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Uffe Ravnskov

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Fat and Cholesterol Are Good for You: What Really Causes Heart Disease Paperback – January 26, 2009

by Uffe Ravnskov (Author)

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Did you know? ...that cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals? ...that your body produces three to four times more cho¬leste¬rol than you eat? ...that the internal production increases when you eat only small amounts of cholesterol and decreases when you eat large amounts? ...that heart patients haven't eaten more saturated fat than other people? ...that stroke patients have eaten less? ...that people with low cholesterol become just as athero¬sclerotic as people with high? ...that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for women? ...that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for old people although by far most heart attacks occur after age 65? ...that many of the cholesterol-lowering drugs are dan¬gerous to your health and may shorten your life? ...that the cholesterol campaign creates immense pros¬perity for resear¬chers, doctors, medical journals, drug producers and the food industry?

Print length

234 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Gb Pub
Publication date

January 26, 2009
Dimensions

6.25 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

919755538X
ISBN-13

978-9197555388
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Uffe Ravnskov
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Malcolm Kendrick
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Did you know?

...that cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals?

...that your body produces three to four times more cho¬leste¬rol than you eat?

...that the internal production increases when you eat only small amounts of cholesterol and decreases when you eat large amounts?

...that heart patients haven't eaten more saturated fat than other people?

...that stroke patients have eaten less?

...that people with low cholesterol become just as athero¬sclerotic as people with high?

...that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for women?

...that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for old people although by far most heart attacks occur after age 65?

...that many of the cholesterol-lowering drugs are dan¬gerous to your health and may shorten your life?

...that the cholesterol campaign creates immense pros¬perity for resear¬chers, doctors, medical journals, drug producers and the food industry?

Read the entire analysis!

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gb Pub (January 26, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 234 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 919755538X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9197555388
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,030,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #612 in Cardiovascular Diseases (Books)
- #641 in Cardiology (Books)
- #6,425 in Other Diet Books

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Uffe Ravnskov

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Uffe Ravnskov was born 1934 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He graduated in 1961 from the University of Copenhagen with an M.D, but has worked most of his time as a clinician and a researcher in Sweden, where he got his PhD from the University of Lund. He has published more than 100 papers and letters critical of the cholesterol campaign; most of them in major medical journals. Honoured by the Skrabanek Award 1999 given by Trinity College of Dublin, Ireland for original contributions in the field of medical skepticism, and by the 2007 Leo-Huss-Walin Prize for Independent Thinking in Natural Sciences And Medicine. He is a member of the editorial board of two medical journals and is the creator and spokesman of THINCS, The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (www.thincs.org), an organization that includes more than 100 researchers and other university graduates from all over the world. More details about Uffe Ravnskov are available on www.ravnskov.nu/uffe

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Seaotter or Hubby

Hit Close To Home!

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2010

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All the while I was reading "Fat and Cholesterol Are Good For you," I kept thinking about about a dear relative who has cut most of the fat our of her diet and is on statins. Everything her doctor says is the gospel truth to this lady and she follows it faithfully. She was a very healthy senior with a good memory, positive attitude, lots of energy, a wise financial planner who has done considerable traveling, etcetera. Since being put on statins, she has been operated on for skin cancer, which she blames on laying out in the sun while on a yearly vacation to Hawaii (she was taking statins at that time), had her gall bladder removed and now has been diagnosed with angina. Her memory which was so sharp is fading. I had almost finished reading the book, when I received a telephone call saying this lady was in the hospital and had been diagnosed with angina. She could not breath that morning and so had her daughter take her to the emergency room. As this book spells out, all of this women's medical issues are side effects associated with statin drug use. According to Ravnskov, medical research shows that statins do not help the elderly or women. What the author is telling you is all to horrifyingly true. I would love to share the information in this book with this lady, but since I'm not a doctor she won't listen. Please take the time to read the book and heed it's warnings.

When I was told by my doctor, that my cholesterol was slightly high, I got a second opinion. My doctor had told me to cut out almost all saturated fat, and have my cholesterol rechecked in one year. If it was still high, she would put me on statins. No way was I giving up favorite food, which is butter without a fight. The second opinion, by my chiropractor, who also has a three year degree in nutrition, told me my cholesterol levels were well within the normal range. He informed me that the medically acceptable cholesterol levels are dangerously low, which this book's author also shows.

