Jimmy Moore's Cholesterol Clarity ~ Ongoing Review and Information ~ Most Recent Update 9/19/13

The original opening to this post can be read by scrolling to the end or using your browser search function to find ##### .

The intent of a single post is that for as long as this content is relevant, I will add new information to this post and "bump" it to the top of the feed.  If it grows to be unmanageable, I'll have sections with search strings for easy navigation.  For now, each update will get popped to the top of the feed reader.  New "entries" will be at the top, and will be separated from prior content with "▼▼ Content added XX/XX/XX ▼▼".    Different topics within each update will be separated by ***** and a horizontal line ... like this:

***** ▼▼ Content added 9/19/13 ▼▼ 

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Interpreting Cholesterol Panels?

The final chapter of this book contains a series of 30 lipid and other marker profiles.  They are mixed up and this is presented as a means of doing some practical application of the information in the book.

Your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to interpret them based on everything you’ve learned. See if you can identify those with healthy results, those who could stand to improve their numbers, and those who have poor health risk markers.

Now, some are taking meds, there's a diabetic, some taking meds (statins or other) and a few with genetic markers, etc. so there's no way to really do any sort of fair appraisal.  I skipped this entirely when I read the book, but something prompted me to give it a second look.    So I took the liberty of summarizing the results for TC, LDL, HDL, trigs, and LDL-P for all but one example where LDL and TC were missing.  I included the ApoB on the three where it was included but left off the rest.  I wanted to summarize as much for the parameters reported for all.  Also, in the book Chris Masterjohn (and others) discussed the TC/HDL ratio being important as well as non-HDL-C.  The latter tracks well with ApoB.  In the book Chris did not put a number on this to shoot for, but one of Jimmy's experts, Dr. Davis, puts the goal at under 130 (hat tip Charles Grashow).  As for the TC/HDL, a cut-off of 3 is generally thrown around, keeping in mind that a "high end normal" TC and usual HDL would give a ratio of 4.  

So, here are the profiles.  

The top row is "healthy markers".  I kid you not.  You have five profiles there with TC around or above 300 and one exceeding 400 (which Jimmy Moore's has more recently as well).  You have one LDL exceeding 300 and one pretty close, and five that are near or over 200.  While the HDL's are high in some, most are pretty "normal" so they aren't pulling most of these folks out of the risk-fire.  Considering that one of the experts you "learn from" in the book is Dr. Dayspring, I think his guidelines (in addition to Davis') are interesting to note here.    For all the grumblings over triglycerides, Dayspring's #1 addresses them first if over 500.  The 400-500 threshold is pretty common and, while it may need to be addressed in light of LDL-P, look at the segment in the middle row-left.  Those 8 profiles are deemed "some work needed", as opposed to those above them and it is clear that Jimmy determines this with the arbitrary benchmark of triglycerides over 100.  Keep in mind that 150 is the high end of normal that is generally accepted and only one of the six skirts close to that.  If Jimmy wants to say that LDL-P matters, then he's got a tough time of it justifying himself as "healthy" - small LDL-P not being recognized as a reliable marker the context of his astronomical LDL-P.  

Now it is of interest here that you have high LDL-P in this group with normal trigs, but most have elevated LDL and TC.   I have no quarrel with the "poor" designees (middle right block) except it is interesting to note that their trigs are higher without much more elevated LDL-P compared to the middle group.   Indeed looking at all of these -- including that outlier there in the upper right, which would be Jimmy -- LDL-P and triglycerides don't seem to track with one another.  Jimmy Moore and a few doctors have arbitrarily chosen triglycerides as the marker "that matters", but as I intend to show in an upcoming post, they are probably picking the long odds marker here.  

In any case, none of these have "immediate attention required" trigs per Dayspring so we proceed to #2 on his list:

2) Look at the LDL-C, because if it is above 190 mg/dL, drug therapy is indicated no matter what else you find. At lesser levels it depends on the risk of the patient whether drug treatment is indicated.

