I am still all for my coconut oil, ghee, and olive oil, only cold on salads, but this article is very interesting.

[langdocienne]

The article goes back to my thoughts, that no matter what your hdl and ldl levels are, it just depends on how good the hdls work at clearing up the garbage, of the ldls. So your total lipid profile, is certainly not the best marker of your arterial health, they should be checking the elasticity, and cleanliness of your arteries first.

Wish us hypos could eat all of the leafy green goitrogenic veggies that we want, but you know what, I am going to start back slowly with them, and just see what happens. If I start to feel tired, then I know. I really was a crazy health freak when younger, just loved my fruit and veg. I won't start eating anymore fruit, than my pineapple, fresh, most days, and blueberries some.

This article is very good, and it explains my thoughts exactly. I go to Crete frequently, and yes, they were all very very healthy, but now, there are literally FAT clinics, too many cakes and pastries abound. You go to the local markets, it's packed full of gorgeous local produce, including loads of home produced feta cheese, from goats, and sheeps cheese, lots of olives, oh I'm hungry now lol!

Reading this article, really explains how the olive oil myth came about. It won't stop me using it, but I only have it cold on a salad sometimes, sometimes, I just put copious amount of lemon juice, himilayan rock salt, and freshly cracked black pepper, with an avocado.

I think that I am doing the right thing having a tsp of Rosita extra virgin cod liver oil daily, together with my 1 tsp of black seed oil. Omega 3, seems to have a high importance in our bodies.

pritikin.com/your-health/he...

[Fruitandnutcase]

See if you can get Trust Me I'm A Doctor, two weeks ag they looked at the properties of olive oil in relation to heart disease and found two tablespoons of olive oil a day are what we should be taking to help our hearts. Unfortunately for me - I hate the smell / taste - it has to be cold - cooking with it doesn't have the same effect.

[langdocienne in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Hi Fruitandnutcase, well the article that I have read, certainly does not agree with that lol!! I find it a very good article, and have understood, that it's not the olive oil, but the wealth of fresh veg mainly, and fruit, and fish, that sorts out your arteries, once the arteries are healthy, obviously the heart will continue to be. So olive oil, extra virgin or not, is not the helping factor it seems.

[Marz]

The foods of Crete you mention have always been the staple foods of the people for centuries. Crete was a poor island until very recently and most people walked to school - the village - wherever. Often accompanied by their donkey to carry a heavy load. They also walked to their olive groves to work in them and the work is very hard indeed - I know I have picked olives But caring for them is an all year round task. They mostly grow their own vegetables and work long hours - from sunrise to sunset.

Now they don't have legs - they park outside wherever it is they want to go - have become attached to technology and all the tradtional work is fast disappearing. They sit in front of TV's and computers and eat junk food. When they were working hard the foods you mentioned were needed. I blame the Fat Clinics on the immediate wealth that was introduced when Greece joined the EU - and traditions were quickly lost as they chased the euro - just look at the number of VERY expensive 4x4's that line the streets of Xania and beyond. I have lived here since 2004 and have noticed the changes. Some good and some not so good ! The excellent cuisine abounds in our area - and one can easily eat healthily.....

I grew up on a farm in the UK and my Dad worked 7 days a week year in year out. He was so tall and slim and had a good fried breakfast everyday - a freshly cooked lunch followed by rice pudding from the bottom of the Rayburn - Tea and cake around 4pm and a supper later - of bread - cheese - pickles and so on. We had clotted Guernsey Cream - made butter and very fatty milk too ! Had he lived today - he would no doubt have a weight problem with a more sedentary lifestyle and a different career.

Good article - thank you.....

[LindaC in reply to Marz]

Yes, 'so-called- progress is killing even the 'healthier' nations.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Marz]

If you work hard (physically), you need lots of carbs (bread, pies etc). If you sit in an office, you don't.

[LindaC]

That is a very interesting link langdocienne... as you know, I can't tolerate MCFA's but have moved over to avocado oil and ditched the organic EVO [making 'Vaseline' with it... and unfiltered beeswax + coconut oil, so as to avoid petroleum... I use CPAP for sleep aponea and need to 'oil my nostrils' for the 'pillows' that blow the air up there ... eek, I used to have such a simple, drinking, smoking and eating anything life!].

