Quote from tomdavis:
There are no studies that show that cholesterol falls in any significant way when you simply stop eating meat. That's why people change their diet and still have to be put on statin drugs anyway to reduce their cholesterol.
The reason is that 85% of the cholesterol in your system is manufactured by your own liver, intestines and adrenal glands. Statin drugs (e.g., Lipitor) work by forcing your liver to produce less cholesterol. Just eliminating meat consumption will not work.
C-reactive protein (inflammatory response) falls only slightly when people stop eating meat. However, for 70% of the population, if they stop eating refined sugar, processed foods and grains, both cholesterol and c-reactive protien fall significantly even if they continue to consume meat. The reason is that cholesterol is produced by the body as part of a hormone (insulin) response to the consumption of sugars/grains. For most people, eliminating sugar and grains reduces both cholesterol and c-reactive protiens.
My cholesterol fell to half of what it was and my c-reactive protein fell like a rock without any drugs simply by eliminating all refined sugar, processed foods and grains from my diet. But I still eat lots of meat.
i guess your wrong afterall
J Am Coll Nutr. 1995 Oct;14(5):491-6.Links
Rapid reduction of serum cholesterol and blood
pressure by a twelve-day, very low fat, strictly
vegetarian diet.McDougall J, Litzau K, Haver E,
Saunders V, Spiller GA.
St. Helena Hospital, Deer Park, California 94576, USA.
OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to demonstrate the
effectiveness of a strictly vegetarian, very low-fat
diet on cardiac risk factor modification. METHODS:
Five hundred men and women, participants in an
intensive 12-day live-in program, were studied. The
program focused on dietary modification, moderate
exercise, and stress management at a hospital-based
health-center. RESULTS: During this short time period,
cardiac risk factors improved: there was an average
reduction of total serum cholesterol of 11% (p <
0.001), of blood pressure of 6% (p < 0.001) and a
weight loss of 2.5 kg for men and 1 kg for women.
Serum triglycerides did not increase except for two
subgroups: females age > or = 65 years with serum
cholesterol < 6.5 mmol/L and for females 50 to 64
years with baseline serum cholesterol between 5.2-6.5
mmol/L. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol measured
on 66 subjects decreased by 19%. CONCLUSION: A strict,
very low-fat vegetarian diet free from all animal
products combined with lifestyle changes that include
exercise and weight loss is an effective way to lower
serum cholesterol and blood pressure.