36 people found this helpful

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Gokhals

Uffe's work may have saved my life

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2013

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Dr. Ravnskov is my hero. His courage and intelligence enabled me to tell 'Truth' from 'Hocum'. My Kaiser doctor thought my cholesterol levels were too high @ 228. He wanted me to go on Statins. I hate pills and elected to reduce my cholesterol via diet. What followed is a harrowing journey of increasingly debilitating health conditions, as my cholesterol levels dropped with my mighty 'successful diet'. All the way down to 180. Four years and a killer bout of the flu later, I woke up weak, 105 lbs (I am 5'4"), wasted and foggy headed; and realized something was seriously wrong with what I was doing. I don't know what possessed me to google "cholesterol good for health". But once I did, I never looked back. I eat two egg yolks daily and thank Dr. Uffe for his work. My brain is razor sharp again, and I never get sick. After this life lesson, I have also learned to take our current medical establishment with a BIG grain of salt. For one thing, I've ditched my doctor. Doctors are not out to get you exactly, but their main goal is not human health any more. For folks who are on statins, WAKE UP. You are slowly dying from these. For folks who are trying to reduce their cholesterol levels, please realize that high cholesterol is an adaptive mechanism and you need to review the underlying cause of cholesterol levels above say 300 - before you neutralize them with statins. You also need to look at your racial profile and see what your ancestor's cholesterol levels were. Among different healthy world civilizations, averages have ranged from 130 all the way to 275. Coconut country people (tropical populations) for instance tend to have higher cholesterol and live long, healthy, heart disease free lives. If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. Dr. Ravnskov, I hope I meet you some day and have a chance to thank you personally.

29 people found this helpful

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bookworm

A must read for everyone

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2010

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This book is written by a highly credentialled and honest MD and scientist Dr. Uffe Ravnskov.
The book is written for the layman and does not use stratospheric jargon. it is written is a very clear simple language. However for those with the desire to go deeper into the subject he provides a precise and voluminous list of references for each chapter.
The book tells of the outrageous mess that has been made of the chlesterol/heart disease hypothesis and shows with utmost precision and great care in the analysis of all the vailable clinical trials and scientific papers that all or most of the "proof" allegedly supporting the conclusion that High blood cholesterol levels cause cardiaiac disease was derived eitherv from ignorance in interpretation of statistical results or (even worse) by intentional manipulation of the statistical data and by stubbornly ignoring all studies which do not support the hypothesis ( or by simply stating that they support the hipothesis without bothering to actually read them).
Ravnkov also exposes the reason for this twisting and manipulation of the actual data by showing that most "Authorities" or authors behind the wrong conclusions or positive reviews and reports have good connections ( by good I mean financial) with the drug companies who profit tens of billions of dollars by selling the cholesterol lowering drugs called Statins.
Moreover, in addition to providing strong evidence that heart attacks are probably not caused by high blood cholesterol (at least the scientific data does not allow attributing a statistically significant causative relationship), he goes on to show that the numerous side effects caused by taking Statins are quite dangerous and that many studies actually show that while Statins did slightly reduce the number of non-fatal heart attacks in the treated group, there was an allarming increase in the overall death rate in the treatment group as compared to control group. In other words, even if you take statins and may actually reduce your chances of having a non-fatal heart attack by a fraction of a percent you have inadvertently increased your chances of dying from cancer and some other debilitating neurological disorders or even simple infections (as compared to people of the same age group who do not take statins).
Ravnskov also shows that high blood cholestrol has many protective roles mainly in neuronal functioning and higher cognitive functions such as memory and in fighting bacterial toxins in infections so if you take statins for lowering blood cholesterol you may actually be exposing yourself to new health related risks.

Finally Dr. Ravnkov suggests an alternative hypothesis regarding the cause for placque formation and arterial atherosclerosis in which he shows that some data supports a role for bacterial and viral infections actually being the cause for atherosclerosis.

The book is highly interesting and extremely informative, it is highly recommended for anyone who has high blood cholesterol who is either on a low cholesterol diet and definitely for anyone who is taking statins or any other cholesterol reducing drugs.
I personally have stopped taking Simvastatin as a result of reading this book and returned to a normal diet with animal fat ( eggs, butter, red meat and cheese).
I think I will die a happier man ( for whatever death cause)/

My only gripe with this book is that the translation from Swedish (or Danish ?) is not really fluent and there are some quirks in the translation. In particular overuse of hyphens in many words were that shouldn't have happened - however given the overall importance of the book and the fact that this is not a poetry book this is just nitpicking (that's why I gave the book only four stars and not five).