Five of fourteen "healthy" folks meet this criterion, and a sixth comes within a couple of points.   By contrast, nobody in the "some work needed" or "poor" categories meet this.   I should have included gender, but all but one of the "poor" meet this criterion.  And then there's the TC/HDL ratio under 4.   You have two healthy and four middle group that exceed this.  Dayspring also puts non-HDL-C at 130 and ten of the healthy people fail here!  Many by quite a lot, not just a little bit.  The healthy are certainly less so compared to those that need work again by this parameter.

Did Westman read this section?  Did he offer up any Doctor's Notes?    The answer to the second question is NO.  I ask why not?

Jimmy definitively quizzes readers and concludes he is healthy because of "markers that matter" -- to him.  Nevermind ALL OF THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH that counters his conclusions.  This is why this book is downright dangerous if you ask me.

Here's a simple question to ask any of these LC docs and let's see if they'll answer it:  Would a ketogenic diet protect a person who is homozygous for familial hypercholesterolemia?  As in would lowering triglycerides and/or raising HDL improve their outcome or negate their very-high LDL?  I think we know the answer to that but I also doubt we'll hear it voiced by any of these folks.

What's that block in the lower left?  Well just for reference I included the two case studies in Robb Wolf's Reno first responders study paper.  On the left are the "before" profiles (Case 1 and 2), and on the right "after".  It is worth noting that both cases involved statins with no mention of "titrating off" or miniscule doses, and Case 1 involved undisclosed "more pharmaceuticals".   Do you notice anything?    First off, Case 1 is likely not LC and yet a case could be made that he bests most of the "healthy" markers in Jimmy's book.  Case 2 didn't look all that bad in the lipids department to begin with except for the HDL which came up to a respectable level -- while LDL-P went DOWN.  

I suspect that this is one reason Robb Wolf ultimately either wasn't interviewed for the book or wasn't included, though I'm not sure who did the ultimate declining there.  I also suspect this is but one reason why Robb hasn't joined the parade of 5 Star reviews over on Amazon.

***** ▼▼ Content added 9/8/13 ▼▼ 

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Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Chapter 14 Nine Reasons Why Cholesterol Levels Can Go Up, Topic 4, p. 151 

Jimmy writes: 

I was surprised the first time FH was indicated on my cholesterol test results. So when I decided to write Cholesterol Clarity I figured I’d take the plunge and get tested for it. Was my high total cholesterol that has been in excess of 400 at times due to FH or something else?  In April 2013, I paid $1,200 to Ambry Genetics (Ambrygen.com/tests/familial-hypercholesterolemia) and the results would probably surprise the cardiologist whose note is reprinted above: According to my LDLR and ApoB genes, I have a “significantly decreased likelihood” of FH.

This was a wasted $1200.  As Jackie Eberstein had pointed out to him years ago, having a normal lipid panel in October 2005 pretty much took genetics out of the picture.  Jimmy Moore is 41 y.o. and this sort of thing is likely not first diagnosed at his "advanced age" (for the condition).  But here is a quote that I consider to be one of THE most irresponsible things I've read in this book that is chock full of irresponsibility:

Dr. Jeffry Gerber, who assisted me with getting this test run, confirmed that “the results are most favorable for you. May your LDL-P continue to rise and may you live a long and healthy life.”

Was this said in jest?  Maybe??  Although I cannot see why a doctor would joke about such a thing.   The graphic at right, from this analysis of Framingham study data, is pretty damning of LDL-P.

Why would anyone wish someone's LDL-P to continue to rise?  Or even stay as is?

I think this also brings Westman's co-author role into question. In his podcast interview with Diane Sanfillipo Jimmy pretty much describes Westman's input as after the fact comments. Those "Doctor's Notes". None here in this chapter. Did Westman read Gerber's comments? No alarm there?

In this section Jimmy again quotes Dr. Dayspring:

“Cholesterol in the blood might correlate with heart disease in a population, but it can never be used by individual patients because of the propensity for discordance between cholesterol and atherogenic particle measurements. It takes cholesterol getting into the artery wall to kill you. And because all lipids—including cholesterol and triglycerides—are trafficked as passengers inside the lipoprotein, it’s the type, the number, the quality of the lipoproteins that determine whether the little dump truck [lipoprotein] carrying the cholesterol molecules is going to invade your artery wall or not.”

