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ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Frank
Cooper has an extensive career background as a business executive, board
director and company chairman. His initial career was in investment banking, and
later he worked in computers and in executive search and business
transformation. Frank has lived in the Frank
is also a researcher into the causes of coronary heart disease (CHD). This is a
disease that clogs the arteries and stops the vital blood supply from pumping
through to where it’s needed. Frank was born with Familial Hypercholesterolemia, which means very high
cholesterol, and this condition has been associated with the early onset of
coronary heart disease. Diagnosed at
age 25 with a cholesterol level of 13 mmol/L
(500 mg/dl in Frank
has spent years investigating the views of doctors, medical researchers,
nutritionists, and fitness experts to piece together the causes of coronary
heart disease. To his surprise, he identified many medical professionals in the Frank
has consulted many doctors and medical researchers to ensure that everything in
this book is current and accurate. His personal experience with cholesterol over
a quarter of a century provides a practical and in-depth insight into a subject
that concerns many people. He
can be contacted at frank.cooper@optusnet.com.au PREFACE
- BY CHARLES T MCGEE, MD
Frank
Cooper and I share a common interest in the cholesterol theory; we both have
sky-high cholesterol levels. As younger men we were taught this put us at high
risk of sudden death. Then we investigated the theory and found it lacking.
There is no clear cause/effect relationship between cholesterol levels and heart
attacks. Actually the theory has leaked like a sieve from the very beginning. In
Cholesterol and the French Paradox, Frank has done a fine job of putting the
cholesterol theory to rest. Frank's stated purpose in writing this book is to
simplify the subject for non-health professionals. He has done a good job. Heart
attacks kill more people in developing and industrialised nations than anything
else. The cholesterol theory has dominated thinking on the subject for decades
and is still promoted by commercial interests. However, in scientific
publications the theory is eroding in favour of newer concepts such as the
oxidation theory, arterial damage from high Homocysteine levels, rupture of
fatty plaques and the role of inflammation. Articles
on these topics make interesting reading. They begin by bowing down in praise of
the cholesterol theory, then move on to present something more useful. Authors
seem to know the cholesterol theory is so entrenched that if they attacked it,
their paper would never see the light of day. My
personal introduction to another way of looking at the cholesterol theory began
when I had dinner with Linus Pauling 30 years ago. Dr. Pauling told me there
wasn't much evidence to support the theory and that cholesterol would take care
of itself provided a person was well nourished in all of the materials the body
needs. He conveyed this to me while eating a large juicy steak and I ate a less
tasty fish dish. Pauling, the only person to be awarded two individual Nobel
Prizes, lived an active life right up to his death at 93. I
discovered books by Dr. Paul Dudley White, founder of the specialty of
cardiology. Dr. White wrote that he once was asked his opinion of the
cholesterol theory. He responded that he couldn't believe in the theory because
it was not consistent with the history of the disease. Nobody asked for his
opinion again. What
White was referring to was that the very first heart attack in the world proven
by autopsy was in Inspired
by these giants in science I searched the medical library for studies on
cholesterol. I found the theory was based on a very weak association between
blood cholesterol levels and heart attacks that was seen only in middle-aged men
with genetically high levels. A few years later I asked a cholesterol researcher
from Well,
here are a few: q
Cholesterol intake
has been constant for over 100 years, as the death rate from coronary heart
disease has risen and fallen sharply. q
There is no
association between blood cholesterol levels and heart deaths in women despite
TV ads for statin drugs showing women keeling over because of high cholesterol
levels. q
No heart attacks were
seen in more than 15 primitive life style cultures that consumed high fat diets. q
Scientific studies
failed to show that lowering blood cholesterol levels lowered overall death
rates, which, after all, should be the ultimate goal of any preventive effort. q
Half of people dying
of a heart attack have cholesterols in the ‘normal’ range. q
Eating more
cholesterol does not raise blood levels of cholesterol. q
Eating less
cholesterol does not drop blood levels of cholesterol significantly. q
It should be obvious
we are omnivores. We have the biochemistry to handle carbohydrates, proteins and
fats. q
And of course there
is the French Paradox discussed in this book. How
current low-fat dietary guidelines came into being deserves comment. The
Consensus Development Conference on cholesterol was held at the National
Institutes of Health in By
that time over 15 studies had been completed with the goal of proving that
reducing cholesterol levels would reduce heart attack deaths. However, the
presenter who reviewed this work apologised at the beginning saying that in
every study something ‘ridiculous’ happened that prevented expected results
from being observed yet, after two days of less than convincing presentations,
the chairman announced a consensus had been reached. He called a press
