On Wed, 15 Sep 1999, Susan Carmack wrote:

> >If
> >my weight and cholesterol begin to drop then I think I'll have a
> >good idea what's going on.
>
> In the Paleodiet pages I see that the cholesterol myth has been dispelled.
> I was wondering then, what is the problem with high cholesterol? How does
> it affect your daily living?

I think you are too quick to conclude that the Paleodiet pages
present the Last Word on such matters.  The matter is still hotly
disputed among scientists.  Loren Cordain, for example,
apparently accepts the mainstream idea that saturated fats and
serum cholesterol are problematic.  From my own personal point of
view, I am no longer persuaded that elevated LDL cholesterol is
necessary a cause of any health problem, but I do think it is a
marker for some metabolic imbalance or other.  I'd like to try to
identify that imbalance and correct it.

> Isn't it true that cholesterol standards have been extrapolated from people
> who are eating the SAD way? (High cholesterol is caused by refined foods
> leeching the vitamins and minerals that control cholesterol function?)
> (Nutshell description)

According to Eaton, typical cholesterol readings of contemporary
hunter-gatherers are low -- about 150, as I recall.  A reading of
200 is considered "normal" in developed countries, but that is
already significantly above the HG value that Eaton reports.

I've been on a paleo diet for over 2 years.  I've experimented
with various variations, but for the most part I eat just
Neanderthin foods.  On the Zone my total cholesterol was 226.
After about 2.5 months on Neanderthin it was 302, with all of the
increase in LDL.  Since then I've been able to push it down
somewhat by either restricting calories or by using non-paleo
foods, or both.  When I do neither of these things, it floats
back up to about 300.  Right now, it's 296.  In those 2 years my
HDL has gone up somewhat, from 35 to 47.

I also have not lost much weight on this diet, except during the
caloric restriction periods.  My body fat is 19%.  So I look at
all this and try to come up with an answer:  What is it about my
implementation of Neanderthin that tends to push my LDL
cholesterol up and keeps me from losing weight?  I've considered
that it's the saturated fat, but now I'm considering whether it
might be eating too much protein at a time, since I do enjoy
large steaks and the like.  So I shall try the experiment and see
how it turns out.

Todd Moody
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