Triglyeride levels associated with cardiovascular disease risk, and why we need to be wary of low-fat diets
Posted on 26 November 2008
The focus that the medical and scientific establishments put on cholesterol as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (e.g. heart disease and stroke) can means that other risk factors may not the attention they might deserve. For example, blood fats known as triglycerides have been linked with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Just a couple of weeks ago, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that higher levels of triglycerides were associated with an increased risk of ischaemic stroke (stroke caused by a blocking off of blood vessels in the brain rather than bleeding blood vessels) [1]. Last year saw the publication of research in the same journal which linked raised triglyceride levels with an enhanced risk of heart disease, heart attack and death in both men and women [2].
This evidence does not prove that raised triglyceride levels cause CVD, but the association may be important because it is possible that triglycerides do play a causal role here. Even with the state of the evidence as it stands, I think it
Published November 26, 2008 . Filed under: Healthy Eating, Unhealthy Eating!
Because all the orthodox advice pushes the low-fat diet, it is not generally recognised that the main driver of fat deposition is insulin. Fat cannot get into storage in adipose unless there is insulin in the bloodstream. When is insulin at its highest in the bloodstream? When we have eaten a meal containing high-GI CARBOHYDRATE. As for cholesterol, a low-fat diet does very little to reduce LDL levels because A) cholesterol is not a fat and is not made from fat and B) more than 80% of cholesterol is made by our own liver anyway. Again insulin is the prime mover. The liver makes cholesterol ONLY when insulin is high in the bloodstream. When is insulin at its highest in the bloodstream? When we have eaten a meal containing high-GI CARBOHYDRATE ….
November 28, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
Janet : Do you have any refs for what you say about the liver?
November 29, 2008 @ 1:33 am
Hilda, I guess it’s standard physiology. Firstly, the immediate precursor for cholesterol is acetyl CoA, which is in its turn synthesised not only during fatty acid metabolism but from pyruvate during carbohydrate metabolism, after glycolysis and before the Krebs cycle. (In other words, the precursor to cholesterol is just as much a product of carbohydrate metabolism – and protein, to a lesser extent – as it is of fatty acid metabolism). Secondly, cholesterol can only be made when the enzyme HMGCoA reductase is present, and this enzyme is only synthesised when glucose (and therefore insulin) are at high circulating levels. Therefore it is logical to conclude that people with high circulating glucose have the highest synthesis of cholesterol, subject to a number of metabolic checks and balances. (We don’t hear about this, I believe, because everyone is so hung up on how bad FAT is for us, that the influence of carbohydrate is ignored.) There’s a reference to increased cholesterol synthesis after administration of insulin: Feillet, C et al (October 1994). Evidence for a short-term stimulatory effect of insulin on cholesterol synthesis in newly insulin-treated diabetic patients. Metabolism. 43 (10): 1233-40. And another to high cholesterol levels in people with insulin resistance: Pihlajam
December 1, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
Thanks Janet. Great explanation!
December 2, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
Donna…
I came across your post Triglyeride levels associated with cardiovascular disease risk, and why … today, Sunday while searching for carbohydrate diets while I don’t agree with everything it was refreshing to find something relevent about carbohydrat…
February 1, 2009 @ 7:52 pm