Unlike many of Jimmy's experts, Dayspring is/was familiar with Jimmy Moore's lipid profile and diet.  He called it a "nightmare" and specifically suggested to him that he try reducing saturated fat in his diet, and if that failed that he should consider statins.   Those aware of Dayspring's views know that the bolded part is referring to apoB "tagged" LDL particles.

*****

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My Review on Amazon

I will probably be doing a separate post on the fall-out from this review.  Here is the link.  The comments on my review and one left by Dorothy Brewster are enlightening to say the least.  

Upon seeing the cover of this book, many people may get excited ... Finally a book for us patients that can help sort out some of the issues that arise when that lipid panel comes back from the lab, complete with the scary risk notations in the margin. Such a book is sorely needed. This is not that book.

Jimmy Moore has missed a golden opportunity to truly help educate people on the controversies and the current consensus on the significance (or lack thereof) of the various biomarkers and measures for assessing cardiovascular risk. This is evident in that one of the most controversial and important topics of the day in lipidology -- LDL particle number vs. LDL particle size -- is all but avoided in the one chapter devoted to the topic. This is such a disservice to those who might recognize the names of Dr. Thomas Dayspring and Dr. Ronald Krauss and purchase this book in hopes of learning more from them. Save your money.

Instead of engaging Krauss and Dayspring (and a few other true experts interviewed for the book) in a genuine dialog, Jimmy Moore has reduced this important and complex topic to a series of sound bite-style quotations (called Moments of Clarity), cobbled together with his highly biased commentary, and finished off with often banal Doctor's Notes from co-author Dr. Eric Westman. What value there is, in some of the sound bites, is diluted with quotes from "experts" with absolutely no qualifications or knowledge to be designated as such. Most are merely known within the low carb internet community and have perhaps been a guest on one of the author's podcasts.

Let's say there is a major capital improvement initiative under consideration in your town. The stakes are high and the outcome, one way or the other, will impact you personally for decades to come. Would you want to base your decision on the 30 second commercials put forth by political interest groups? Worse yet, on only those commercials a biased media outlet chose to carry? Of course not. You would attend the town hall meeting. Jimmy Moore could have brought you this town hall meeting. Instead he is the biased media outlet bringing you sound bites.

If you have troublesome cholesterol levels and want a book to convince you there's absolutely nothing to worry about, this is the book for you. If you want unbiased information to assist you to work *with* your doctor, this is not the book for you.

You will get far more information from two interviews Krauss did with meandmydiabetes: LDL Cholesterol - Ron Krauss MD and Ron Krauss - Saturated Fat? Red Meat? It Depends. Thomas Dayspring has a nice PDF on his views entitled Understanding The Entire Lipid Profile. The other experts? If you want to get the "full skinny" from Chris Masterjohn PhD, you are better off listening to his three part podcast (or read the transcripts) with Chris Kresser. Forget Gary Taubes and Mark Sisson, neither of whom has ANY special training or demonstrated knowledge of the topic. Instead, you might be interested in the free, informative, two part guest post on Sisson's Mark's Daily Apple blog by Taubes' NuSI partner, Dr. Peter Attia: The Straight Dope on Cholesterol: 10 Things You Need to Know.

Jimmy Moore has assembled an ... eclectic ... group of "experts" with a clear bias among the vast majority, and the opinions of the minority are either absent or even misrepresented by selective quotations. Most appear so blinded by their views on statins that they seem incapable of separating the issues of lipid profiles from statin treatment. Perhaps statins aren't the answer, but adopting a diet that sends your LDL through the roof may still be ill-advised.

So I purchased a copy of this book and am writing this review so that potential customers will have at least one critical pair of eyes on it. The eyes of someone who did not receive a promotional free copy or who might benefit in some ancillary way from leaving a gushing review for Jimmy Moore.

