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Fat and Cholesterol Are Good for You: What Really Causes Heart Disease
Did you know? ...that cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals? ...that your body produces three to four times more cholesterol than you eat? ...that the internal production increases when you eat only small amounts of cholesterol and decreases when you eat large amounts? ...that heart patients haven't eaten more saturated fat than other people? ...that stroke patients have eaten less? ...that people with low cholesterol become just as atherosclerotic as people with high? ...that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for women? ...that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for old people although by far most heart attacks occur after age 65? ...that many of the cholesterol-lowering drugs are dangerous to your health and may shorten your life? ...that the cholesterol campaign creates immense prosperity for researchers, doctors, medical journals, drug producers and the food industry?
234 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 5, 2011
This is one of the most important and ground-breaking health/scientific books I have read. It is particularly significant because it proves beyond a doubt that we have been deliberately, totally and utterly deceived in the last decades by the misleadingly interpreted scientific studies of researchers in the pocket of the medicinal industry, which capitalizes on skyrocketing sales of statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs).
The author examines a number of studies into the implications of high cholesterol and its relation to atherosclerosis (stiffening of the arteries), analyzes the results in detail and then tears the conclusions apart. It turns out that the studies/tests have been erroneously interpreted, unwanted results have been left out, the results arrived at and presented in the conclusion having only been those supporting the interests of the investigators.
In actual fact, despite what the researchers, doctors, drug producers and the food industry have been deceiving us for decades into believing, there is no etiological connection between high cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Older people with high cholesterol live longer than older people with low cholesterol. Those treated with statins may suffer fewer deaths from heart disease, but have a higher general mortality - they die more from cancer, for instance. Statins also cause memory loss, dementia, impotence, polyneuropathy, violent behaviour and mental disturbances.
LDL (the "bad" cholesterol - ha!) has useful and essential functions - for instance, it "binds and inactivates 90% of alfatoxin, one of the most toxic chemicals produced by the staphylococcus bacterias". It has a direct beneficial effect on the immune system - people with low LDL-cholesterol are shown to have a much lower number of white blood cells.
High LDL-cholesterol protects against allergy. Only half as many people with high LDL die from cancer - thus the high cancer mortality in those taking statins, which lower the LDL.
Another basic fact that is not generally known is that eating cholesterol does not increase your blood cholesterol. The author actually experimented on himself. When eating one egg per day, which he generally did, his cholesterol was 275 mg/dl. When he increased this amount to 8 per day, his cholesterol level decreased to 246 mg/dl. My own doctor recently informed me that my LDL was too high. This despite the fact that I eat only vegetables, a few eggs and a little fish - no meat or dairy products at all. I'm convinced that it is "too high" because I eat so little of it, and the body naturally rectifies matters. The doctor didn't want to hear about Ravnskov's book. Doctors generally don't like their patients to know more than they do on a given health subject!
Now, as regards saturated fat. The author informs us that the Masai people in Kenya consume nothing but meat, blood and milk, drinking half a gallon of milk a day. Their intake of animal fat is much higher than that of most Western people. But they don't die of heart disease, and their cholesterol is among the lowest measured in the world.
Moreover, studies have shown that patients with heart disease have not consumed more saturated fat than healthy people.
These are just a few highlights of the facts regarding cholesterol and saturated fats presented in this book.
The cholesterol myth having been demolished, the author tackles the matter of the real cause of atherosclerosis - inflammation, bacterial and virus infections, and an excess level of homocysteine in the blood.
In order to avoid an excess of homocysteine, it is necessary to make the conversion of methionine to cysteine more effective, and for this an adequate anount of B6, B12 and folic acid must be present. (Nice to get some useful information about how to avoid atherosclerosis, now we know lowering our cholesterol won't do the trick!)
The author is not the only one with these views about the fallacy of the dangers of high cholesterol. Many are in agreement with him and a separate chapter is devoted to listing the names of these other "brave researchers", as he terms them, and referring to their scientific studies in support of said views.
Though Ravnskov's native language is not English, and he makes numerous grammatical mistakes, he explains the whole thing clearly and concisely. This has been one of the most easily understood scientific books for me to read.
I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested in learning the truth about the matter in hand, thus enabling him- or herself to seize greater control of his/her own health.
The author examines a number of studies into the implications of high cholesterol and its relation to atherosclerosis (stiffening of the arteries), analyzes the results in detail and then tears the conclusions apart. It turns out that the studies/tests have been erroneously interpreted, unwanted results have been left out, the results arrived at and presented in the conclusion having only been those supporting the interests of the investigators.