In short- a highly recommended book written by a truly concerned physician with an unorthodox irreverence to "authorities" (I.e. Big money and Big Pharma - AKA the "Steamroller"). Given the fact that the NIH or other health authorities are now trying to recommend that 50% of the population to take statins for their entire lifespan (Guess who is behind the campaign), I think everyone should read the book.

37 people found this helpful

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Peter C Parsons

Drs dont know

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2023

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Docs are not yet aware of the truth about fats nd cholesterol. More of them should read this book.

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Jaime

Sencillamente indispensable

Reviewed in Spain on December 7, 2015

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Un trocito de pura verdad en un mar de respeto al 'establishment'.
Científicamente impecable.
Lo definiría con esta frase: 'En lo tocante a ciencia, la autoridad de un millar no es superior al humilde razonamiento de un hombre.' - Galileo Galilei

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HM

要点把握に便利．

Reviewed in Japan on December 14, 2015

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まとまってはいるが，他を参照せよとか，後に述べるとかの記述が目についた。ただし、短期に著者の言いたいことの要点を把握するには便利かも．

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Edgar

Easy read, excellent and important information; those taking Statins must read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2012

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This book along with those of Duane Gravelline should put to rest the fears people have of cholesterol and so called 'high' cholesterol levels. They are must reads.
The fact that scientists and even governments (USA), have hidden the true facts relating to cholesterol/diet/heart; Scientific studies and clinical/population health reviews; that is that cholesterol and so called 'high' cholesterol levels are not responsible for heart disease and further fat in the diet is similarly not responsible for the rise in cholesterol levels or heart disease.
The industry which has grown up around the cholesterol/fats fairytale make an enormous amount of profit from this fairy tale. They are keen to keep their gravy train running; they have a lot at stake. Statins were the FIRST BILLION DOLLAR drug; they now bring in a revenue of more than 40billion dollars a year for the Pharmaceutical companies. Statins are too profitable, to allow the truth to out.
Statins have serious side effects and actually cause heart disease. In women there is no evidence of Statins being beneficial and in men there is a SLIGHT benefit for men who have already experienced some hheart related crisis, such as previous heart attack. The main benefit in those cases relates to the ANTI-INFLAMMATORY effect Statins are known to have rather than the cholesterol lowering effect. However, this anti-inflammatory benefit can be aquired by other means; by other means with less serious or no side effects what so ever.
Remember that 25% of people who have a heart attack have raised cholesterol levels. That is 75% have normal or low levels of cholesterol. These figures could be used to argue that low cholesterol is associated with heart disease rather than the otherway around!
Statins are known to lower cholesterol levels, but in doing so they also lower dolichols and CoQ10. So for example many people complain of muscle weakness symptoms when using Statins. Remember that your heart is tTHE most important muscle in your body if you want to survive. Statins are a known cause of heart failure, as this muscle begins to fail it cannot pump so efectively or efficiently, the blood around your body.
One criticism, (if indeed that is what it is),I would raise about this book and most others is that they don't highlight or mention the very strong association of rising cholesterol with hypothyroidism.
When thyroid hormone is either in low levels or for some reason is prevented from doing it s job at the cellular level there is a known rise in cholesterol levels.
Further, there is a very strong association of hypothyroidism with heart disease. Now, before anyone draws the conclusion that what I am saying is that hypothyroidism causes high blood cholesterol levels and in turn this causes the higher levels of heart disease in hypothyroid patients; I AM NOT saying that.
Hypothyroids also suffer a rise in homocysteine levels due to poor gastric function; they tend to have chronic inflammation around the body; measured as C-Reactive Protein or CRP. They are also more prone to infection/allergies and have a slow heart rate and sluggish blood flow as well as rather more sticky blood than those who do not have hypothyroidism. I believe these and other factors associated with hypothyroidism are likely to cause higher rates of heart disease in this population.
Those factors (above), are recognised as strong factors associated with heart disease,(cholesterol is a bystanders; such as spectators at a race track, if the car vears off the road the spectators are caught up in the accident, but they were not the cause of the accident).
So anyone who is suffering hypothyroidism, or anyone who has a history of heart disease or considers they are at risk of heart disease for other reasons, they should have at least their homocystein, ferritin and CRP levels checked regularly. These are better indicators of risk of heart disease than cholesterol levels.
Going back to the book Ravnskov makes this book easy reading and yet he explores in details scientific papers. His skill is doing so in a way easily understood by those who are not scientists or medically trained.
THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ for anyone who has any concerns regarding their heart health and their cholesterol levels.

