Re- low carb / high fat diets.

[coccinelle]

I've just read down a few threads here and see many people recommend this type of diet as the best for losing weight. However, my concern would be having cholesterol problems. If you're eating as much meat, butter, oil, etc every day this could cause health problems. Can somebody enlighten me?

[TopKat]

Don't worry about your cholesterol - the real issue/risk for heart disease is the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) and, even more important, your triglyceride level. Many studies have shown that a low-carb/high fat diet will actually improve your cholesterol profile. Generally, HDL increases and triglycerides reduce. Some people initially see a slight increase in LDL, but this is much less risky than being overweight and having high triglyceride levels. Also, within a few weeks, the LDL will go lower. Just make sure you do the low-carb/high fat thing right - the carbs are the problem and only serious reduction in dietary carbohydrate will have the desired weight loss/health effects. Hope this helps! If you want to understand the science behind what I'm saying, I'd recommend this talk by Professor Diamond - he really puts it very clearly and should reassure you - http://www.dietdoctor...-the-obesity-epidemic

[pastafreak]

Here's a fantastic visual scientific explanation from the same site......

http://blog.massivehe...arbs_are_killing_you/

[coccinelle]

Thank you: just read your answers so looking at the links.