In actual fact, despite what the researchers, doctors, drug producers and the food industry have been deceiving us for decades into believing, there is no etiological connection between high cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Older people with high cholesterol live longer than older people with low cholesterol. Those treated with statins may suffer fewer deaths from heart disease, but have a higher general mortality - they die more from cancer, for instance. Statins also cause memory loss, dementia, impotence, polyneuropathy, violent behaviour and mental disturbances.
LDL (the "bad" cholesterol - ha!) has useful and essential functions - for instance, it "binds and inactivates 90% of alfatoxin, one of the most toxic chemicals produced by the staphylococcus bacterias". It has a direct beneficial effect on the immune system - people with low LDL-cholesterol are shown to have a much lower number of white blood cells.
High LDL-cholesterol protects against allergy. Only half as many people with high LDL die from cancer - thus the high cancer mortality in those taking statins, which lower the LDL.
Another basic fact that is not generally known is that eating cholesterol does not increase your blood cholesterol. The author actually experimented on himself. When eating one egg per day, which he generally did, his cholesterol was 275 mg/dl. When he increased this amount to 8 per day, his cholesterol level decreased to 246 mg/dl. My own doctor recently informed me that my LDL was too high. This despite the fact that I eat only vegetables, a few eggs and a little fish - no meat or dairy products at all. I'm convinced that it is "too high" because I eat so little of it, and the body naturally rectifies matters. The doctor didn't want to hear about Ravnskov's book. Doctors generally don't like their patients to know more than they do on a given health subject!
Now, as regards saturated fat. The author informs us that the Masai people in Kenya consume nothing but meat, blood and milk, drinking half a gallon of milk a day. Their intake of animal fat is much higher than that of most Western people. But they don't die of heart disease, and their cholesterol is among the lowest measured in the world.
Moreover, studies have shown that patients with heart disease have not consumed more saturated fat than healthy people.
These are just a few highlights of the facts regarding cholesterol and saturated fats presented in this book.
The cholesterol myth having been demolished, the author tackles the matter of the real cause of atherosclerosis - inflammation, bacterial and virus infections, and an excess level of homocysteine in the blood.
In order to avoid an excess of homocysteine, it is necessary to make the conversion of methionine to cysteine more effective, and for this an adequate anount of B6, B12 and folic acid must be present. (Nice to get some useful information about how to avoid atherosclerosis, now we know lowering our cholesterol won't do the trick!)
The author is not the only one with these views about the fallacy of the dangers of high cholesterol. Many are in agreement with him and a separate chapter is devoted to listing the names of these other "brave researchers", as he terms them, and referring to their scientific studies in support of said views.
Though Ravnskov's native language is not English, and he makes numerous grammatical mistakes, he explains the whole thing clearly and concisely. This has been one of the most easily understood scientific books for me to read.
I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested in learning the truth about the matter in hand, thus enabling him- or herself to seize greater control of his/her own health.
February 14, 2012
[content 5*, publication 4*]
Thoroughly convincing and empirically detailed demolition of the diet-heart / lipid hypothesis for coronary heart disease and stroke. At no point in the chain from consumption of 'evil' saturated fat to diet-mediated blood cholesterol levels to the 'bad' LDL cholesterol to the role and causes of atherosclerosis and its purported link to heart disease does the scientific evidence withstand scrutiny. And — incredibly important — that is with reference to the same studies held up as evidence by the diet-heart hypothesis proponents, as well as studies directly challenging that hypothesis in the peer-reviewed medical literature. Ravnskov is no crank, with many publications in the likes of The Lancet, British Medical Journal, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and so on.
You can't moderate your blood cholesterol by diet.
Saturated fat is likely good for you.
LDL cholesterol is a crucial component of your immune system.
Cholesterol levels are not correlated with incidence of heart disease; indeed, low cholesterol levels are correlated with stroke.
Blood cholesterol has not been shown to be the cause of atherosclerosis (of your coronary arteries).
Atherosclerosis is likely not the underlying direct cause of heart disease.
If Ravnskov and the works he cites are demonstrably wrong, I'd like to see the science.
[I gave it four stars only because of the large number of typographical and punctuation errors (though of course it is a Swedish publisher), and more importantly, for a non-trivial quantity of mismatched footnotes. The content is five stars however!]
