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The Great Cholesterol Con
The notion that cholesterol and saturated fat cause heart disease is one of the most fundamental tenets of modern medicine. It is also completely false. In The Great Cholesterol Con you will learn
This meticulously researched book mercilessly demolishes what may well be the biggest and most successful scam in the history of medicine. Most importantly, you'll discover what really promotes heart disease and what you can do to prevent it!
This meticulously researched book mercilessly demolishes what may well be the biggest and most successful scam in the history of medicine. Most importantly, you'll discover what really promotes heart disease and what you can do to prevent it!
430 pages, Paperback
First published October 18, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 17, 2011
Exclamation points have no place in science writing.
That's sort of glib, so I'll add this: I hate the writing style, the book seems to be unedited (typos abound), there's no index, and the author has since made himself appear foolish in an online spat with Michael Eades. I'm perhaps 40% of the way through and agree with much of what the book says, but I'm not finding it useful for much more than learning about research papers that I'd like to read (which is requiring more note-taking than I'd like due to the aforementioned lack of an index).
Potential readers would be much better off with Gary Taubes's books instead ("Good Calories, Bad Calories" and "Why We Get Fat").
That's sort of glib, so I'll add this: I hate the writing style, the book seems to be unedited (typos abound), there's no index, and the author has since made himself appear foolish in an online spat with Michael Eades. I'm perhaps 40% of the way through and agree with much of what the book says, but I'm not finding it useful for much more than learning about research papers that I'd like to read (which is requiring more note-taking than I'd like due to the aforementioned lack of an index).
Potential readers would be much better off with Gary Taubes's books instead ("Good Calories, Bad Calories" and "Why We Get Fat").
June 27, 2022
"It is absolutely reprehensible that one man's misguided quest for personal redemption was allowed to irrevocably alter the entire course of modern medicine... good science involves arriving at a conclusion only after one has considered all the available evidence, not just that which supports one's predetermined conclusions." p. 42 (Don't we see this repeated all of the time now?)
"If saturated fats caused even a portion of the damage for which they are frequently blamed, their negative effects should be readily and repeatedly demonstrable in controlled clinical trials. However, after excluding the results of the poorly designed and sloppy conducted northern European studies, it quickly becomes apparent that there does not exist a single tightly-controlled trial which shows that saturated fat restriction can save even a single life. . . The only well-conducted dietary intervention studies to have produced any real decrease in coronary and overall mortality are those that involved an increase in omega-3 intake, increased anti-oxidant-rich vegetable and fruit consumption, nutrient supplementation, restriction of highly-processed foods and/or weight loss. " 60 years and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intensive research did not find any causative role for highly saturated animal or tropical fats in the development of CHD. p. 74-75.
Every book I read about medical/scientific information have the same theme. New drug, procedure, vax: poor studies, bad outcomes, too invested in it to withdraw, high level industry-government collaboration and money making and influence, ruination of anyone who opposes for very good reasons. Over and over and over again. These agencies have failed us miserably. They perpetuate shady science and profitable hypotheses. While making policy for governmental agencies, scientists work for the industry at the same time. FDA and NIH are full of financial conflicts of interest, ignore contradictory findings. "it is easy to present a convincing case for just about any theory when one quotes only supporting research and ignores contradictory evidence." p. 120
"Interaction with pharmaceutical representatives was found to increase the preference for new drugs and the rapidity with which they were prescribed. The prescriptions of cheaper generic drugs declined with such interactions." p. 123 That's just on a micro level - one to one with doctors, never mind national level.
I love the name of the chapter, "If we want your opinion we will give it to you."
"If saturated fats caused even a portion of the damage for which they are frequently blamed, their negative effects should be readily and repeatedly demonstrable in controlled clinical trials. However, after excluding the results of the poorly designed and sloppy conducted northern European studies, it quickly becomes apparent that there does not exist a single tightly-controlled trial which shows that saturated fat restriction can save even a single life. . . The only well-conducted dietary intervention studies to have produced any real decrease in coronary and overall mortality are those that involved an increase in omega-3 intake, increased anti-oxidant-rich vegetable and fruit consumption, nutrient supplementation, restriction of highly-processed foods and/or weight loss. " 60 years and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intensive research did not find any causative role for highly saturated animal or tropical fats in the development of CHD. p. 74-75.
Every book I read about medical/scientific information have the same theme. New drug, procedure, vax: poor studies, bad outcomes, too invested in it to withdraw, high level industry-government collaboration and money making and influence, ruination of anyone who opposes for very good reasons. Over and over and over again. These agencies have failed us miserably. They perpetuate shady science and profitable hypotheses. While making policy for governmental agencies, scientists work for the industry at the same time. FDA and NIH are full of financial conflicts of interest, ignore contradictory findings. "it is easy to present a convincing case for just about any theory when one quotes only supporting research and ignores contradictory evidence." p. 120
"Interaction with pharmaceutical representatives was found to increase the preference for new drugs and the rapidity with which they were prescribed. The prescriptions of cheaper generic drugs declined with such interactions." p. 123 That's just on a micro level - one to one with doctors, never mind national level.
