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Hi All--

There's more to cholesterol than I realized, so sorry for the delay in the
summary. This was basically what I asked...

"Does anyone have suggestions for a good cookbook for low cholesterol
cooking? -- or better yet, have any of our guru GF cookbook writers have
low cholesterol GF cookbooks in the works?"

Many people replied that I could Google "cholesterol" and find cookbooks on
the web. This is absolutely the best group on the web, so I truly appreciate
everyone who responds to my questions - we're all busy and replies take
time. However, I was hoping for more information in terms of recipes, ideas
for lowering cholesterol in existing recipes, etc. Sorry...I wasn't very
clear.

Connie Sarros wrote to tell me that she will work on a GF low cholesterol
cookbook for us soon! Thanks a bunch, Connie!!

Short story on cholesterol: [My comments are in brackets]
 _____
*What about cholesterol and diet?*
**
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4488

"People get cholesterol in two ways. The body — mainly the liver — produces
varying amounts, usually about 1,000 milligrams a day. Foods also can
contain cholesterol. Foods from animals (especially egg yolks, meat,
poultry, fish, seafood and whole-milk dairy products) contain it. Foods from
plants (fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds) don't contain
cholesterol.

[This was a surprise to me - I knew egg yolks, red meat and whole-milk dairy
were higher in cholesterol, but poultry, fish and seafood totally didn't
compute for me]
Typically the body makes all the cholesterol it needs, so people don't need
to consume it. Saturated fatty acids are the main culprit in raising blood
cholesterol, which increases your risk of heart disease. Trans fats also
raise blood cholesterol. But dietary cholesterol also plays a part.

Some of the excess dietary cholesterol is removed from the body through the
liver. Still, the American Heart Association recommends that you limit your
average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams. If you have
heart disease, limit your daily intake to less than 200 milligrams. Still,
everyone should remember that by keeping their dietary intake of saturated
fats low, they can significantly lower their dietary cholesterol intake.
Foods high in saturated fat generally contain substantial amounts of dietary
cholesterol."
_____

Celiacs may or may not have more trouble with cholesterol due to the liver
issue - liver  disease or issues being connected to CD. A fellow listmate,
Betty, wrote to tell me, in detail, what she ate to control her very high
cholesterol: fish every other day (salmon and tuna are high in good Omega-3
fats), chicken, cooked veggies, no transfats, no dairy, no white rice, no
potatoes (though she admitted cheating now and then on potatoes), and she
exercises. She admitted that much of her food was bland.

Okay, my biggest issue is with GF flours - starches. Are there GF flours
that are better than others in keeping cholesterol low? This is what Chris
wrote...

"The GF flours do not contain cholesterol.  Cholesterol is found only in
foods of animal origin. Celiac's blood cholesterol (and sometimes weight)
tends to rise after starting a GF diet because their intestine is healing
and beginning to absorb nutrients (cholesterol being one of them).  Many of
the GF baked goods contain a lot of sugar, fat from oils,
margarine/shortening and chocolate, and cholesterol from egg yolks."

Betty thought that starches and sugars tend to raise cholesterol. So, I
called the American Liver Foundation and they told me that starches
alone are not much of a contributor to cholesterol. It's the fats they are
cooked in or the butter we slather on them that raise our cholesterol. Also,
the Liver Foundation told me that if one's liver is already diseased or
compromised, it will have a more difficult time removing cholesterol from
our bodies.

So, our GF flours are not an issue, apparently. In my own situation, I think
a change in my diet is not going to make a big difference in my cholesterol
level unless I become vegetarian. I hope this information was helpful to
people who requested a summary - no recipes, but good things to know. I
suppose I'll be looking at the cholesterol counts of various types of fish
and comparing chicken to turkey.

Thanks to everyone who responded!  ~~Ayn in Alabama

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