This is not the sort of book to take with you to the doctor and expect to have any sort of constructive conversation to ensue about YOUR health. Most of the MDs have no special training or experience with lipidology and are simply making up their own theories on cholesterol. Before taking any of the sound bites to heart, potential readers would do well to search on The Livin La Vida Low Carb Show and the expert's name to find where Jimmy has published the full interviews behind this book. You can listen to all of them for free.

One major theme of this book is that your doctor has outdated misinformation and is relying on your total cholesterol to put you on deadly statins to make a quick buck for their friends in Big Pharma (the unspoken accusation is that the docs themselves profit from prescribing these drugs). And yet one of these very same "experts" -- The Hamptons Diet author Dr. Pescatore -- is selling a cholesterol lowering supplement on his website! What's in it? Red rice yeast. A statin. Wikipedia has the scoop.

So while many of the MDs and others chime in on how stupid and uninformed your doctor is, they proceed to provide you with unsubstantiated wisdom like (paraphrasing) 'a low carb diet is the best to get your cholesterol where it needs to be' (Pescatore again). But "While he does test for cholesterol levels in patients who request them, 'I never do anything about it. You need to see the whole picture and not focus too much on any one marker,' Dr. Pescatore explained." Odd that he sells a statin-containing cholesterol lowering supplement then.

A second major theme is that fat and saturated fat have no impact on weight or cholesterol levels and carbohydrates do. And yet the aforementioned Pescatore says: "I don't think medical science has any idea why LDL-P would rise above 2,000 or even 3,000 in some people who eat a low-carb [aka a high fat] diet." Yet there are multiple studies showing that saturated fats in the diet DO increase LDL in many people, and "medical science" has a pretty good idea why (search on saturated fats and LDL receptors for the answer).

The author only partially discloses his history of obesity and its relevance to his cholesterol history which is also incomplete. By telling the readers that his cholesterol has always been high he is misleading, because in fact it is higher now than when he weighed 410 lbs. More importantly it was close to normal by mainstream standards after about 10 months of maintenance of his initial 180 lbs weight loss on Atkins. He has been adding a ton of fat to already fatty meals for years now while his weight fluctuated and he hit 300 lbs in 2012. Since May of 2012, Jimmy Moore has been consuming an 80% fat "nutritional ketosis" diet to lose roughly 80 lbs at the one year mark. Aside from other health issues that may be diet related, potential readers should know that he is extremely biased by his attempts to wish his worsening metabolic profile away. If you search on 6 Month Lipid Panel for Jimmy Moore you should find his latest update before this book.

In comments, Thomas Dayspring wrote... "Dr Lipid analysis: Using all the knowledge we possess today, all of the numbers that you are thrilled about have no meaning in the face of a 99th percentile LDL-P. You also should not say an LDL-C of 285 has no meaning. The cholesterol concentrations that often have no meaning are low levels (where an LDL-P is needed to evaluate risk). No one with an LDL-C of 285 with the exception of a Type III dyslipoproteinemia patient have a low apoB or LDL-P. If you have an LDL-C that high, particle testing is not needed. You need to significantly reduce the saturated fat in your diet and see what happens: repeat the NMR in 3 weeks and you will know if your nightmare LDL-P is sat fat related. I'll bet your LDL-P drops. If it does not, you need serious lipid-modulating medication. We have seen this paradoxical horrific rise in LDL-P in some people who are on ketotic diets."

Yet here is the quote Jimmy chose for Dayspring in his chapter on LDL particles (Chapter 9):

"The least accurate way of estimating your atherogenic risk on a standard cholesterol panel would be to look at total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol."

Does this seem like an accurate reflection of Dayspring's full positions on the topic? This chapter should have contained liberal quoting from Dayspring, yet Jimmy Moore claimed on his blog that "I let him make his case in my book."

Dr. Krauss has had this to say about particle number: "But most people certainly in the field of cholesterol and heart disease understand that the number of particles matter more than just how much cholesterol they carry overall. In terms of health, the first order of business is to make sure the total number of particles in a person's blood is maintained in the healthy range, because that's what dictates heart disease risk."

