I am amazed (Missy) by how many people ask me about my ‘crazy’ diet. I don’t personally see the crazy in eating lots of veggies drenched in butter along with a delicious piece of steak however. After I briefly explain the science behind my diet choice people always ask me: doesn’t that make your cholesterol sky high? Cholesterol, however, is a complex subject and I usually revert to this simple statement: your dietary intake of cholesterol has little to no impact on your blood levels of cholesterol. For all of the good people of Conviction Crossfit though, I would like to provide a little more in depth answer. Rob Wolf was very accommodating and typed out a rather indepth response to the cholesterol question. Thanks Rob.

The basics of the diet-heart hypothesis go like this: High cholesterol leads to atherosclerotic plaques that precipitate a clot which can result in a heart attack or stroke. This whole notion grew from a disease called Familial Hypercholesterolemia and subsequent experiments that involved feeding rabbits (herbivores) oxidized cholesterol. These critters do not eat ANY cholesterol so the fact that oxidized cholesterol caused problems is not surprising but also completely unhelpful when talking about people. Anyway, 50 years to failed dietary recommendations to lower cholesterol have done nothing to  alleviate the CVD epidemic. In fact, the epidemic is rolling along bigger and badder than ever before. Well this study was pretty interesting. It indicates that most people who suffer a heart attack have…low cholesterol! Now, everyone is in a fix to get folks on cholesterol lowering diets and statins to save them, but most heart attacks are in folks with…low cholesterol! Ok, doesn’t make any sense and it completely calls into question the notion that we need to reduce cholesterol levels…but why not give people statins and see how folks do on those. Well, interestingly, statins appear to decrease heart attack rates in people..with low cholesterol. The mechanism? Possibly a reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of systemic inflammation. Know what else reduces systemic inflammation? A paleo diet which controls insulin levels, removes gut irritating foods, balances omega-3/omega-6 fats. Add some vit-d and consistent good sleep and you have effectively turned off the type of inflammation underlying CVD, cancer and neurodegeneration.

Oh! Then there is the fact low cholesterol increases stroke rates!!

So, just to clarify:

1-Cholesterol supposedly causes CVD, But

2-Most heart attacks are actually occurring in people with low cholesterol, Yet

3-Doctors insist on cholesterol lowering protocols, including statins, Even though,

4-The benefit of statins has nothing to do with cholesterol, but rather it’s mild anti-inflammatory action, Which

5-Can be accomplished with simple dietary modifications and a few inexpensive supplements.

It would be funny if people were not dying from this stuff.

And now for the

WOD

3RFT

one kettle-bell complex 35/55

21 box jumps 28/36

Enjoy!