Meat and Cholesterol

One of my goals for this year was to lower my cholesterol.  The last two times I had it checked, it was around 200 total. 

Over the last month or so, I have made two dietary changes: 1) cutting out meat for lunch, and generally cutting out any lunch most days, and 2) just recently, I have tried to limit my total meat intake to three servings per week.

I am experimenting with a lower meat intake based on a few things I read.  First off, no one knows for sure what hunter-gatherers ate.  We do know that they ate "natural foods" - plant food and animal food.  But the balance between the two is uncertain.  A little history: for years, the best estimate was that hunter-gatherers obtained 65% of their calories from plant food and 35% from animal food.  Then, Loren Cordain ran some analyses a few years ago and found the reverse: 35% plant food and 65% animal food.

Could the ratio change as new evidence is found?  Sure.  For example, some researchers theorize that cooked tubers were a bigger part of the Stone Age diet than has been previously thought.  If this turns out to be true, it would shift the balance back towards plant foods and away from animal foods.

I just got the results of my cholesterol test back, and the total was 160, which is pretty good.  My "good" cholesterol (HDL) was 70, while my "bad" cholesterol was 90.  These numbers make the cut for modern health guidelines, but they are still not at Stone Age standards.  Loren Cordain has shown that LDL should be in the 50 to 70 range, like the hunter-gatherers.  So I will keep making some modifications to get my LDL down even lower. 

At least I can celebrate this small victory getting my cholesterol down to 160.  Even though some medical authorities feel that anything below 200 is normal, don't be fooled.  Total cholesterol around 200 is a recipe for health problems.  For example, this study shows that in a group with average total cholesterol of 195, there were problems with endothelial vasodilation (blood flow).   

Health authorities will continue to lower the acceptable range for cholesterol as more evidence becomes available.  Yet if you follow the logic of the Stone Age model for health, it already shows you what it should be: total cholesterol around or below 130, and LDL between 50 and 70.

Comments

[ekaj]

You know, I would never even consider getting my cholesterol measured.

Like virtually all natural processes, don't you feel that a population's distribution of cholesterol levels probably follows a power law? I'll bet dollars-to-donuts that Corbain , et. al. throw out the outliers - individuals with levels of 500+ with absolutely no indications of Atherosclerosis.

Do the right thing on the inputs (i.e. eat right), don't sweat someone's decision on what the outputs should look like (i.e. cholesterol and all those other silly levels you fret about).

[Matt Metzgar]

It seems reasonable to me to use the tools of modern medicine if they can be of benefit. Sure, there can be outliers, but on average high cholesterol equals health problems. So I will play the odds and keep my cholesterol low.