On Wed, 12 Aug 1998, Ray Audette wrote:

> When Anderson went on the all meat diet (80% fat, less than 10 grams
> carbs per day, all beef) his readings initially went high but then
> settled into a more normal range.  After one year the diet was changed to
> 95% fat and Anderson's readings after one week went to 500.  One week
> later, when carbs were increased to 35 grams per day with the
> introduction of buttermilk and heavy cream and fat remained at 95%, his
> readings went to 800 (after a 20 hour fast).  He then returned to the all
> meat diet and his levels came back to normal.

I'd be interested in your source for this since it conflicts with
mine, which is Tolstei, E. (1929) J. Biol Chem. 83: 753-758.
"The effect of an exclusive meat diet on the chemical consituents
of the blood."  According to this article Andersen's cholesterol
did not return to normal levels until after two weeks of
"general" diet, meaning after the conclusion of the experiment.


Date        Cholesterol (mg/100cc)
  -         -  (before meat diet)
3/7/28       600
3/23/28      285
4/13/28      268
5/28/28      310
1/26/28      500
1/9/29       400
1/24/29      800 (after 20 hr fast)
3/20/29      200 (2 wks general diet)

Note that the experiment started on about the beginning of March,
but we don't have a pre-experiment cholesterol reading for
Andersen.  Note also that at no time during the year were
Andersen's cholesterol readings even close to what would be
regarded as "normal."  In fact, if we discard the highest and
lowest readings, Andersen's average cholesterol for the year was
419, hardly a normal value.  Even if we only discard the highest
reading as an aberration, the average is 394.  Unfortunately we
don't have readings for the six-month period from May to January,
but 394 would be an expected average, given a curve from 310 in
May to 500 in January.  Only the final reading, after the
conclusion of the all-meat diet, was normal.  And finally, note
that neither Andersen's nor Stefansson's cholesterol (which I
haven't reproduced here but which hovered in the low 200s) values
resembled those of contemporary hunter-gatherers whose blood has
been tested (according to Eaton SB, Konner M, Shostak M. Stone
Agers in the fast lane: chronic degenerative diseases in
evolutionary perspective. Am J Med 84:739-49, 1988.).  Their
cholesterol readings average about 125.  Eaton notes that this
value is consistent with what is found in other primates.

So perhaps we should be asking why Stefansson's and Andersen's
cholesterol readings were so much higher than those of
contemporary h-gs.  We know that it cannot be explained by the
carbohydrates in their (S and A's) diet.  As I see it, that
leaves two possibilities.  Either S and A were physiologically
not representative of h-g metabolism or their diet was not
representative of h-g diet.  Based on what I have read, the
latter hypothesis seems more likely.

I don't know if you meant to imply this, but your comment above
seems to imply that you think the 35g of carbs is what sent the
cholesterol up.  If that is what you meant, then it follows that
you think carb intake should be severely restricted on a diet
that makes liberal use of animal fat.  This would in fact
necessitate careful carb gram counting, a practice not
recommended in Neanderthin.  It would entail, for example, that a
person using pemmican as a dietary staple had better not eat any
fruit at all, since it wouldn't take much fruit to get to the 35g
level.

Todd Moody
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