14 thoughts on “Treating The Symptom”

  2. Reducing total cholesterol is a sham. The lowest all-factor mortality is associated with a TC of 200-240.

    But reducing oxidized small-particle LDL proteins to zero does wonders for heart disease risk. Most LDL is fine (non-oxidized and large-particle) and in fact necessary for proper health. The best way to improve those factors is to avoid overly refined carbohydrates (white flour, white sugar) and polyunsaturated fats (mostly the vegetable oils).

    In other words, avoid the stuff invented post-Industrial Revolution.

  4. Yes reducing total cholesterol is bogus. It is all about ratios. It is mostly a matter of hydraulics: i.e. is the blood thick and gooey enough to stick to vessel walls, or not.

    One of the proofs total cholesterol does not matter is that people in Japan, Norway, Iceland used to have high total cholesterol levels, plus a high salt intake, and have few to no heart issues. Japan, for example, has among the best heart health worldwide. The “secret” is people in these countries eat high cholesterol fish like tuna, cod, or salmon rather than meat. This was later rationalized with LDL vs HDL cholesterol ratios, or Omega-3 vs Omega-6 fat ratios, etc.

  5. In Michael Collins’s quite interesting biography, he relates how he started running in the 60s, long before it became a craze, just because he felt better. A physician friend of his said he was nuts to keep it up into middle age, because the only noticeable effect of a strong heart was to prolong your agony if you died of cancer. Interesting change of perspective since then.

  6. Heh. I’ve been saying for years that the idea of taking stuff to lower your homocistine was complete anti-science nonsense. One tiny correlation and they’re ready to change the chemistry of your body “just in case it helps”. Somehow, I doubt it was sold to people that way.

    But now they’re going to regulate all the salt. Idiots.

  7. Extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil is fine. Canola oil comes from rapeseed, a completely unpalatable seed rich in erucic acid, which is bitter and rather toxic. It gets a lot of attention from doctors as a “heart healthy” oil (one of the “good” fats) rich in omega-3s, but the fact that canola processing generally uses upwards of 500 degrees means a good portion of the Omega-3s could be rancid on the shelf. Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/healthy-oils/

  8. 500 degrees means a good portion of the Omega-3s could be rancid on the shelf.

    I would say that the high heat refinement tempers Canola oil and helps makes the oil more inert and stable. Remember your not just taking the oil down off the shelf and chugging it down. You are using it for some other purpose as to render food stuffs to a easily metabolizable state. This process changes the state of the oil and can produce toxic compounds which are then truly described as rancid. For instance oil is described as rancid when it is overheated during the cooking process. Studies show that this will form carcinogenic compounds. You will actually smell and see it burning which not only makes it taste like crap but is not good for you either. There is big difference between heating oil up during a refining process than letting it burn in a pan on your stove top. Also, consider that any oil (even at room temperature) will become rancid if it is left to sit while contaminated with animal fat and drippings. A clean, highly refined canola oil is IMO is a healthy consumable oil product. Remember, the key to using any oil properly is to stay under its smoking point and not over use an oil that has been cooked with previously; especially in terms of deep frying.

  9. See this is why I know Vodkapundit isn’t really drinking while he’s live blogging. His punctuation and grammar is way to good for that to be teh case. LoL

  10. You mean like olive oil? Or canola?

    Canola. Olive oil is primarily monounsatured, which is fine. It’s the polyunsaturated oils that are the problem.

  11. There has been only one thing that has demonstrably reduced the mortality rate due to heart attacks and that is aspirin. Aspirin works by suppressing the eicosanoids; the short-distance signaling molecules that, among other things, cause the blood to thicken or thin, the blood vessels to dilate or constrict, and the blood to clot, or not.

    It turns out that the type of eicosanoid (with their commensurate message) that gets produced is under the profound influence of insulin. High insulin levels will cause vessels to constrict, blood to thicken and more easily clot. On the other hand, a balanced level of insulin results in reduced blood platelet clumping, dilated blood vessels, and reduced clotting factors.

    Aspirin works, but it suppresses both the desirable as well as the undesirable eicosanoids. Better yet is to keep insulin in balance because this supresses only the undesirable eicosanoids. But there’s a catch. The *only* way to keep insulin levels from going too high is through diet; the type, combination, and amounts of food we eat–at each and every meal.

    Interestingly, the enzyme in the liver that produces cholesterol is also stimulated by, guess what… insulin. Is it possible that cholesterol levels are a surrogate for the real culprit: insulin? If so, with all the concern and effort to reduce cholesterol, we may be pouring water on the smoke and ignoring the fire.

    Ref: The Zone Diet by Dr. Barry Sears

  12. The Medical Establishment is stuck on treating the symptoms and not the disease.

    The correlation between high cholesterol and heart disease has not been well established. The correlation between high blood pressure and heart disease also has not been well established. There does appear to be a correlation between having heart disease and having high cholesterol and/or high blood pressure. What I am saying is that having high cholesterol or high blood pressure does not mean you have heart disease, however, if you have heart disease you may very well suffer from those symptoms.

    So, the Medical Establishment has decided to treat those symptoms, and people still die, because they are not treating the disease. What makes this story worse is that perfectly healthy people that happen to have high cholesterol or blood pressure are now given drugs with serious side effects to lower them to what may be, for those people, dangerously low levels.

    The best thing you can do is check your family history and discuss these results with your doctor or get a second opinion. If your family has a history of long life with high cholesterol, then perhaps your high cholesterol is normal for you.

    Disclaimer: Don’t take medical advice from random people on the internet.

  14. OK, I’m pretty clueless when it comes to cooking. Recently I learned a stir-fry recipe and have been using canola oil. Can olive oil be used for stir-frying? Are there any alternatives I should be looking at?

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