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Sweden has become the first Western nation to develop national dietary guidelines that reject the popular low-fat diet dogma in favor of low-carb high-fat nutrition advice.
The switch in dietary advice followed the publication of a two-year study by the independent Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment. The committee reviewed 16,000 studies published through May 31, 2013.
Swedish doctor, Andreas Eenfeldt, who runs the most popular health blog in Scandinavia (DietDoctor.com) published some of the highlights of this study in English:
Health markers will improve on a low-carbohydrate diet:
…a greater increase in HDL cholesterol (“the good cholesterol”) without having any adverse affects on LDL cholesterol (“the bad cholesterol”). This applies to both the moderate low-carbohydrate intake of less than 40 percent of the total energy intake, as well as to the stricter low-carbohydrate diet, where carbohydrate intake is less than 20 percent of the total energy intake. In addition, the stricter low-carbohydrate diet will lead to improved glucose levels for individuals with obesity and diabetes, and to marginally decreased levels of triglycerides.” (Source.)
I'm hugely impressed by this, and I do hope the US follows suit. Everyone thinks I'm destined for high cholesterol with my meat intake. I barely eat carbs now!
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~The Dalai Lama
Have you ever seen this research article? This is an old article (published in 1988), and all mainstream doctors have managed to ignore it for 25 years now. Here's the abstract:
Abstract
Multiple food allergies required a group of seven patients with elevated serum cholesterol levels to follow a diet in which most of the calories came from beef fat. Their diets contained no sucrose, milk, or grains. They were given nutritional supplements. This is the only group of people in recent times to follow such a diet. During the study, the patients' triglyceride levels decreased from an average of 113 mg/dl to an average of 74 mg/dl; at the same time, their serum cholesterol levels fell from an average of 263 mg/dl to an average of 189 mg/dl. At the beginning of the study, six of the patients had an average high-density lipoprotein percentage of 21%. At the end of the study, the average had risen to 32%. These findings raise an interesting question: are elevated serum cholesterol levels caused in part not by eating animal fat (an extremely "old food"), but by some factor in grains, sucrose, or milk ("new foods") that interferes with cholesterol metabolism?
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
It's so funny when friends and family see me eating things like bacon or barbecued ribs and express their worry about my new diet. I think they're afraid I'll get a heart attack from these foods clogging my arteries! We sure have been indoctrinated about fat being evil.
Jean
"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." Mark Twain
I knew anecdotally that some of my friends who did Atkins in the early 00's did have lower triglycerides, but never knew a similar diet had been studied in a clinical research context. Fascinating! And depressing that this never filtered into any public health awareness.
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~The Dalai Lama
I make a point of ONLY eating grass fed meat. I found a plant fairly near here where they cut and package animals for farmers and deliver them to collection points in different directions in the vicinity. It's not that expensive, and I find the flavor extraordinary. Really incredible. And the nutrient value is tremendous.
I don't eat large portions, and I buy the cheaper cuts. I also get bones from them to make my stocks. I also collect the bones from roasts and chops in the freezer and cook up a very big pot.
They also make patties for dog food from the scraps, offal and bones. Very cheap and very good. Licorice is on a raw diet and is thriving.
