> Isn't it saturated fats PLUS refined carbos, which drive up the diseases?
> Saturated fats by themselves are not harmful, right? I thought it was the
> carbos that stimulate the production of cholesterol.

See also, from the Paleodiet list:

>However, in one of the few (and best controlled) metabolic ward trials of
>a carbohydrate free (<20 gm/day) diet, Phinney and colleagues (20)
>demonstrated  a rather large rise in serum cholesterol (159 to 208 mg/dl)
>in nine lean, healthy males who participated in this 35 day in patient
>trial.    The protein content of the diet was estimated to be 15%, whereas
>the fat content of the diet represented between 83-85% of total daily
>calories.   Consequently, during the dietary trial, the protein content
>remained similar to the average daily intake in the US and was not
>increased.   This experiment shows that a carbohydrate diet free diet
>composed of "ground beef, breast of chicken, water packed tuna fish,
>powdered egg solids, and cheddar cheese with mayonnaise, heavy cream ,
>sour cream, and cream cheese as primary lipid sources" was definitely
>hypercholesterolemic.