OT: Serious Medical Question - Cholesterol

[RockyMTblue2]

A few days ago I read a headline on a medical story, but didn't save it for later. It said something like this: Cholesterol No Longer Bad For You. So Monday and Tuesday I ate a breakfast that included 4 thick sclice pieces of bacon! I know there was a big british study of studies a while back which concluded pretty much the same think as to risk of a heart attack, but the devil is in the details. Like bacon being cured meat that increases colon cancer risk, etc. Can anyone point me to a one stop shopping medical paper or similar?

The way opinions on foods keep shifting reminds me of a funny I just have to share and hope you enjoy:

 

[BroadwayVa]

A few days ago I read a headline on a medical story, but didn't save it for later. It said something like this: Cholesterol No Longer Bad For You. So Monday and Tuesday I ate a breakfast that included 4 thick sclice pieces of bacon! I know there was a big british study of studies a while back which concluded pretty much the same think as to risk of a heart attack, but the devil is in the details. Like bacon being cured meat that increases colon cancer risk, etc. Can anyone point me to a one stop shopping medical paper or similar?

The way opinions on foods keep shifting reminds me of a funny I just have to share and hope you enjoy:

One fix for all works great for the pharmaceutieal (sp?) companies. Cholesterol is necessary to keep human systems functioning.
The bacon, pork head cheese, that Amash breakfast thing if all are had for breakfast every day I'm sure you arteries would build up pressure enlarging your heart. As the very poor man said: I eat everything in moderation.
I gave up smoking 40 years ago and only saw the typical age related weight increases---usually winter stagnation encouraged weight.
I have a new VA real MD doctor who has been taking me off of drugs I've used for 30 years and I feel good, great is not happening in this life, My BP is in the 120/75 range it was 130/45 the energy is much better.

 

[SVCBeercats]

A few days ago I read a headline on a medical story, but didn't save it for later. It said something like this: Cholesterol No Longer Bad For You. So Monday and Tuesday I ate a breakfast that included 4 thick sclice pieces of bacon! I know there was a big british study of studies a while back which concluded pretty much the same think as to risk of a heart attack, but the devil is in the details. Like bacon being cured meat that increases colon cancer risk, etc. Can anyone point me to a one stop shopping medical paper or similar?

First of all when you see such headlines scan the page for the word "SPONSERED." If you see sponsored then it is a fake headline to draw you to a product. Next is the article speaking of LDL (bad) or HDL (good) cholesterol. My go to source when I see such headlines and articles is the Mayo Clinic website. Google "Mayo Clinic and cholesterol." Check their current thoughts on cholesterol.

 

[Bigboote]

Note: I'm not a doctor, nor an epidemiologist, so this is all from the point of view of a medical consumer, not a practitioner.

It's been known for some time (like at least three, probably four decades) that cholesterol in the diet has no effect on cholesterol in the bloodstream. It's widely believed (I can't cite any evidence, so take with a grain of salt) that the myth that cholesterol in food (read: eggs and bacon) is bad was perpetuated by the breakfast cereal industry.

Blood cholesterol levels are something to be concerned about, but the situation is complicated. 30 years ago, they just looked at your serum cholesterol level and said it should be below 250 (I think the units are micrograms per liter, but am too lazy to verify). Then a few years later, they bumped it down to 200. My father's cholesterol went from good to bad all at once. Then (this is a story not only about how the "in foods" change, but how medical recommendations change) they started figuring in HDL and LDL numbers. What's referred to as the "good" and "bad" cholesterol. If you're athletic, your HDL, or "good" cholesterol levels are elevated, which elevates your total cholesterol number. So they folded in recommendations for HDL/LDL ratios and HDL/cholesterol levels. My total cholesterol raised red flags, but my HDL levels were high enough that my doctor listened to me when I said I didn't need statins.

Then, about five years ago, the NIH introduced a calculator that factored in family history, smoking, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, blah, blah, into a calculator of your (five or ten) year probability of a heart attack and recommended using a (I think) 5% threshold to make a decision about remediating drugs. I'm on them now, but would have been on them for 20 years if I'd acceded to the recommendations back then.

Your video reminds me of a Johnny Carson routine from probably the mid-80's. They had just found a carcinogen called EDB in oats or something. Johnny said, "Cholesterol in the eggs, sulfites in the bacon, now EDB in the muffins -- pretty soon the ideal breakfast will be a cigarette and a cup of coffee."