> It would be more edifying if you instead read the site that started this
all:
>
>   http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-25775/
>
> And explained to us what is wrong with Uffe Ravnskov's analysis.
>
> Don.

Well,
Ufe Ravnskov's analysis has a lot of solid points- I don't agree with all of
them. Indeed the medical establishment is now using that kind of opinion in
a different way- they're saying that since "50%" (or was it 75%?) of heart
attacks occur in people with cholesterol levels previously regarded as
normal, that we should lower cholesterol in those heart attack victims with
normal cholesterol- there is evidence that they are less likely to have a
second heart attack.

I'm personally more interested in missing out on the first heart attack.
People who've had a heart attack should take their physician's advice about
cholesterol therapy.

There is a Paleo point of view:
Susan Carmack said:
> Also in Adelle Davis' book, Let's Get Well, Chapter 5 - Those
'Cholesterol'
> Problems, she says, 'Adequate protein causes the blood cholesterol to fall
> provided it is not obtained from well-marbled steaks or roasts...'
> Marbling is caused by grains.

Todd Moody replied:
Marbling is intramuscular fat, which is caused by cattle being
fattened, or made obese, by whatever means.  I agree that grains
can do this, but they don't have to be gluten-containing grains.
Corn does the job too, and soybeans.

The answer is in Todd's reply- grains cause fat to accumulate in the
tissues- eg beef grazed on pastures= under 5% fat, grain-fed beef= over 20%.
Heart attacks are caused by arterial plaques etc from the build up of fat
and cholesterol in the blood vessels (a type of tissue). Does grain
ingestion aggravate the problems caused by the cholesterol- ie do grains
accelerate deposition of cholesterol into the tissues??- grain-based diets
may also be low on antioxidant vitamins which would make the cholesterol
oxidised and more harmful. I presume grains don't actually raise blood
cholesterol as I would have thought that it would have been looked into
already, but nothing would surprise me.

Also, grain fed beef has low levels of Vitamin E making it tend to get
rancid (oxidised) more easily. and are now given supplements. Reference:
http://www.beef.org/librpub/perispec/vitamine.htm Straight from the
cattleman's mouth! Feeding them on soymeal/cornmeal is common in the USA but
elsewhere pasture grazing is preferred. Grain feeding beef causes it to have
a fat level over 20% cf pasture grazed is under 5%. Low vitamin E and high
fat are 2 consequences of grain feeding cattle. These problems also affect
humans fed grains. (NB Paleolithic dieting is more about the harmful effects
of grains that about eating more beef). I wouldn't eat the rancid (the
reference proves its fat is rancid)(rancid fat= oxidised fat) hyperfattened
beef the Americans are constantly dished up for a bet.

Todd, you're right Vitamin E does not seem  lower homocysteine but does
reduce oxidation of LDL cholesterol (this is my fourth and therefore last
post for the day)

Ben Balzer