Instead of this information, you get quotes like "If most of your LDL particles are the large, fluffy kind, then you don't have a problem and you have nothing to worry about." This advice comes from Cassie Bjork, who is not even a medical doctor, and has no special training in lipidology. Nevermind that people with familial hypercholesterolemia (a genetic condition characterized by both very high LDL and atherosclerosis) are known for having just that fluffy sort of LDL. And nevermind that both Dayspring would take serious issue with Bjork's advice were he actually given his say ... as it appears would Krauss.

Dr. William Davis (author of Wheat Belly) writes:

"Isn't it funny that people are turning to people like Jimmy Moore for answers to their health problems rather than their own doctors because the doctors have no damn idea what's going on?"

No, it's not funny. It is utterly irresponsible.

If anyone is interested, I have a review post on my blog for this book that shall be updated regularly with new information, including links to reliable sources of information that you CAN share with your doctor: Jimmy Moore's Cholesterol Clarity ~ Ongoing Review and Information on The Carb-Sane Asylum.

Rather than getting information from so-called experts who tell you your doctor is stupid, arm yourself with credible information from credible sources. And if your doctor won't listen, find another one. Internet doctors, and others like Jimmy Moore, will be quick to point out that they bear NO liability for the not-really-medical-advice they dole out. That's just my two cents.

People reading this may have seen my comments left on other reviews. I care deeply that people get accurate information, especially when acting on that information can impact their health. Therefore, I think it is important that folks know:

1. That many of the 5-star reviews were written by people who were provided free advance copies of the book and failed to disclose this per Amazon policy.

2. That many of Jimmy Moore's "world leading experts" are not experts at all.

3. That those experts of value in the book are either under-represented or outright misrepresented in this book.

I gave this 2 stars, only because there might be a few folks who discover the names of helpful experts through this book, and might seek further information from them. Otherwise it is a 1 star.

***** ▼▼ Content added 8/28/13 ▼▼ 

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Meet the Experts

These are my cream-of-the-crop experts on the subject of cholesterol.

Jimmy Moore

Cassie Bjork, RD ◊■  Considers Taubes and Moore respected nutrition experts

Philip Blair, MD ◊

Jonny Bowden, PhD  

John Briffa, BSc, MB, BS ◊■

Dominic D'Agostino, PhD ■

William Davis, MD ■  Wheat increases chylo and chylo remnants

Thomas Dayspring, MD  Understanding the Entire Lipid Profile

David Diamond, PhD ◊

Ron Ehrlich, BDS, FACNEM ◊

Jeffry N. Gerber, MD ◊

David Gillespie (Attorney) ♦

Duane Graveline, MD

Paul Jaminet, PhD ◊■

Malcolm Kendrick, MD  Essays on THINCS

Ronald Krauss, MD  Extended 2010 interview on Me & My Diabetes , 2012 Saturated Fat? Red Meat? It Depends . . .

Fred Kummerow, PhD  Lipid researcher, 98, reports on the causes of heart disease

Dwight C. Lundell, MD ◊■  License suspended

Robert Lustig, MD ◊■  

Chris Masterjohn, PhD  Podcasts with Kresser Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

Donald Miller, MD ◊

Rakesh "Rocky" Patel, MD ◊

Fred Pescatore, MD ◊  Sells cholesterol lowering supplements

Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD

Stephanie Seneff, PhD ◊■  Statins

Cate Shanahan, MD ◊■  The LDL Weight Gain Connection

Ken Sikaris, BSc, MBBS, FRCPA, FAACB, FFSc ■ Sugar and Fat Metabolism video

Patty Siri-Tarino, PhD

Mark Sisson (BA?) ◊■

Gary Taubes, (degrees not listed) ♦■

Key:

♦ = No relevant background

◊ = No particular expertise in the field of lipidology to warrant the term expert

■ = On the record making substantially erroneous claims in the field of human metabolism/physiology such as diminish their credibility as an expert on this topic.

Note:  The above key is not "all inclusive" as there are names on that list with whom I am unfamiliar or am not aware of any evidence to warrant the symbol.  Don't shoot the messenger here if you take issue with anyone for whom I haven't awarded a symbol -- State your case in comments!   If you wish to challenge a designation, I also welcome that discussion in comments.   

