Intro and Too Low Cholesterol

February 27, 2002

Hi All,

I just joined the group today. I've yet to receive my copy

of " Nourishing Traditions, " but I am looking forward to it very

much. I discovered the book while browsing the Weston A. Price

foundation website (www.westonaprice.org). I've been interested

in " primitive " diet for quite a while and have made many changes to

my own eating habits to reflect what I've learned. I have attempted

to model my diet after that of the North American Plains Indians.

I've even ordered buffalo suet, rendered tallow, and made pemmican

(much to my wife's dismay). My macronutrient profile is roughly

24:20:56 (P:C:F, basically following research by Cordain, et

al. " Plant-Animal Subsistence Ratios and Macronutrient Energy

Estimations in Worldwide Hunter-Gatherer Diets " found on Medline).

About 60% of the fat I consume is saturated (164 grams! so much for

the Food Pyramid!) from coconut meat and buffalo tallow as well as

grass-fed beef. I've only been on this diet for about 2 months, but

I feel more energetic, and generally more healthful. I'm actually

trying to gain weight (eating 4400 kcals/day!) and I've lost body fat

while building muscle, having only changed my diet and maintained my

exercise program. I still feel guilty about eating all that

saturated fat, since I had been a " no fat is good fat " advocate for

the past 7 years. My primary health concern is a combined

cholesterol of 130 mg/dL (Trig 125, HDL 36, LDL 69). I've read up on

the dangers of low cholesterol, and I hope that my current diet will

raise my numbers into the healthy region. My family has a history of

hemorrhagic stroke, and I had no idea I was endangering myself for so

long. Does anybody else here have dangerously low cholesterol? If

so, what have you done to combat it? Thanks for enduring my

monologue. Take care, and have fun.

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