College of Nutrition, 2004, researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that after 11 healthy adults ate a diet in which only 19 percent of calories came from fat for three weeks, their HDL or “good” cholesterol fell. Then they spent three weeks on a diet in which 50 percent of calories came from fat, and their HDL levels increased. Most important, the high-fat diet did not lead to an increase in LDL, the “bad” cholesterol.
Myth #4: Cholesterol Causes Plaque Buildup in Arteries
Another assertion generally taken as axiomatic is that high levels of cholesterol in the blood cause atherosclerosis, the buildup of the fatty plaques that obstruct arteries. Yet much research evidence indicates that high blood cholesterol has no relationship with degree of atherosclerosis.
----
Coconut and Cholesterol
Experts who promote the lipid hypothesis point to studies in which feeding coconut oil raised cholesterol levels in animals. However, the coconut oil used in these experiments was fully hydrogenated, that is, fully saturated with hydrogen, which turns all the fatty acids into saturated fats. (Partial hydrogenation creates mostly trans fatty acids, not all saturated fats.) The researchers were investigating the effects of essential fatty acid deficiency on the test animals, and full hydrogenation to eliminate all the essential fatty acids in the coconut oil. They used coconut oil because it is the only fat that can be fully hydrogenated and still be soft enough to eat.
As expected, the cholesterol levels in the animals went up, confirming other studies showing that essential fatty acid deficiency raises cholesterol levels. Yet, many commentators have pointed to this study as proof that coconut oil raises cholesterol levels, without mentioning that the researchers were not using natural coconut oil, but fully hydrogenated coconut oil that created the deficiency.
Other studies comparing various fats and oils found that natural coconut oil promoted the assimilation and storage of essential fatty acids, therefore preventing essential fatty acid deficiency. So it’s the lack of essential fatty acids that created the health risk, not the coconut itself. And in these studies, an increase in cholesterol levels was simply a marker for another condition—not the cause of health problems.
----
Canadian Veterans
A team of researchers in London, Canada, conducted a long-term study of 800 war veterans confined to a hospital, published in Circulation , 1963. For years, the researchers analyzed the veterans’ cholesterol levels and studied the arteries of those who died to determine the level of atherosclerosis for each veteran. They found that, although the levels of cholesterol varied considerably from one individual to another, each man’s cholesterol remained more or less the same during the entire period of the study. That is, if a veteran had low cholesterol at the beginning of the study, it was still low when he died. Yet the men who had low cholesterol had just as much atherosclerosis as those with high cholesterol.
What About the Japanese?
The Japanese have low blood cholesterol, and their risk of heart attack is much lower than that of any other nation. According to the lipid hypothesis, atherosclerosis should be rare in Japan.
Two studies sought to confirm this. In the first, published in the American Journal of Cardiology , 1985, researchers from Kyushu University looked at the aorta (the main artery of the body, which carries blood out of the heart) in 659 Americans and 260 Japanese, for signs of atherosclerosis. They found very little difference between the two groups, at all age levels.
The second study, carried out at the Geriatric Hospital in Tokyo and presented at the International Symposium of Atherosclerosis, 1977, examined the arteries of the brain in 1,408 Japanese and over 5,000 Americans. In every age group, the Japanese had more atherosclerosis in these arteries than the Americans
Myth #4: Cholesterol Causes Plaque Buildup in Arteries
Another assertion generally taken as axiomatic is that high levels of cholesterol in the blood cause atherosclerosis, the buildup of the fatty plaques that obstruct arteries. Yet much research evidence indicates that high blood cholesterol has no relationship with degree of atherosclerosis.
----
Coconut and Cholesterol
Experts who promote the lipid hypothesis point to studies in which feeding coconut oil raised cholesterol levels in animals. However, the coconut oil used in these experiments was fully hydrogenated, that is, fully saturated with hydrogen, which turns all the fatty acids into saturated fats. (Partial hydrogenation creates mostly trans fatty acids, not all saturated fats.) The researchers were investigating the effects of essential fatty acid deficiency on the test animals, and full hydrogenation to eliminate all the essential fatty acids in the coconut oil. They used coconut oil because it is the only fat that can be fully hydrogenated and still be soft enough to eat.
As expected, the cholesterol levels in the animals went up, confirming other studies showing that essential fatty acid deficiency raises cholesterol levels. Yet, many commentators have pointed to this study as proof that coconut oil raises cholesterol levels, without mentioning that the researchers were not using natural coconut oil, but fully hydrogenated coconut oil that created the deficiency.
Other studies comparing various fats and oils found that natural coconut oil promoted the assimilation and storage of essential fatty acids, therefore preventing essential fatty acid deficiency. So it’s the lack of essential fatty acids that created the health risk, not the coconut itself. And in these studies, an increase in cholesterol levels was simply a marker for another condition—not the cause of health problems.
----
Canadian Veterans
A team of researchers in London, Canada, conducted a long-term study of 800 war veterans confined to a hospital, published in Circulation , 1963. For years, the researchers analyzed the veterans’ cholesterol levels and studied the arteries of those who died to determine the level of atherosclerosis for each veteran. They found that, although the levels of cholesterol varied considerably from one individual to another, each man’s cholesterol remained more or less the same during the entire period of the study. That is, if a veteran had low cholesterol at the beginning of the study, it was still low when he died. Yet the men who had low cholesterol had just as much atherosclerosis as those with high cholesterol.
What About the Japanese?
The Japanese have low blood cholesterol, and their risk of heart attack is much lower than that of any other nation. According to the lipid hypothesis, atherosclerosis should be rare in Japan.
Two studies sought to confirm this. In the first, published in the American Journal of Cardiology , 1985, researchers from Kyushu University looked at the aorta (the main artery of the body, which carries blood out of the heart) in 659 Americans and 260 Japanese, for signs of atherosclerosis. They found very little difference between the two groups, at all age levels.
The second study, carried out at the Geriatric Hospital in Tokyo and presented at the International Symposium of Atherosclerosis, 1977, examined the arteries of the brain in 1,408 Japanese and over 5,000 Americans. In every age group, the Japanese had more atherosclerosis in these arteries than the Americans
Similar Books