I love the name of the chapter, "If we want your opinion we will give it to you."
March 26, 2020
The ugly truth about violent criminal Anthony Colpo who bashed a man from behind at a fruit market recently. Go visit Colpo's website to see his obsession with bullying people online.
MAGISTRATES COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
(Criminal)
POLICE V COLPO, ANTHONY FRANCIS
of Magistrate Fahey 13 March 2020
SOUTH AUSTRALIA POLICE APP Y CLEGG
ANTHONY FRANCIS COLPO MR A MOFFA
Hearing Date/s: 13/03/2020
File No/s: AMC-20-1477
Mr Colpo, the assault to which you pleaded guilty is, very serious.
The assault was violent and prolonged and caused injury, I think you can be grateful there were not more serious injuries involved. No form of assault is acceptable Mr Colpo and there is nothing you can tell me which makes this understandable or acceptable. I bear in mind everything which has been put to me by Mr Moffa, you have for at least the last 30 years not troubled the law at all. You have been a hardworking and contributing member of society and I bear your history in mind. In relation to that I am asked not to record a conviction. In my view the nature of this assault means I cannot agree to that request. A serious assault of this nature needs to be acknowledged by a conviction. I will record a conviction. The issue then is how I should deal with you, and notwithstanding your previous good history the court needs to impose some form of penalty which sends a message to you and to the community generally to the affect this is not acceptable behaviour. That means a term of imprisonment should be imposed.
I believe a term of imprisonment is appropriate for the reasons I have just mentioned and were it not for your plea Mr Colpo I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of three months, I know it may sound a lot for someone with no history but I consider this serious.
MAGISTRATES COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
(Criminal)
POLICE V COLPO, ANTHONY FRANCIS
of Magistrate Fahey 13 March 2020
SOUTH AUSTRALIA POLICE APP Y CLEGG
ANTHONY FRANCIS COLPO MR A MOFFA
Hearing Date/s: 13/03/2020
File No/s: AMC-20-1477
Mr Colpo, the assault to which you pleaded guilty is, very serious.
The assault was violent and prolonged and caused injury, I think you can be grateful there were not more serious injuries involved. No form of assault is acceptable Mr Colpo and there is nothing you can tell me which makes this understandable or acceptable. I bear in mind everything which has been put to me by Mr Moffa, you have for at least the last 30 years not troubled the law at all. You have been a hardworking and contributing member of society and I bear your history in mind. In relation to that I am asked not to record a conviction. In my view the nature of this assault means I cannot agree to that request. A serious assault of this nature needs to be acknowledged by a conviction. I will record a conviction. The issue then is how I should deal with you, and notwithstanding your previous good history the court needs to impose some form of penalty which sends a message to you and to the community generally to the affect this is not acceptable behaviour. That means a term of imprisonment should be imposed.
I believe a term of imprisonment is appropriate for the reasons I have just mentioned and were it not for your plea Mr Colpo I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of three months, I know it may sound a lot for someone with no history but I consider this serious.
March 13, 2020
Anthony Colpo is a violent criminal and an obsessive stalker of some authors who has more fame than him. Just read his website to see what an absolute psycho he is. His books are super boring to read and full of contradictions.
Just google him up and see what I mean...
Just google him up and see what I mean...
July 31, 2022
A well-written book substantiated by scientific papers by doctors and scientists. Pg 299 to 410 is the Bibliography! A hard-to-put-down book, I was interrupted by constantly running out of hiliters. Strongly recommended for anyone who has a heart!
August 12, 2015
Anthony Colpo is an Australian personal trainer, and this book is the most complete and thoroughly researched and referenced book I have come across on the subject of cholesterol, fat, carbs and everything that relates in any way to heart disease. One really gets the sense that Colpo has read everything he found with a link to diet, health and heart disease.
As other authors and cholesterol skeptics such as Uffe Ravnskov, Malcolm Kendrick and Gary Taubes, Colpo goes through the same set of large and smaller scale studies, and the scientific arguments in order to refute the ridiculous cholesterol and saturated fat theory of heart disease. However, what he does in much greater detail is to go through everything that can be related to arterial degradation and hence to heart disease, and doing so presents all of the major issues that must be considered in devising a wining strategy to prevent and reverse arterial degradation and heart disease.
For example, Malcolm Kendrick believes that stress is the most important cause of arterial damage, and he therefore spends most of the second part of his book convincing the reader that this is so by various means. Uffe Ravnskov, on the other hand, believes that it is viral and bacterial infectious agents that trigger arterial degradation and heart disease. And hence, he spends a great portion of his books convincing the reader of this. Gary Taubes does not make such strong claims, but it is definitely clear that he tends to believe that it is refined and starchy carbs that are at the root of the problem. And looking at the relation between the incidence of heart disease and the rise of sugar consumption through the last few decades does indeed support this view as well.
