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 My
Doctor Says My Cholesterol Is High
By
Leon
Ledlum
I have decided to bring to the open one
of the many daily issues of discussions
from the Liberian community, and the topic
of concern to me has to do with, "My
doctor says my cholesterol is high".
Fellow citizens, before I go any further,
let me say I am not your medical doctor,
but a poor Liberian veterinarian, meaning
an "animal doctor", who happens
to read more medical articles than the average
Liberian and, therefore, may understand
more than y'all.
May
I first ask: do all who talk about cholesterol
in the Liberian community, know what that
is, what it does to the body, and how it
is formed? For the sake of those who do
not know, let me provide some information
for the understanding of all.
What
is CHOLESTEROL? The word "cholesterol"
is Greek for "bile solids". And
in biochemistry and medicine, it means waxy
fat, or fat-like substance (lipid), which
is present in human beings as well as in
animals. Its origin in animal and human
is two folds:-(a) 80% of it is from the
liver, and (b) 20% from the consumption
of animal products, like:-meat, eggs, dairy
etc.
Types
of Cholesterol
There
are four (4) types of cholesterol:-
· High-density lipoproteins (HDL)
= Called "good" cholesterol.
· Low-density lipoproteins (LDL)
= Called "bad" cholesterol.
· Very-low-density lipoproteins =Called
"very bad" cholesterol.
· CHYLOMICRONS:-which only carry
a small percentage of cholesterol. Chylomicrons
are mostly rich in another type of fat (lipid)
called TRIGLYCERIDES.
I
would not venture into what is the right
amount of cholesterol the body needs, because
that has become very controversial and I
would rather recommend that all interested,
read more on the subject matter, by using
the www.google.com search engine. Interesting
enough, there is one reference:-www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm,
which carries the views of Uffe Ravnskov,
MD, PhD.
As
we can see from the definition of cholesterol,
food from plant origin should not be a factor
or the cause of one's hike in their cholesterol.
I bring this into the discussion because
it has been sighted by many doctors in the
US, according to those who talk about their
cholesterol, as the cause of their high
cholesterol levels. And mainly, they turn
to point the accusing finger at our diet;
I mean Liberian or African, with special
reference to "PALM OIL" or "PALM
BUTTER". This, my fellow Liberian,
is not true, but rather a misleading diagnosis
of sort.
Many
of your doctors know very little or nothing
about our diets. Let no one put you down
by denigrating what you eat. Science as
we know it, is not only by what is observed
in the laboratory or in the test tube, but
also the long history of peoples' ways of
doing things, if it is measured and translated
to into a scientific language. Many scientific
conclusions arise out of studies on animals.
We did not do such when it comes to our
way of life. Notwithstanding, we have long
years of history where our fore bearers
had eaten those foods, and lived years with
very little complaint. Why should we all
of a sudden abandon those facts and pick
on what is being offered by someone who
has no idea as to what those diets were/are?
Liberians and Africans at large, beware
how you are quick to heed the advice of
your doctors in dumping what you've been
used to eating before coming here. I have
a theory, which I guess some may to want
to call "conspiratorial".
This
is what is taking place in the world of
edible oils:-"Despite the many plants
that have oil bearing seeds, only a few
have commercial importance as edible oils.
Of these, soya bean, palm, rapeseed and
sunflower seed predominate and supply some
60% of the world supplies. Palm oil, which
has long held second place to soya bean
oil, is predicted soon to become the dominant
oil."
As
we speak, palm oil is the second largest
edible oil and accounts for approximately
23% of the world's fats and oil supply.
Since 80% of palm produced is used in food-
its nutritional properties are of extreme
importance.
My
theory, therefore, is that the diagnosis
being given by your doctors, accusing palm
oil as the culprit to your high cholesterol,
is rather a ploy to discredit the nutritional
and health value of palm oil, so as to create
our dependence on soya bean oil, which is
mainly a US farm product. The whole issue
has to do with marketing tactics to create
more markets for the US farmer. This is
a multi-billion dollar industry, and as
the saying goes in the US, it is all about
the bottom line!
Palm
oil is also known as palm fruit oil. It
is an expeller pressed oil obtained from
sun-basked fruit bunches of the non-GM (genetically
modified) oil palm (Elaeis guineensis).
Virgin palm oil is rich in carotenoids (pro
vitamin A), tocopherols (vitamin E). Like
all vegetable oils, it is cholesterol-free.
Further more, it contains no trans-fatty
acids.
For
those interested and want to read more,
please do the following search:- www.mpopc.org.my;
then click on the sub-section on "health
benefits.
References:
Author
of this article: Dr. Leon Q. Ledlum, former
Director of Veterinary Services Division,
MOA, Liberia; currently Vet. QCO at the
Division of Animal Resource, Dept. of Research,
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond,
Va.
E-mails:- lledlum@vcu.edu
and lqledlum@hotmail.com.
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