Thursday, August 06, 2015

Changes in the Science of Cholesterol

The Washington Post looks at recent changes in health official's views on cholesterol. After 40 years of warnings, they're beginning to think it's not so bad after all. I've been hearing bits and pieces along that line for years. The article goes into the various reasons for scientific opinion. 

What I read between the lines is that scientific consensus sometimes takes on a life of its own.  But, in this case, objective reasoning seems to have carried the day. I love the quote towards the bottom of the article:

“These reversals in the field do make us wonder and scratch our heads,” said David Allison, a public health professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “But in science, change is normal and expected.”

In other words, science is rarely settled. Who knows? Maybe 20 years from now they'll be telling us again that cholesterol is bad for us.

2 Comments:

At 1:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i keep looking at athletes and most of their diets . high carb high cholesterol high everything they say is bad . and they are some of the most healthy people i ever seen

 
At 2:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You need to look a bit deeper if you're going to use athletes and their diets, anon above.
Most athletes food intake (calories) burns up very quickly when engaged in their chosen athletic pursuit, which usually includes a lot of physical training too. They are also, as a general rule, much YOUNGER than say, someone Fred's age that putters around town in their car for main caloric activity.

Revisit those same athletes you are following when they get past 40. What you eat in younger years has a way of catching up to you eventually, especially when all that high energy activity winds down.

I would believe that the key is "moderation". Everything in moderation is probably the healthier habit in the long run.

 

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