I received the following input from a reader. My responses are in blue below each of the reader's concerns. I appreciate any and all questions and responses from readers. If you have doubts about my advice, don't just take my word for it -- do the research for yourself. Health is a matter of personal responsibility.
(The numbers refer to the items in the original post.)
3) Whether foods are fried or not has no effect at all on their cholesterol content. Fried foods are bad for several different reasons, though, the most important of which are probably that they usually have added fat and that frying food (like toasting and grilling/broiling) leads to high levels of acrylamide.
Cholesterol content of food has very little impact on cholesterol levels in the body. That's a bit of misinformation that seems to persist no matter what anyone says. However, fried foods are nearly always high in saturated fat. (Foods that are fried soak up the oil they are fried in; nearly all fried foods are cooked in oils very high in saturated fats and/or trans fats.) Saturated fat intake causes a substantial increase in serum cholesterol. Saturated fat intake also reduces insulin sensitivity, which can lead to diabetes as well as weight gain.
5,6) While it is a very good thing to eat oily fish, it is also dangerous to eat too much fatty fish. Fish oils harbour toxic pollutants, so adding fish oil to a high-fish diet (such as 5 portions a week) is probably not a good idea. It's a balance thing in this case - eat a decent amount of fatty fish (which includes fresh tuna, trout, mackerel, sprats, etc., as well as the more expensive salmon), but don't overdo it if you value your long-term health.
Deep-water fish, such as tuna, and free-range salmon are safe as far as we can tell. Any farmed fish (such as trout and salmon, in particular) are to be avoided. All major brands of fish oil supplements have been tested for mercury and other contaminants and have been deemed safe at this time. However, pregnant women should reduce their intake of fish and consult their physician about adding fish oil supplements to their diet. What is safe for a healthy adult may not be safe for a fetus.
7) Olive oil is good, but eating nuts can be troublesome for many.
This is common sense. If you are allergic to nuts, don't eat them. Generally, most people who have a nut allergy are allergic to peanuts. I generally don't recommend peanuts as part of one's consumption of healthy fats.
10) Again, trans fats are very bad for you, but this isn't a cholesterol issue - they're completely different chemicals.
See above. Trans fats in the diet are converted to the bad form of cholesterol in the body. People who eat a lot of trans fats have very high LDL cholesterol levels and very low HDL cholesterol levels. The body cannot burn trans fats as energy (they are an unnatural substance) so it must store them or use them in cell membrane construction. Cells made with trans fats are very unhealthy cells, which is where the cancer risk comes into play.
Bottom line: cholesterol in the body is made from dietary fat (especially saturated fat and trans fat) and has little correlation with cholesterol in the diet. There is only a three to five percent correlation between cholesterol intake and serum cholesterol levels. However, foods high in cholesterol often tend to be high in saturated fats (for example, red meat).
No comments:
Post a Comment