20 people found this helpful

Francisca

A very important book!

Reviewed in France on June 22, 2010

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I first read "The Great Cholesterol Con" by Dr. Kendrik but I wasn't too impressed with his joking tone (I suppose many people will love it but for me this subject is too important to lose too much time with jokes!). And I found the message a bit confusing. After researching a bit further I found "Fat and Cholesterol are good for you" and the title is so controversial that I had to read it. My interest in cholesterol and fats came from the fact that a while ago I found coconut oil in a health shop and thought that I should only use it on my skin as I believed that saturated fats were very bad for your health. Then someone on a site suggested I start cooking with it but I needed to read more about the subject before adding it to our daily menu. The first book I read was "Coconut Cures" by Dr. Bruce Fife, which gave me a lot of valuable information and then I moved on to read more about cholesterol, a subject I knew nothing about although I know that mine is on the high side. The only thing you usually hear about cholesterol is that it is something bad which will shorten your life, something to be afraid of. Well, in the meanwhile I know that this is not true especially for me as a woman.

I find it a pity that this book is badly edited. Even if the author had to publish it on a small budget maybe a friend could have had a look through... but the message is there! At times all the studies were a bit much for me but I can't say that they are not interesting. What I found very weird, coming from a country considered Mediterranean was the Mediterranean diet used in one of the studies which included margarine made with rapeseed oil while everybody knows that in Mediterranean countries people cook mostly with olive oil. And also the fact that people were encouraged to eat poultry instead of pork. People in Mediterranean countries do eat quite a bit of pork, beef and lam.... this goes to show that these studies are often based on errors and therefore their conclusions can't be taken seriously!

I can't agree with the author when he says that many people realize that statins are toxic. I know quite a few elderly people on statins or similar drugs who show all the symptoms of their side effects but who have no idea of what is going on. Very sad that our health is used for financial gain and not many doctors seem to care about what happens to us. Weather we live a miserable life or die it doesn't matter, we are just a statistic and a way to get rich even quicker!

This book demystifies a lot of concepts which exist in our society about the dangers (or not) of cholesterol and the author, having done a thorough research, presents his point of view in a scientific way. He also explains thoroughly how studies are misinterpreted in order to fit the directors' goals and how badly studies often are set up. He is also very clear about the financial links between the directors' and the pharmaceutical industry who as a rule finance the whole thing anyway.

Too bad that people are still being misled but then aren't we being misled on a lot of important subjects anyway? I want to read more about the use of coconut oil and the benefits for one's health but for the time being I am convinced that we have made the right choice and I don't think that I will let any doctor lower my cholesterol! After all women with higher cholesterol seem to be the ones who live the longest! But... wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to go to your doctor and be able to trust him with your wellbeing instead of having to dig around and try to find the truth yourself?

2 people found this helpful

SRW

Mandatory Reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2014

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This book is excellent, easy to read, well researched, a nice comfortable style of writing without waffle.

It astounds me how we are all so "brainwashed" about our health, and have been for decades, telling us what we can and cannot eat, how saturated fat is bad for us, low fat is good for us, starchy refined carbohydrate foods are good for us, bla bla, and so on.

This book and others on the same topics written by various authors should be given to all GP's, Nutritionists, health care workers and LISTENED TO, and acted upon.

It is extremely sad and at the same time terrifying that GP's, Nutritionists and health care professionals do not have a clue about how we are brainwashed that cholesterol is our enemy, statins our saviour, because of course they are just as brainwashed as everyone else, and it takes a very brave person to speak out and stand up to these falsehoods.

This book can be picked up and delved into quite easily without having to read from front to back, sections are short, to the point and very clear explanations. It has an index, a plus point, and easy to read references.

The only down side to this book is the price, rather expensive, though I'm glad I made the purchase.

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