The Carb-Sane Asylum

There has been a spate of studies and commentaries coming out of late related to plasma saturated fatty acid content, dietary sat fats and carbohydrates.  It gets mightly frustrating to hear the same arguments made over and over, when some basic calculations and critical radiolabel-tracer studies have shown otherwise for over 15-25 years now (and longer, I'm talking major summary papers and supporting studies).  And still .... What Happens to the Carbs Kendrick is a Scottish physician, author of The Great Cholesterol Con , hence my title.  He's also a card carrying member of  and spokesman for THINCS:  THe International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics.    Sadly, his skepticism and paranoia have turned him into quite the con artist ... feet planted firmly in denial. Professors, who shall be nameless, appear unable to admit how basic human physiology works. For example, they may concede a few steps here and there, but they will never...

I wanted to share this study with my blog readers that I had found and shared a bit of on Twitter a little while ago.  This has been prompted by ongoing discussions there and elsewhere on social media regarding blood lipids.  By "cholesterol" I am of course using the general term that in today's terms refers mostly to the low density lipoproteins or LDL. C-Reactive Protein A Simple Test to Help Predict Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke This is not so much a study as a communication.  It is also on the "Cardiology Patient Page" of the journal Circulation , and as such quite readable.  I'd suggest any and all interested do so as I don't really have the time to go in depth into the entire thing.

I haven't forgotten my Egg Survey!  Thanks to all who participated, and essentially confirmed my memories of this aspect of childhood were quite "average".   There were also quite a few new names amongst the responders so I'd like to extend my belated welcome to the Asylum!  First my own answers (and for my husband as well), and then a brief summary:

Via Twitter, Beth from Weight Maven blog asked me if I read That Paleo Guy and a recent paper he blogged on .  The answers would be no and no, but I have now ;-)    The title of the study is:   Is the metabolic syndrome caused by a high fructose, and relatively low fat, low cholesterol diet?   The following stuck out at me from the conclusion of the paper: In conclusion, we would urge medical practitioners to encourage individuals exhibiting MetS to strongly limit the consumption of dietary fructose [ 75 ] and other high-glycemic-index carbohydrates, and to stop discouraging them from consuming foods rich in cholesterol [ 76 ]. Now I don't know what medical practitioners are out there pushing fructose on people, but the recommendations to consume fruit are a far far cry from endorsing the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages and lots of juice.   I do think it's a crime that fruit juices are considered the equivalent of a piece of fruit to ...

Link:  Chris Kresser Title:  An Update on Cholesterol Ratings: ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼   Entertainment Value ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼   Content ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼   Informational Accuracy ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼   Overall Summary: Hands down the most informative and important presentation yet.  Go listen.  NOW.  You can read this later!  This one trumps O'Bryan's gluten presentation because I don't think any of us escape the insidious reach of "cholesterol".  Whether it's our doctor pressuring us to take statins, or diet and exercise not working, etc.etc. Chris Kresser lays out a thorough and concise summary of all things LDL these days.  I sincerely hope that those in the low carb wing of paleo ... ahem ... Jimmy Moore ... will listen to this and dial back their "protective fluffy LDL" cheerleading, as well as the "my LDL caused my doctor to have a heart attack" jeering and snickering about the paleo web.   Chris discusses the meaning of cholesterol test results, the...