Word: cholesterol
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...certain which of them are the most important in causing atherosclerosis. But cholesterol has received the widest publicity, largely because it is the easiest to measure and thus be comes a handy guide to arterial and coronary health. Among peasants in India, starved of protein and of fat, a cholesterol level of 125 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood is common. It is about the same for fish-and-rice-eating Japanese. Among Americans living high off the hog, it hits 250 before a doctor begins to worry. And among men with coronary-artery disease...
...squishy, fatty nature of the deposits in clogged arteries has been recognized for more than 200 years, and the presence of cholesterol (from the Greek for bile solids) in the deposits has been known for more than a century. Presumably the cholesterol is deposited from the blood. Just how or why, no one knows. But high levels of circulating cholesterol go with a high incidence of heart attacks in men 45 to 65; doctors have spent years trying to figure out why the cholesterol piles...
Animal v. Vegetable. The simplest explanation would be that the cholesterol comes from food. Eggs are a common source: their yolks are packed with the stuff. So are some meats. But the obvious explanation is only part of the truth. The high-blood-cholesterol man does not derive his cholesterol entirely or even mainly from his food. He manufactures most of it himself. And fat, it was found, is a prime raw material for his liver and other organs to use in making cholesterol...
This discovery soon proved to be another oversimplification. Most vegetable fats and oils cause little or no rise in blood cholesterol. So the line was drawn between animal and vegetable fats. But even that line was uncertain; it had to weave around to leave hard or saturated fats on one side and polyunsaturated fats on the other. The blubber of whales and the oil of seals and other marine mammals is polyunsaturated, so Eskimos can eat them and still keep their cholesterol low. Also polyunsaturated are the oils of fish. The fat of chickens and turkeys (unlike that of ducks...
...less of total calories, to trim off all visible fat from meats such as beef and lamb, and to use whole milk, butter, pastries, cheese and creamy desserts only as treats on special occasions. After seven years, there is no doubt that Anti-Coronary members have lower blood-cholesterol levels than before, and evidence is piling up that they have won considerable immunity to heart attacks...