In my experience its not the dietary fat that’s the problem, it’s the carbs.
My cholesterol was 230 when I went low carb. After six months on it it dropped to 156 - NO MEDS.
And that was eating 2 eggs a day, normal amounts of meat, fish, chicken, cheese, lots of vegetables. Just no starch, no sugar, and a modest amount of fruit.
Excess carbs, if your body can’t handle them (as many can’t) causes excess insulin release which causes weight gain and inflammation.
Cholesterol is “body spackle” - its produced in response to injury and inflammation to help patch things up.
If you have a body chemistry like mine and address the root cause of why the cholesterol is being produced, the blood levels drop like a rock.
My asthma and arthritis also got markedly better- a sign of reduced inflammation.
I wouldn’t touch statins with a 10 foot pole, after what I saw happen to my own body. And that goes for the low-fat diets too (which are carb-heavy and shoot insulin levels through the roof).
Body spackle—a great image!
Two weeks ago, I went to have my blood work done again and my LDL number had dropped by 30 points. All of my numbers had dropped. I am healthier, and I actually feel a lot better. My stomach problems have reduced tremendously.
I had tried Atkins before, and had lost a lot of weight. But, when I tried bringing back the foods like rice or potatoes, I ended up gaining all the weight back, and then some. Taubes' book helped me understand how my body works and it explained a lot about how my body reacts to certain foods (or, really, over-reacts). I believe that this may be the way I have to eat for the rest of my life.
I don't think doctors or researchers really take into account the fact that people are different. For some, one diet may work, for others, another type of diet may be better.
Chronic infection below or at the gumline results in inflammation just as with any other injury.
For example see here.
Cheers!