Under Zone and Paleo, it is highly recommended to eat whole eggs and red meat. Isn’t all that cholesterol bad for you?

The current widespread fear of cholesterol largely began with a study by Ancel Keys in 1953. This study has since been shot full of holes, but Conventional Wisdom (CW) has taken hold and many doctors will happily prescribe deadly statins to their patients at the first sign of high cholesterol. For a further dissection of the Keys study, check this link out.

Some other cholesterol facts:

• Cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals. There are no such things as good or bad cholesterol, but mental stress, physical activity and change of body weight may influence the level of blood cholesterol. A high cholesterol is not dangerous by itself, but may reflect an unhealthy condition, or it may be totally innocent.
• A high blood cholesterol is said to promote atherosclerosis and thus also coronary heart disease. But many studies have shown that people whose blood cholesterol is low become just as atherosclerotic as people whose cholesterol is high.

Cholesterol is very necessary stuff. It’s converted into Vitamin D by sunlight, and it’s the precursor for steroid hormones like the testosterone you need to grow, and the estrogen women need to be feminine.

The liver manufactures something like 1,000 mg of cholesterol per day, even if you consume no cholesterol at all. Of that amount, about 800 mg becomes bile salts, which is necessary for the digestion of fats.

Hopefully this cleared up some common misconceptions you may have had about cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol is not to be feared, and is quite necessary for normal body functions.

WOD – 09.16.09

Annie Are U OK
21-15-9

• Row (cal)
• Thruster (95/65)
• SDHP (75/55)
• Burpees
• MBC (20/14)
• WB (20/14)

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