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5.0 out of 5 stars
A very close to perfect beginner's guide, July 21, 2011
This review is from: Cholesterol: The Real Truth (Paperback)
It turns out the the saturated and fat and cholesterol = heart disease theory is just plain wrong and not backed up by science.
In very easy to understand language this book explains why this is the case and offers far more helpful advice on the real factors influencing heart disease and what you need to do to reduce your risk and to improve your health generally.
This book explains:
- The many vital functions that cholesterol performs in the body and why low cholesterol levels can cause a number of serious problems including aggression, suicide attempts and depression, slower brain function, weak immune system, hormone deficiencies, greater cancer risk and a shorter life span. Cholesterol levels should be above 4.7 mmol/L (180 mg/dl) according to Cabot.
- Why statin drugs are unnecessary, unhelpful and dangerous and can cause serious and sometimes irreversible problems in many patients. (One study showed that 98% of patients taking on statin drug had muscle problems.)
- Far more useful blood tests to asses your cardiovascular disease risk (and your general health) than tests of cholesterol levels include: blood sugar and insulin tests, CRP tests, Homocysteine level tests, thyroid function tests, and blood pressure and pulse tests.
- Low thyroid hormone levels can cause high cholesterol levels.
- The book recommends the following 'heart saving' tips: Don't eat lots of carbohydrate (especially refined carbs), eat enough fibre to prevent constipation, eat good fats, increase your antioxidant intake (eat lots of fruits and vegetables and start juicing), keep homocysteine low, improve your liver function, strengthen your immune system, reduce stress and add some appropriate exercise.
- The only healthy oils to cook with are virgin or extra virgin olive oil, ghee, butter, palm oil and virgin coconut oil.
This book is Australian, and so am I. Most of this book is not Australia specific (and would suit readers from all over the world) but the small part of it that was, just about made my day.
There is an awful and misleading program in Australia called the 'Heart Foundation Tick.' This 'tick of approval' is given to food products that are supposedly healthy choices, and the HF tick logo displayed prominently on their packaging. The problem is that they issue the tick to all the worst heavily processed foods such as frozen pizzas, sugary breakfast cereals and so on. It is an absolute joke, yet it obviously confuses and influences enough consumers for it to be worthwhile. This book spent several pages going through the Heart Foundations recommendations for a healthy diet, pulling no punches in point out in very clear detail exactly why each piece of advice they give out is utterly wrong, and why following this advice would make your health far WORSE!
It was so great to see this sham group called out publicly for their appalling advice to eats lots of processed foods, margarine and vegetable oils and to avoid traditional foods and healthier fats! I wish Cabot's chart pointing out why each of their dietary recommendations is UTTERLY WRONG could be printed in all the newspapers and magazines that are so often full of ads for terrible products featuring the big 'Heart Foundation Tick' logo.
The problematic parts of this book included:
- The constant ads for the author's health clinic and previous books would have been a lot better included only on a single page or two at the end of the book.
- This book warns against statin drugs, but makes a bizarre statement about how high blood pressure drugs are very safe and well tolerated. This does not at all tally with information given in books such as
The High Blood Pressure Hoax and
Is Your Cardiologist Killing You by Dr Sherry Rogers, among others.
- Little information on supplements is given and a basic daily regimen including a multi and some C etc. is not mentioned, as it is by many other authors on this topic. This is important of you are taking any of the basic nutrients alone, as this book recommends. Nutrients work best when taken in combination.
- The author's recommendation to limit red meat to a few times weekly is also not supported by books such as
Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol.
Overall this book is just an excellent beginner's guide. It is very brief and easy to read and gives easy to follow details on following a genuinely healthy diet with lots of healthy fats, meats, nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies, and juices in it - that is not super high carb. It is a little gem and a highly recommended read for anyone that wants simple information on how to maintain their health or lower their heart disease risk.
To read more about the truth behind the cholesterol myth you may also enjoy books such as
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (Vintage),
Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol and
Real Food: What to Eat and Why and
Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats, among others.
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E.
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