Also, I'll add links folks might find of interest as I have time (this will not result in popping the feed unless I do a major link dump).  I plan on fleshing out some of these as pertains to the content of this book only.

***** 

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LDL-Connection vs. Statin Treatment

One overall theme that has emerged reading this book is conflating the medical establishment's position on statin treatments with the role of LDL (or other lipoproteins or components thereof) .  These two are not two sides of the same coin.   Let's look at it this way:

1.  There is a pretty good, decades old association between circulating LDL levels and atherosclerosis.  

2.  There is a connection between diet and lipids though it is generally not as simple as dietary cholesterol and/or saturated fats raising LDL levels.  (Though this is pretty simply the case for some).

3.  Lowering cholesterol levels through diet and exercise or medications ... here is where the controversy is.  What diet is best, is raising HDL necessarily good, are statins treating the symptom but not the cause.  These are all valid questions and open for debate.  But they do not alter the "facts" of #1 and 2. 

For all the focus on diet, I'll say this.  MY opinion, to be clear.  Any dietary intervention that results in a significant worsening of one's lipid profile is probably ill advised.  The first course of action should be to reverse that dietary "experiment".

***** ▼▼ Content added 8/27/13 ▼▼ 

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Meet the Author

Jimmy Moore being interviewed by the Carb-Loaded documentary guys at AHS13 (Aug. 15-17 2013).

*****

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Jimmy Moore Misrepresentations

Some of the information here has been discussed before in Hacking Jimmy Moore's Latest Lipid Report.  Jimmy Moore lost his 180 lbs in 2004 and maintained the cardio he used to do through much of 2005.  He has also increased his carbs to around 100g/day.  In October 2005, Jimmy had his lipids tested ... and they were quite normal.  

TC = 201   ,    LDL = 119   ,   HDL = 71   ,   Trigs = 57   ,   VLDL = 11

By March of 2006, things started to go awry and continued through May when he wrote this blog post.  A classic quote from Jackie Eberstein (worked as a nurse in Atkins' clinic for many years):

Regarding the hereditary business about my cholesterol being high, Eberstein said my LDL would not have been 119 in October 2005 if it was genetics.

I would tend to agree but it is possible this was a hangover from taking statins as he said his TC got down into the mid 100's on them (pre-Atkins) and elsewhere he stated he stopped taking them in August of 2005 (is it possible it was already climbing?).  By May his TC was up to 304 with LDL at 230.  

click to enlarge

For some reason, Jimmy leaves this information off of the table he shared with his readers during his Nutritional Ketosis experiment, and shares with readers in his book.  His timeline begins in 2008.  The table from the book is also missing his ApoB results that were included in his 5 year summary on his blog.

But here is the full story as Jimmy has shared over the years.

It would appear that one tactic to explain away his cholesterol levels is to imply that these have always been an issue, irrespective of his diet and/or weight status.  This is not the case, however, which is why including information he has shared from late 2005 and pre-Atkins are important for context.  Still, in his podcast interview (for those who would rather not listen, there's a transcript at that link) with Practical Paleo/Balanced Bites Diane Sanfilippo Jimmy said:

I’ve always have extremely high cholesterol levels, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to write this book. I wanted to find out what was wrong with my numbers for myself...

Not really.   And some might be interested in this Twitter exchange that landed in my Inbox:  

Before anyone accuses me of persecuting Jimmy Moore, realize that when one lies a lot that is one thing.  When one does so in a position where they are disseminating health information and it is relevant, people have a right to know.  The above is a lie -- it is only odd that he would continue to do so when he has blogged multiple times about this issue, and is seemingly bragging about negative health markers.

The one thing Jimmy hasn't yet tried is to go back to the way he was eating and exercising circa October 2005.  

Before my 180-pound weight loss success in 2004, my doctor prescribed Lipitor for my high cholesterol. At the time, I was morbidly obese and my total cholesterol levels were 230, which he described to me as dangerously high simply because they were above 200.

