On Fri, 24 Apr 1998, EllaLane wrote:

> Concerning your high cholesterol, have you had your thyroid checked?

Yes.  It appears normal.

> She states:
> While serum cholesterol levels provide an inaccruate indication of future
> heart disease, high levels of homocysteine, a protein metabolite, have been
> positively correlated with pathological build-up of plaque in the arteries.
> Folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and choline are nutrients that lower serum
> homocysteine levels.

Yes, I think there is a lot to the homocysteine theory.  Since
these B vitamins tend to be destroyed in extensive food
processing, it makes sense that this century would see an
increase in atherosclerosis.  There's a good interview on this
subject at the Solgar site, at
http://www.solgar.com/nutrition_library/articles/homocysteine.html.

I use an anti-homocysteine supplement formula, since I eat my
meats cooked and my vegetables are not always fresh-picked (and I
tend to cook them, too).  In the interview with Kilmer McCully,
author of _The HOmocysteine Revolution_, McCully discusses
research that showed that two-thirds of the patients with
atherosclerosis did not have elevated cholesterol.

> The best way to treat heart disease, then, is not to focus on lowering
> cholesterol-either by drugs or diet- but to bolster thyroid function through
> an improved diet that provides usable iodine; to eliminate free-radical-
> containing foods that cause the body to need constant repair; and to avoid
> vitamin and mineral deficiencies that make the artery walls more prone to
> ruptures and the build-up of plaque. . . .

I have read a number of articles and postings by Enig and Fallon,
but I haven't yet bought their book.  I think I will do so soon,
however.  Their views diverge from the Neanderthin philosophy in
a number of particulars, but on the whole I think there is a fair
overlap.

Todd Moody
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