A few remarks: 1. Only a few fruits have a high glycemic index (bananas, dates, dried fruits), others have a moderate or low GI. However, when one's diet is based on fruit, it is difficult not to eat those high GI fruits (because they are the most calorie-dense). 2. High carb, low fat diets tend to lower both HDL and TC (total cholesterol). The ratio TC/HDL is considered as more important than absolute values (of TC or HDL). One would expect a lower HDL on a fruitarian diet (because they are high carb, with some high GI ones), but also a lower LDL. How a fruitarian diet affects the ratio HDL/TC is not easy to figure out. 3. Low carb diets improve cholesterol numbers in a majority of people, but there are exceptions (as seen in the Paleofood archives). 4. One important difference between a fruitarian eating a high GI food (e.g. bananas) and a SADer eating a high GI food (e.g. white bread) is that the SADer eats mixed meals (high fat AND high carb). The presence of fat might affect cholesterol levels for many reasons. (On a related topic, high GI foods tend to fatten "normal" eaters, while emaciation is a common problem in fruitarians.) 5. Fruitarianism usually fails for other reasons than cholesterol. --Jean-Louis Tu <[log in to unmask]>