Colpo looks at all of these, but many more factors related to arterial degradation and heart disease, and seems to sort them out from the most important down, at least in his mind, from his thorough investigation of the medical and scientific literature. If I had to summarise this book in a few sentences, I would say the following:
To be as healthy as you can and stay clear of heart disease and stroke, you should minimise all forms of psychological and emotional stress; avoid refined and starchy carbohydrates; eliminate polyunsaturated oils; avoid and heal chronic infections, maximise anti-oxidant and nutrient intake by eating lots of fresh vegetables, nuts and seeds; eat plenty of unprocessed saturated fats and animal protein; and exercise regularly.
As other authors and cholesterol skeptics such as Uffe Ravnskov, Malcolm Kendrick and Gary Taubes, Colpo goes through the same set of large and smaller scale studies, and the scientific arguments in order to refute the ridiculous cholesterol and saturated fat theory of heart disease. However, what he does in much greater detail is to go through everything that can be related to arterial degradation and hence to heart disease, and doing so presents all of the major issues that must be considered in devising a wining strategy to prevent and reverse arterial degradation and heart disease.
For example, Malcolm Kendrick believes that stress is the most important cause of arterial damage, and he therefore spends most of the second part of his book convincing the reader that this is so by various means. Uffe Ravnskov, on the other hand, believes that it is viral and bacterial infectious agents that trigger arterial degradation and heart disease. And hence, he spends a great portion of his books convincing the reader of this. Gary Taubes does not make such strong claims, but it is definitely clear that he tends to believe that it is refined and starchy carbs that are at the root of the problem. And looking at the relation between the incidence of heart disease and the rise of sugar consumption through the last few decades does indeed support this view as well.
Colpo looks at all of these, but many more factors related to arterial degradation and heart disease, and seems to sort them out from the most important down, at least in his mind, from his thorough investigation of the medical and scientific literature. If I had to summarise this book in a few sentences, I would say the following:
To be as healthy as you can and stay clear of heart disease and stroke, you should minimise all forms of psychological and emotional stress; avoid refined and starchy carbohydrates; eliminate polyunsaturated oils; avoid and heal chronic infections, maximise anti-oxidant and nutrient intake by eating lots of fresh vegetables, nuts and seeds; eat plenty of unprocessed saturated fats and animal protein; and exercise regularly.
July 28, 2012
Anthony Colpo directly confronts the popular notion that a causal relationship between dietary fat/cholesterol and coronary artery disease/atheroscelerosis has been demonstrated, when in fact no such claim can be made. The truth is far more complicated, as it turns out. The current dogma that attributes blame to cholesterol found at the site of arterial plaque deposits is likely to be as wrong as blaming firemen that are found at the site of the fires they extinguish, according to Colpo.
Indeed, cholesterol is a vital and necessary compound used by every cell in the body, and serves as the metabolic substrate of key hormones. As further example, bile salts and cholesterol synthesized by the liver and gall bladder are readily reabsorbed from the digestive tract by the hepatic portal vein... so to call cholesterol 'bad' (when in fact, the body treats it as a precious resource not to be wasted) is simply inaccurate.
A lot of information is presented in this book, as Colpo has spent an enormous amount of effort researching the matter and presenting it in an easy to digest format for the lay person. Likewise, the tone of writing in this book is informal and even a bit punchy at times, which keeps it entertaining.
I'm not an expert in the topic at hand, and I can't claim to know that all of the studies Colpo sites are of high quality and statistical power (versus having cherry picked evidence to support his claim, which is always a risk), but he does appear to stick with research that uses standardized, controlled methods, where possible, and tends to not invest too much in observational studies, which are at best useful for finding correlations and to serve as the basis of hypothesis to test with more rigorous methods.
While doing his best to destroy the idea that fat and cholesterol are simply 'bad', Colpo also seeks to understand and explain likely causal factors, and presents a strategy to minimize disease risk. Overall, I found "The Great Cholesterol Con" to be an entertaining, informative, and interesting read.
September 18, 2008
The first section of this book confirms the science explained in Good Calories, Bad Calories. The rest of the book gives more specific and practical information on alternative lifestyle choices to control cholesterol levels (as opposed to drug therapy). A good book.
February 3, 2013
In reading this book, there is absolutely no doubt the current view of cholesterol "management" is wrong. There is more evidence disproving "popular" studies recommending a statin regiment. As a person with high cholesterol, I will never take any statin drugs again.
March 13, 2010
One of the best books on the Cholesterol Myth. You have been fed a big fat lie if you believe that saturated fat is the cause of heart disease and cardiovascular disease.
Read
March 27, 2011Eyeopening!
October 29, 2015
Spot on except he's way off base in the appendix entry on low-carb diets.
January 5, 2012
Very informative and science based, a seriously good read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews