ChrisinDC's Journal, 14 Feb 23

Congrats on the progress! Is your physician pushing vegan on you? I can't even think of a time in my adult life that a physician has even asked about my diet. lol 

She didn’t push a vegan diet, but, cautioned me about a keto diet, which I’m not really on. Though I’ve never had a heart attack or chest pain, and I believe I’m somewhat insulin sensitive, and we haven’t yet established my coronary calcium CT score, she still wants to put me on a statin based on my high LDL cholesterol labs.  

The coronary calcium CT score is important to know. You can lower levels of free flowing cholesterol in your veins through diet and exercise. Free flowing cholesterol in normal ranges is healthy and vital. Statins play an important role in stabilizing cholesterol that has already calcified in your veins. That doesn't go away no matter how impressive the changes in your lab work. 

I went vegan/WFPB about a year ago and tracked my Lipids regularly. I journaled all my labs, so feel free to check to peruse my history. My ratio is now 3.3 and both my LDL and triglycerides are under 100. I don't eat cheese anymore, and believe that was the biggest offender on my menu in terms of saturated fat. 

Paleo Chris— you have never had a heart attack— until you do. 

Kenna Morton, what kinds of fats or oils do you cook with?  

Paleo Chris— for frying at a medium heat like for sautéing foods I use a medium olive or avocado oil. Less expensive, higher smoking point. Extra virgin burns at a lower heat. If I am actually frying food at a high heat I use avocado oil or good old fashion vegetable oil. 

Kenna Morton, I’ve used avocado oil in the past, until I read a very recent study at UC Davis that most avocado oil is cut down and blended with horrendous seed oils. I’m definitely trying to reduce my Omega 6 linoleic acid intake, to the point where I’ve reduced my pork and chicken intake. Do you ever use coconut oil? It’s a decent source of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). 

PaleoChris— everything is bad for you in today’s world. You have to read the labels, research companies that make products you find acceptable. I buy olive oil that is pure olive oil, not a blended product. A label has the word CALIFORNIA OLIVE OIL in bIg letters and then beneath them is blended with oils from other countries. I read the labels on every single thing that I buy and then buy what works for me at the moment.  

PaleoCris— I sometimes use coconut when I bake for that slight background flavor. Coconut oil has some positive benefits but its fat content is almost all saturated fat. I am going to be 75 years old this summer and have seen every diet imaginable come and go— the perfect food become the biggest villain and the egg going through the entire villinization process and come back a winner. For every article you read that supports a diet or a food you will find one on the next page saying you will die before you finish the last bite. That is how I came to be a portion control, moderation person. I eat food that I feel are good for me most of the time and some of the less healthy things once in a while. I feel blessed to have grown up at a time and in a place where fresh, natural food, both animal and vegetable was just normal. We had very little processed food because it just didn’t exist. Same with fast food. I’m not preaching to you, but if this was a cut and dried subject that actually had an answer, there wouldn’t be so many books and diet gurus making a fortune . 

I recently finished Larry Olmsted’s “Fake Food Real Food” in which he unpacks the trickery of the worldwide olive oil industry, including the multi-country blending you mentioned, “bottled on” dates reflecting what could be the bottling of last year’s bumper crop from Tunisia, which then gets a “Product of Italy” on the label. He also addresses the PDO and PGI labeling on olive oil from the European Union. He addresses many other fake food topics, from Parmesan Reggano cheese to Kobe beef. It’s a good read, or, you could find one of his book talks on one of those videos apps.