On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Betty Copeland wrote:

>      Well my worst fears have been realized.  I had my cholesterol tested and
> it has risen.  I started this diet back in May and have been very happy on
> it.  My cholesterol has risen from 230 to 242.  The LDL is now at 167.  I
> guess Todd isn't the only one out there with a problem.

You don't say what your HDL is, but at least the increase has not
been as severe as mine.

>      I believe in the whole concept but the numbers speak for themselves.

Indeed.  Our problem is to determine why the concept does not
work as well for us as it does for others.  It could be that part
of the concept is just wrong, or is more limited in applicability
than we have supposed.

I'm just thinking "out loud" here, if that's okay.

Using _NeanderThin_ as a source, one of the most questionable
premises is the "chaos theory" premise that by returning an
out-of-equilibrium system to its initial conditions, you return
it to equilibrium.  Based on what little I know about chaos
theory, this is just dead wrong.  Chaos theory does not state
that all subsequent conditions are reversible by restoring
initial conditions.  It's rather like saying that if smoking
causes lung cancer, then quitting smoking will cure it.

For us, Betty, what this might mean is that our metabolisms are
in some way damaged, so that while paleolithic eating might have
prevented our cholesterol problems, it cannot cure them.
Obviously, I don't know that this is the case, but it is a
possibility that cannot be ignored.

Another possibility is that some populations have become
disadapted to the hunter-gatherer way of eating, and you and I
have inherited some of those disadaptations.  Obviously, the
"blood type" diet theory is one account of how such
disadaptations may have occurred, but I'm sure that other
theories are possible.

D'Adamo's blood type theory has several aspects: stomach acid
differences, enzyme differences, and different responses to
lectins.  It is only with difficulty that I have been able to
verify many of his premises, largely due to lack of time.
However, there is one point that I *have* been able to confirm,
and that is that type As are indeed more likely to be victims of
heart disease and cancer than are type Os.  This cries out for
explanation.  It is also true that the Eskimos and other
genetically isolated hunter-gatherer peoples are all type Os, for
the simple reason that the other blood types came more recently,
and the very isolation of these peoples has kept the newer
serotypes out of their populations.

There is an enzyme, alkaline phosphatase, that actually breaks
down dietary cholesterol in the gut.  Type Os have the highest
levels of this enzyme; type As have the lowest.  Type As,
therefore, have the greatest chance of having undigested
cholesterol reabsorbed into the body and dumped into the blood.
I don't know your blood type, but mine is A.

And yet, dietary cholesterol is generally held to be a minor
player in hypercholesterolemia.  It is the saturated fats lauric,
myristic, and palmitic acid that appear to be responsible.  That,
at least, is the theory.  Just how these fats cause high
cholesterol is not yet clear.  And you and I don't know whether
our problem is caused by dietary cholesterol or saturated fats,
or both.

What ought to work for us is a more zone-like version of
paleolithic eating, now called paleo-zone.  This involves use of
lean meats such as skinless chicken, turkey, and fish -- and
monounsaturated fats such as (mainly) olive oil and the oil in
nuts.  This, at least, is my next strategy, since the ketogenic
approach of fatty meat and greens pushed my cholesterol up to
320.

I think the cholesterol surge experienced by Karsten Andersen in
1928 is a stark reminder that the high-fat approach does not work
for everyone.  I think it is also significant that Andersen's
total cholesterol quickly returned to fairly normal levels when
the Bellevue experiment was terminated.  I am fairly well
satisfied that whatever it was that didn't work for Andersen is
also not working for me, and perhaps for you too, Betty.  Of
course, we don't know what the problem was, but we do know that
Andersen ate lots of beef.

So, while I am not yet prepared to abandon the entire concept of
paleolithic eating, I am forced to concede that I have to adapt
it to my own metabolic situation.

>      I am very disappointed !

I know the feeling.  I wanted this diet to be the magic that
would allow me to not be concerned about things such as
cholesterol.  But I still have some confidence that I can find a
way to solve this problem.  I'll certainly share anything that
appears to be working.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]