Is there any demonstrable causative link between dietary and serum cholesterol? Americans and others have become obsessed with self image and diet. One of the big health worries and indicators is your cholesterol level. And getting more nitty gritty, your HDL to LDL ratio.
In “Life Extension” by durk pearson and sandy shaw, isbn 9-446-51229, it is implied that megadosing antioxident vitamins results in serum cholesterol levels far below normal inspite of a high intake of animal flesh and fat. The explaination they provide is that without anti-oxidants to prevent damage from free-radicals, your body produces additional cholesterol to scavenge free radicals and thus protect your body.
If this is true, then our current line of healthcare reasoning is severely whacked. Look at the way a drug such as lipitor works to lower your cholesterol.
Imagine you had an infection. The doctor notes an increase in white blood cells. He knows a high white blood cell count is a bad thing, so he gives you a drug to decrease your white blood cell count rather than treating the infection that the white blood cells were there to combat. It doesn’t treat the underlying problem and infact robs your body of it’s natural defenses. Not so good.
Foods like shrimp have a ton of cholesterol and virtually no fat. Do we shun cholesterol simply because we associate it with high saturated fat foods like red meat? Or does it pose a clear and present danger in and of itself? IANADr. I’d like real feedback from people in healthcare or nutrition that have a clue. Is it all a hose job? Is it dangerous to avoid cholesterol?