Todd Moody wrote on 7/25:

>On Sun, 20 Jul 1997, Troy Gilchrist wrote:
>
>> If you eat nothing but lightly cooked meat (fatty) and greens for
>> several weeks your cholesterol level will drop like a rock. It's a
>> biochemical inevitability.
>
>I don't see the inevitability.  While the ketosis is likely to
>slow down the liver's production of cholesterol, the low level of
>fiber is also likely to slow down its exit from the body.  Am I
>missing something here?

There's a nice study by Phinney et al (80) Metabolism 32(8):757-7680 "The
Human Metabolic Response to Chronic Ketosis Without Caloric Restriction:
Physical and Biochemical Adaptation" showing that a ketogenic diet
*elevates* total cholesterol while leaving HDL unchanged. The study
involved 9 lean men who were switched from a calorically adequate high carb
diet containing 1.75 g/kg bodywt P, 67% C, 33% F to a calorically
comparable ketogenic diet containing <20g/d C, identical P, and 83-85% F.
Over a four week period, average cholesterol rose from 159 to 208. HDL was
unchanged at 40. Weights were essentially unchanged.

On the other hand, in PROTEIN POWER (p.105) the Eades cite a different
study showing a similar rise in total cholesterol for a high fat vs high
carb diet, but with a higher HDL for the HF diet, giving an improved ratio.


Both of these studies were short term and involved individuals wthout
excess bodyweight. Which to believe? And what about longer term? It seems
to me there are still many unresolved aspects of blood lipid profile vs
diet. I know personally from anecdotal reports on the Zone list that there
can be wide variations in individual responsiveness in this regard. Even
"experts" would probably hesitate to make categorical assertions.

Gary