Low Carb, High fat and Cholesterol

So one of the questions that I am getting asked often (well twice in the last few days) is in regards to cholesterol when you are on a high fat low carb diet. This is something that is covered really well in the following 2 books, so I will refer you to them and cover a few basic points.

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living

Cholesterol Clarity

Of course both of the above are pro low carb but they provide good insight and use peer reviewed scientific papers as evidence, it really is a wonder that there is so much anti-low carb coming from the medical community given the information that is available. An article I found on the internet linked to the following article, I think this is freely available so anyone can read it and see what they have done.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20679559

Basically it shows that the levels of good cholesterol are better in people that stick to a low-carb diet and that there was no difference in the levels of bad cholesterol between people on a low fat diet and those on a high fat diet. I found an analysis of the above paper at the following link and thought that the following quote was important:

“The study is not the first to suggest that low-carb weight loss programs like the Atkins diet are safe and may be slightly better than low-fat diets for reducing risk factors for heart disease. But it is one of the longest to show this, says lead researcher Gary D. Foster, PhD, of Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research and Education.” Emphasis on this is not the first study to show that low carb diets are better than low fat diets for reducing risk factors of heart disease.

http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/news/20100802/low-carb-diets-improve-cholesterol-long-term

The details of how and why are explained really well in the above 2 books, in fact if you look on YouTube you can find some great presentations by the authors, particularly of the first book which is my favourite low carb book as it is so much great science and evidence. One of the authors of the books, Cholesterol Clarity (has also written Ketone Clarity) has written the following article, http://wellness-centre.com/pdfs/Big_Fat_Lie.pdf which states you come to “the surreal conclusion that you can eat lard straight from the can and conceivably reduce your risk of heart disease”.  The article linked to there is great, it is not so long you get bored but contains lots of great information backup up by facts. Really is an article I intend to recommend to all people who are questioning the lifestyle.