Thoroughly convincing and empirically detailed demolition of the diet-heart / lipid hypothesis for coronary heart disease and stroke. At no point in the chain from consumption of 'evil' saturated fat to diet-mediated blood cholesterol levels to the 'bad' LDL cholesterol to the role and causes of atherosclerosis and its purported link to heart disease does the scientific evidence withstand scrutiny. And — incredibly important — that is with reference to the same studies held up as evidence by the diet-heart hypothesis proponents, as well as studies directly challenging that hypothesis in the peer-reviewed medical literature. Ravnskov is no crank, with many publications in the likes of The Lancet, British Medical Journal, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and so on.
You can't moderate your blood cholesterol by diet.
Saturated fat is likely good for you.
LDL cholesterol is a crucial component of your immune system.
Cholesterol levels are not correlated with incidence of heart disease; indeed, low cholesterol levels are correlated with stroke.
Blood cholesterol has not been shown to be the cause of atherosclerosis (of your coronary arteries).
Atherosclerosis is likely not the underlying direct cause of heart disease.
If Ravnskov and the works he cites are demonstrably wrong, I'd like to see the science.
[I gave it four stars only because of the large number of typographical and punctuation errors (though of course it is a Swedish publisher), and more importantly, for a non-trivial quantity of mismatched footnotes. The content is five stars however!]
September 29, 2013
Good book although they typographical errors were annoying and distracted from the scientific thesis... He makes a compelling argument that cholesterol is a marker of processes and not something that should be directly lowered for heart health, rather underlying processes create the cholesterol environment and that those underlying processes need change instead. Some solid metareviews of multiple studies and a critical view of shortcomings in many statin and cholesterol studies.
July 4, 2017
Excellent book which sets the record straight according to actual facts and reports that the author has taken the time or source and summarize. Blows away the whole 'high fat equals heart problems' myth that has been perpetuated for decades now, along with the 'cholesterol is the cause' myth. These ideas area clearly shown as false, or in the very least, in need of further research, due to the problems involved in the initial studies undertaken last century, and the dubious conclusions that were drawn from these cross-sectional studies. The book is also easy to read, despite the author's scientific background.
May 14, 2025
Lugesin teist korda läbi nüüd. Ikka väga informatiivne, aga ka segadusseajav. Äkki peaks hakkama statistikat õppima? Sest sealt raamatust lähtub vajadus lugeda meditsiini- ja ravimiuuringuid, ja need on üks TÕELISELT statistiline žanr. Statistika puhul on see värk, et võib tekkida mulje, et saad aru, aga tegelikult ikka ei saa küll (aga ega pole kindel, et statistikaga tegelemine või selle õppimine seda häda parandada annab, sest eks Kahnemangi sedastab, et see on üks äärmiselt ebaintuitiivne distsipliin). Igatahes, soovitan lugeda!
September 1, 2024
This is one of the great books on Cholestrol and explaining the manipulative agenda played by the big pharmaceutical companies in in order to deceive people into thinking that cholesterol from animal and healthy sources are bad for them
July 27, 2020
This is one book on the other side of the debate. Not a perfect text but enough there to confuse.
August 12, 2015
Uffe Ravnskov is a medical doctor and independent research scientist working in Sweden. He is one of the few medical doctors and scientists to have spent a considerable amount of time and energy in exposing the cholesterol myths that still pervade the general mindset. He has thoroughly reviewed the literature that relates to cholesterol and fats, and has helped greatly in debunking most of the false beliefs still held by the majority.
By meticulously going through the published literature, he confidently exposes all the fallacies and erroneous beliefs about cholesterol and saturated fats held by the medical establishment, and unfortunately, also by most people exposed to modern medicine and modern media. Ravnskov, unlike Kendrick, believes that the primary cause of cardiovascular disease are pathogenic viruses and bacteria that over time damage the lining of the blood vessels, this causes plaques to buildup, and eventually their rupture or even the sheer accumulation cause blockages that lead to heart attacks and/or strokes.
By meticulously going through the published literature, he confidently exposes all the fallacies and erroneous beliefs about cholesterol and saturated fats held by the medical establishment, and unfortunately, also by most people exposed to modern medicine and modern media. Ravnskov, unlike Kendrick, believes that the primary cause of cardiovascular disease are pathogenic viruses and bacteria that over time damage the lining of the blood vessels, this causes plaques to buildup, and eventually their rupture or even the sheer accumulation cause blockages that lead to heart attacks and/or strokes.
July 17, 2011
I liked this book, but it would have benefited from a line editor (or even a spellchecker... sheesh). Also, I'm pretty sure that that's Comic Sans on the front cover. :-(
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews