and trim as much sat fat as I can see but
eat meat 2-3 times daily in small portions. Last trigs were
0.7 (61) Total Chol 5.1(196), HDL
1.4 (54) and LDL 3.4 (131). That was last week.

Not brilliant, particularly LDL, but certainly acceptable
for trigs and HDL.

I discussed the results at length with my doc; he's very
happy with them and believes all my LDL is "fluffy", not
VLDL. I am on lipitor 20, but the only effect when I went
off it for a trial was an increase in LDL without any change
in trigs or HDL. BP is great.

So I obviously believe that dietary cholesterol has little
effect on blood cholesterol. I lean to the view that it's
the saturated and trans fats that are the problem. It also
appears that excess carbs are becoming part of that picture,
but I have a little more research to do there.

PS. I'll expect red meat and a couple of googlys on the
BBQ this December; I might bring some prawns if you
remind me :-)

Cheers, Alan, T2 d&e, Australia. Remove weight and
carbs to email.
--
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 17:56:16 +1000, "hemyd" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

G'day Alan,

The issue whether eating eggs (containing lots of dietary
cholesterol) contributes to the cholesterol level has been
debated here in depth on a couple of occasions. As well as
that there have been other formal investigations done on
this. The deduction has been that eating eggs does not
contribute to overall cholesterol levels - of course, as
you say, in moderation. A figure of two to four eggs a day
was mentioned as being acceptable. I hope this starts a
good debate on the matter (and not a flame war, as I may be
proven wrong). Eggs, being protein, produce very little
increase in my bg. Besides, I like my scrambled eggs (with
olive oil). I'd be most upset if I found that this is yet
another food which is bad for
me....... naturally, as with anything else we eat, it may
be what ELSE you have with your eggs which is harmful.

Henry Australia

I think that it is pretty safe, there has a been a lot of
research data around for the last couple of decades to
indicate that a high cholesterol level was a hereditary
problem, not a diet problem.

I have been eating two to four eggs with bacon per day for
most of my life, and I have always had low cholesterol
levels. They are still low although everything else seem to
be going skyward. I really hope that my cholesterol doesn't
follow suit.

I tend to have a fondness for cholesterol laden foods and am
compensating for losing carbs in my new diet with egg and
seafood dishes. I had a prawn omelette with a Bacon & Blue
Cheese Spinach salad for lunch and quite enjoyed it. Very
low carb and very tasty. I still missed the nice crusty
rolls and butter that would normally have accompanied it,
but it was still ok.

I really wouldn't like to have remove meals like this from
my acceptable list. Life would get very dull.

Cheers

David