~ Jimmy Moore in Cholesterol Clarity (KL 938)  

Jimmy Moore's cholesterol levels on his current diet are wildly out of the norm, not just slightly high.  While 230 is a bit lower than the 275 he reported previously on his blog, if we work off of an average of around 250 -- at 410 lbs drinking over a dozen Cokes a day and eating Little Debbies by the box (his descriptions, many times) -- something very wrong is going on with his CURRENT DIET.

*****

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Experts Out of Context

Throughout the book, Jimmy sprinkles "Moments of Clarity" featuring quotes from the various experts.  There is a controversy over whether it is particle number or particle size that matters, and it is fair to say that Dr. Thomas Dayspring is a particle number guy.  The scientific evidence favors this, and there is not much evidence to support the contention that "large fluffy" cholesterol (or the metabolic milieu underlying it) is benign or, as sometimes claimed, protective.  Indeed those with familial hypercholesterolemia (genetic very high LDL) have this LDL size pattern.  Jimmy glosses over particle number in the chapter about LDL particles (focusing on size) and clearly downplays this in favor of particle size in the Advanced Health Markers chapter.   Something I'll definitely address in the future.  

From the beginning of Chapter 9 What’s This LDL Particle Thing? we get a few quotes, among them the one below:

Anyone familiar with Dr. Thomas Dayspring would probably describe him as the "particle number guy".   He is someone who works to identify those with normal LDL-C but high particle numbers (also evident in high ApoB) that are at risk.  Indeed when Jimmy announced his six month NuttyK lipid profile, Dr. Dayspring had this to say in comments:

Yet the quote above (tan box) is the ONLY contribution from Dayspring in the entire chapter on LDL particles.  Indeed much of the chapter is a collection of quotes from the various experts.    Definitely more to come on this issue, but know that no bias went into compiling this book!  

At least at first glance, Dayspring doesn't get any say on particle number.

#####

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Original Introduction to the Post, written 8/27/13

I am not going to mince words here.  I consider Victory Belt Publishing to be an utterly irresponsible publishing outfit for publishing a health book, any health book, by Jimmy Moore ... let alone one about cholesterol.  Certainly one billed as being helpful for patients to figure out what is going on with their cholesterol levels.  As I've stated multiple times, I'm not an adherent of the simplified cholesterol-heart disease hypotheses ... but at this point, neither are most doctors and certainly most scientists working in the field.  So if we really want to get to the bottom of this mystery, we need to be looking at what the current scientific evidence is saying.  What we don't need is a tome written by someone with a monumental motivation to try to justify to himself that his nightmarish lipid profile is not so nightmarish after all.   I would like to see a doctor, especially his co-author Dr. Eric Westman, unequivocally express publicly that Jimmy Moore's lipid profile is nothing to worry about, and that his current diet is not contributing to the problems along with other health issues he downplays.

So I took one for the team, and purchased a Kindle copy.

I know all of these books have the usual disclaimers.  They aren't offering medical advice and all that ... but that this one includes 28 "experts" including many that fail to qualify for that title, it is potentially harmful to many people.  Thus I will highlight whatever I find pertinent from the book, promotional podcasts, interviews and the like, here in one post.   I would add this ... There are some prominent "good names" amongst the list of experts.  I think to a one, all would be better served to write their own books on the subject rather than allowing Jimmy Moore to benefit from their reputations and credibility and risk his relaying their information through his biased filter.  The first out of context example below is what I'm talking about.

A note to my critics:   Doing a review and gathering accurate information, is not stalking or harassing.  This is a public service for those who might be inclined to purchase this book based on the 5-star reviews already accumulating on the Amazon webs, glowing reviews on blogs and social media, and a plethora of interviews and podcasts with nary a challenging question.  Many of these are by fellow Victory Belt authors and other LLVLC-affiliated (formally or otherwise) people with financial interests of sorts in the game.    Please also understand that many of the things I will be sharing are those shared by other concerned individuals who do not have a platform to do so themselves.  If anyone has a problem with what is written here (or anywhere on this blog for that matter), you can contact me with your concerns.