---Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Ray, this doesn't explain how my cholesterol went from 226 to 320 in
three months without drinking any coffee at all.  I can cite other
literature documenting substantial rises in cholesterol on ketogenic
diets, though not as dramatic as Andersen's.


Todd and everyone,
I just wanted to add my 2 cents' worth (if that) about this
cholesterol discussion. We are all influenced by the incredible
simplicity of health information and advice. The cholesterol issue is
almost certainly a very complex process, and one cannot necessarily
draw a direct correlation between one factor and another (like diet
and raised levels)--even though that's exactly what researchers seem
to try to do.

I've recently done some reading on homocysteine and how it fits into
the cholesterol picture. Studies seem to now be revealing that it's at
least as important as cholesterol as a risk factor for heart disease,
if not more important than cholesterol (again, that simplistic
thinking). However, I understand that what seems to happen is the
homocysteine does the blood vessel damage  and the cholesterol comes
in to repair the damage. So it seems logical that if the homocysteine
levels are raised and causing blood vessel damage, the cholesterol
levels would raise in response.

It is furthermore logical that on a diet high in animal foods and low
in b vitamins would contribute to high homocysteine levels.
Homocysteine is simply an intermediary breakdown of the amino acid
methionine, which is certainly found in animal foods. The conversion
from homocysteine to a less "free-radical" producing substances
requires an enzymatic process involving folic acid, B12 and B6.
Perhaps with good absorption one would get enough B12 and B6 from
animal foods, but I don't know about folic acid. The best sources are
always listed as whole grains, legumes, peanuts, and other foods that
we have probably cut out, as well as green leafy vegetables, which I
know I don't eat enough of.

Anyway, it would be interesting to see if those with high cholesterol
also have high homocysteine, and if by lowering the homocysteine
(through b vitamin supplementation) the cholesterol levels also go
down. Again, this is still somewhat simplistic thinking. I believe
there are probably many other factors involved that we haven't
identified yet. But it would be interesting to see.

Here is a link to just one of many articles on homocysteine.
http://www.west.net/~lifelink/tmg152.htm

Michele
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