Two posts ago, we made the rounds of the commonly measured blood lipids (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides) and how they associate with cardiac risk.Lipoproteins Can be Subdivided into Several SubcategoriesIn the continual search for better measures of cardiac risk, researchers in the 1980s decided to break down lipoprotein particles into sub-categories. One of these researchers is Dr. Ronald M. Krauss. Krauss published extensively on the association between lipoprotein size and cardiac risk, eventually concluding...
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
The Diet-Heart Hypothesis: Subdividing Lipoproteins
Posted by Admin in: Cardiovascular disease cholesterol diet disease fats
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Saturday, 25 July 2009
MRFIT Mortality
Posted by Admin in: Cardiovascular disease cholesterol disease
The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention trial was a very large controlled diet trial conducted in the 1980s. It involved an initial phase in which investigators screened over 350,000 men age 35-57 for cardiovascular risk factors including total blood cholesterol. 12,866 participants with major cardiovascular risk factors were selected for the diet intervention trial, while the rest were followed for six years. I discussed the intervention...
Thursday, 23 July 2009
The Diet-Heart Hypothesis: A Little Perspective
Posted by Admin in: Cardiovascular disease diet disease fats
Now that we've discussed the first half of the diet-heart hypothesis, that saturated fat elevated total and LDL cholesterol, let's take a look at the second half. This is the idea that elevated serum cholesterol causes cardiovascular disease, also called the "lipid hypothesis". Heart Attack Mortality vs. Total MortalityWe've been warned that high serum cholesterol leads to heart attacks and that it should be reduced by any means necessary,...
Monday, 20 July 2009
The Diet-Heart Hypothesis: Stuck at the Starting Gate?
Posted by Admin in: Cardiovascular disease diet disease fats Masai Tokelau
The diet-heart hypothesis is the idea that (1) dietary saturated fat, and in some versions, dietary cholesterol, raise blood cholesterol in humans and (2) therefore contribute to the risk of heart attack. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the theory in relation to dietary cholesterol because the evidence that typical dietary amounts cause heart disease in humans is weak. Here's a graph from the Framingham Heart study (via...
Thursday, 9 July 2009
The Finnish Mental Hospital Trial
Posted by Admin in: Cardiovascular disease diet disease fats
This diet trial was conducted between 1959 and 1971 in two psychiatric hospitals near Helsinki, Finland. One hospital served typical fare, including full-fat milk and butter, while the other served "filled milk", margarine and polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Filled milk has had its fat removed and replaced by an emulsion of vegetable oil. As a result, the diet of the patients in the latter hospital was low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and high in polyunsaturated fat compared to the former hospital. At the end of six...
Monday, 6 July 2009
Unrefined vs. Refined Carbohydrates and Dental Cavities
Posted by Admin in: dental health diet disease
There's a definite association between the consumption of refined carbohydrates and dental cavities. Dr. Weston Price pointed this out in a number of transitioning societies in his epic work Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Many other anthropologists and dentists have observed the same thing.I believe, based on a large body of anthropological and medical data, that it's not just an association-- sugar and flour cause cavities. But...