Fortunately my husband also uses CPAP [but a full face mask] and I joke to him saying, "If ever we hear a noise in the room or house, we must jump out of bed and scare the lives out of them" [like a pair of Dr Who creatures from the deep ]; that said, I wouldn't be without CPAP now: sleep apn'a can be the source of a lot of dreadful problems, yet easily resolved by 'the mask'.

Now, eating LCHF, I'm beginning to wonder WHAT to use!! For years 'they've' had it so wrong with their dietary advice... what's to be done!?

authoritynutrition.com/12-p...

pritikin.com/your-health/he...

[Treepie in reply to LindaC]

My sleep apnea and mega snoring stopped once on T4. Hypothyroid Mum lists both as symptoms.Shows there various causes and we are all very different.

[Hidden in reply to LindaC]

I can picture you jumping pout of bed and scaring an intruder off. lol x

[LindaC in reply to Hidden]

Likelihood is not high BUT always be prepared. Every so often I say the drill is, "Jump up with a menacing stance and push the mask right up to their face" Gotta laugh! Should post a pic of us, tee hee!

[puncturedbicycle]

Have you heard of the test where they look at the size of the cholesterol material? My mum lives in the US and her gp says she doesn't have to worry about her cholesterol because she has v high 'good' as well as high 'bad' cholesterol but also something about the size of the cholesterol. I wish I had more details at hand but maybe someone else will know what I mean.

[LindaC in reply to puncturedbicycle]

That's interesting, I asked years back about specific 'smaller' testing of the stuff inside the stuff [I've a list somewhere that I took to GP's] that indicates what's actually up with your heart and lipids... all falls on cloth ears Thanks for the reminder, I've family in the US and next time I go I WILL get it tested... yeah, to come back here and be told its 'rubbish'!

[puncturedbicycle in reply to LindaC]

Yes, it is definitely about the stuff inside the stuff!

My mum is worried about ending up like my gran who had senile dementia, we were told due to arterial sclerosis/TIAs, yet she doesn't really want to take statins if it isn't necessary (she's very slender, exercises a lot and I don't know anyone else who eats as sensibly as she does, so lifestyle isn't the issue). If this is really a forward-looking way of gauging your risk, it is well worth the private test. And if you read up a bit on what it all means you can always monitor yourself, so you can bypass the cloth ears altogether!

[LindaC in reply to puncturedbicycle]

APOLOGIES - LITTLE FINGER HIT KEYBOARD AND REPLY!!

Thanks puncturedbicycle, for me statins are a huge no-no and I will take a couple of tests when over.

Reading the side-effects, seeing what they've done to people and now there is even a growing body of medics stating statins to be just what they are... another of Big Pharma's huge earners. Good for your mum! 'They' do say that internal fat cannot be seen and size isn't always an indicator BUT if the #'s aren't really high, then I wouldn't worry either - if they are high, then there are other ways of tackling the issue PLUS it is now said that reducing cholesterol too low is a big problem. My #'s aren't high and I certainly won't be pushing statins down my throat for some 'preventative' measure.

There are heart issues within my family [my mother, more as likely to do with the masses of drugs given to her for T2D, including statins... was slim too! but both of her parents died of heart attacks within 3 months of one another... yes, they didn't believe the mother was ill - they now know that female heart attacks can present quite differently - so she was ignored for 3 days in a row until death at home].

We must all learn to care for ourselves as best we can... in a system that seems to not only get things quite 'wrong' at times [medicine is far from an exact science.... and that's understood], so doctors just don't be so arrogant!

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Big,. fluffy LDL = OK

[Angel_of_the_North]

Well, some recent research showed that love oil did actually reduce protein markers for heart disease in the blood so it isn't a complete myth. All the HDL and LDL stuff is usually wrongly reported as it matters what type of LDL profile you have - if it is small and dense (apparently can be caused by high carb diet) you are in trouble. If big or big and fluffy, it could even be protective - and that research was done in the mid-1980s

Pritikin can't afford for fat to be good - he/they built a whole industry on high carb, low fat.

[LindaC in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Yes, thanks for that, I've got a great little list somewhere that breaks down exactly what we need to have tested... I'll locate it and post when I do.

And just look at what they [hugely] helped create! Mayhem, then patients are blamed for actually following medical dietary advice... oh, isn't that a bit like hypothyroid and diabetic and cholesterol 'advice'. For what its worth, stay away from them