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Thursday, January 12, 2017

Book summary & review of The Cholesterol Myth.



Book summary & review of The Cholesterol Myth. 
By  Jonny Bowden (Author), Stephen Sinatra 


I got the reference of this Amazing book from Anil Tulsiram and since I have a family history with the dreaded disease, it was inevitable that I leave all else and read this.

Heart disease is the number 01 killer the world over. I mean dying in any way sucks but leaving all of a sudden with one massive attack has a surprise element that leaves your loved ones in  a state of shock and possible depression. I am speaking from experience here, in the year 2007, my dad (slim fit, teetotaler) went away just like that, asymptomatic sudden cardiac arrest.

This book basically breaks down the BIGGEST SCAM in the history of medicine. Those of you who have read Charlie Munger would relate to it with a term LOLAPALOOZA.

A host of psychological forces like incentive, authority, social proof, herd, ego, sunk cost fallacy, commitment & consistency, sampling bias has combined together to create a monster belief that cholesterol is bad and the real culprit.

In reality, nothing can be farther from truth. No study has ever proved that, the ones that did were sponsored by very pharma companies that were producing STATIN (medicine to lower cholesterol) or were hand picking the samples.

For example, one of the biggest studies on which the entire Lipid hypothesis is based used 20 countries. The results were not encouraging and therefore ‘Scientists’ hand picked 07 countries to draw the conclusion that cholesterol increase results in increase in heart diseases.
Author cited numerous studies by scientists not suffering from incentive bias which clearly showed that your cholesterol count, infact has nothing to do with your chances of getting a heart attack. You can be fine with a high cholesterol and be in trouble with low cholesterol.

THIS IS NOTHING SHORT OF SHOCKING.


Cholesterol reduction is a 30 billion dollar industry and has its lobbyists up the ass of the US president.


Author systematically explained that cholesterol is further subdivided and that subdivision is further divided. Unless and until you test yourself for the type of LDL or type of HDL you have, a mere LDL and HDL reading doesn't say ANYTHING.
And besides even if it says anything, the ONLY time a doctor should recommend a STATIN (a drug with a 1000 serious side affects) is when you are a middle aged man, who has already suffered one heart attack and never else.

But this is not the reality, as soon as a doctor sees 200 + on your cholesterol, out comes his prescription sheet (provided by the same pharma company along with the apple laptop) where he writes STATIN.

Infact as we speak, lobbysits are jacking up to include children in the scope of statin.  

Author then ups the Ante of shock and awe and unveils the real villain. Both the doctors say that the real joker in the pack is SUGAR. And carbohydrates.

Those of you who go to gym and follow ATKINS diet can vouch for that. The way to slim up and be FIT is NOT to discard fat, that is a myth and is STUPID. The way to fat free fitness is to discard SUGAR and CARBS.

A typical Atkins diet is high on protein, low on carbs and almost zero on sugar with decent saturated fat. (Cheese, butter etc)
This was another shocker, turns out our oldies were right and these doctors were not. Desi ghee (Saturated fat is good for health) contrary to popular culture, your vegetable oil is the poison sitting on shelfs of every kitchen that I have been to.

The reason is OMEGA 6 in them. Our body needs to have a good balance of Omega 3 to omega 6. However with our current diets, we hardly get any Omega 3 and almost everything we eat has Omega 6. This screws up the balance and fucks the heart. Of course sorry for the crude language, author explains the chemical changes in details how all that manifests.

This book also covered a very important topic of STRESS. Turns out our Baba Warren Buffet is spot on AGAIN.

Warren once told reporters that if he had a twin brother who ate only ‘health food like broccoli’ he would have still outlived him. The reason is Total lack of stress. I love what I do, and I do it with people I love.

The book ends with a list of do’s and dont’s and I think it is imperative I do the same.

Don’ts


Do not eat sugar. This may sound like a too tough to follow sermon, but hear me out. When i was in Japan, I was offered a sweet dish, As soon as I put it in mouth, I had to throw it out, there was nothing sweet in their sweet dish. I am not even sure why they called it a sweet dish, some kind of sick joke. But when I looked around, every local was savoring it like a delicacy. And that is when i realized that we set our own reality, taste buds are no different. I mean try and tell a 5 year old that you like drinking Beer and give him a taste of that. He would think, you are a certified idiot. It is all about forming a habit, sugarless tea actually tastes like tea unlike a sharbat you are use 2.

Do not eat Processed Carbs. Which is essentially everything from outside. Junk food, pizza and fried chicken crap (& they cook it with omega 6 rich vegetable oil)  

Do not Use vegetable oil. Or use as less as possible. Instead use Extra Virgin OLIVE oil and desi ghee.

Do not smoke: Well that is a given. Every smoker goes through cognitive dissonance, those who don’t are assholes, I am not even talking about them. Join AA, read Allan carr, do whatever it takes. Its the biggest scam, govt is party to it and you are the patsie.

Do’s

Cook food in OLIVE OIL, desi ghee (less of desi ghee not because it is bad but because you sedentary couch potato ain't moving your ass enough to deserve it)

EAT FISH, that is rich in Omega 3.
Eat OMEGA 3 FATTY acids capsules. These green color capsules are life saving. Eat 01 a day
Drink Green Tea
Eat dark Choclate
Drink Red wine
Eat nuts
Take supplements: like Vitamin d, vitamin c and multi vitamins
EXERCISE atleast 30 mins a day. If not anything go out and walk.
Get all your tests done. Ignorance is NOT bliss. Go get yourself checked, especially the Triglycerides and the LP(A).

And finally meditate daily to reach a stage where you are able to witness your thoughts as a third person. Slowly and steadily the distance between you and your thoughts would increase wide enough for you to figure out that you are not your thoughts. You are not even your body. You are a witness watching the movie of your life unfolding right in front of you. From that state, the stress doesn't touch you. I mean it does, but it doesn't stick, just like watching an emotional scene on TV and switching it off.










  






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