conference and recommended low fat, low cholesterol diets for everyone. Belief
in the cholesterol theory has led to illogical actions through the years as
large commercial interests became involved. Manufacturers of margarines and
vegetable oils launched advertising campaigns pointing out that their products
don't contain cholesterol or saturated fats (little was known at the time about
harmful trans fats these products contain). Pharmaceutical companies launched a
huge educational program encouraging physicians to prescribe a series of what
turned out to be ineffective cholesterol-lowering drugs. Cholesterol
phobia caused sales of beef to fall by half, but only temporarily because
Americans really love beef. Egg sales fell a devastating 40% and stayed there
for years. When egg producers advertised the truth that eggs had never been
shown to be harmful to anyone, they were taken to court and convicted of false
advertising by a judge who believed the testimony of cholesterol researchers. In
1995 the first statin study was presented. Researchers proudly proclaimed this
was the first study in which heart attack deaths dropped without seeing a
counterbalancing increase in deaths from other causes. To me this only served to
expose the lies the public was told for 40 years that cholesterol-lowering drugs
were of benefit. This
is but a small part of the cholesterol issue. What remains at the end of the day
is a tale of false hopes, biases, and manipulation by commercial interests. This
book explores the cholesterol/coronary heart disease connection from several
angles. Frank does a good job presenting information on how basic science
research can be exploited by financial interests. I especially agree with him
that people are going to be the healthiest when they consume fresh whole foods
and shun refined and processed foods. That advice is far more useful than
current recommendations to cut down on cholesterol and saturated fats, which
reduces intake of some of our most highly nutritious foods. Charles
T. McGee, MD Author
of Heart Frauds INTRODUCTION
For many years we have been told that cholesterol is the leading cause of
coronary heart disease, clogging our arteries, and causing heart attacks and
strokes. But
if this is actually correct, how do we explain the “French Paradox”?
This is the unexplained fact that the French who have the same
cholesterol levels as the rest of us, have only one-third (1/3) the rate of
heart disease? That’s
what this book is about; it explains the riddle of the French Paradox, and how
you can benefit from knowing what the French know, and thereby avoid heart
disease. Cholesterol
and the French Paradox
looks at the ‘hard to find’ information on cholesterol and heart disease,
and introduces you to doctors around the world, who have spent years studying
cholesterol and heart disease. Their
data is in the public domain, and it conflicts significantly with what you have
been told. What
I learned was that there is no notable association between cholesterol and heart
disease. In other words, regardless of whether you have high or low cholesterol,
the population develops heart disease at about the same rate. And you don’t
need to be a doctor or a medical researcher to understand how to avoid heart
disease. This
book will certainly be a welcome relief to anyone with elevated cholesterol. And
if your cholesterol is low, don’t get too excited, because your chances of
developing coronary heart disease are the same as the rest of the population. Cholesterol
and the French Paradox was
written to provide a thorough, clear, and concise explanation of the complex
issues surrounding heart disease. It demystifies the medical discourse that
accompanies coronary heart disease, and encourages us to assume greater control
of our own health. PART I
- EXPLODING THE MYTH
CHAPTER 1 – WHAT IS THE FRENCH PARADOX
The
French Paradox is the unexplained riddle of how a nation of alcohol-quaffing,
croissant-munching gourmands stays healthy and slim, while a disproportionate
number of health-obsessed Americans are obese and at cardiovascular risk. The
French Paradox has baffled American dieters and scientists, puzzled by the
ability of the French to remain trim while downing buttery croissants, creamy
brie and decadent pastries. Nutritionally
speaking, the French have been blessed: They eat all the butter, cream, fatty
liver pate, pastry and cheese that their hearts desire, and yet their rates of
obesity and heart disease are much lower than the USA and UK.
The French eat three times as much saturated animal fat as Americans, and
only a third as many die of heart attacks. It doesn’t make sense. Scientists
struggled to come up with a few hypotheses: Firstly it was attributed to the
French tradition of drinking red wine. This got winemakers excited for a while,
but no one could find any real basis for this theory, because the French do not
have a monopoly on drinking red wine. After
the wine argument, scientists latched on to olive oil, but this didn’t explain
the butter or Brie, which the French eat plenty of. Some
researchers suggested that the French Paradox was due to garlic and onions but
the French don’t have a monopoly on eating that either. Others say that the
French eat smaller portions and eat more slowly. The list goes on and on. So
whilst the Americans are worried about elevated cholesterol, and focused on low
fat foods, and regularly taking cholesterol-lowering medication – the fact is
- they are still twice as likely to have a heart attack as the French. Clearly,
the Americans think this is all unfair, and the French think it's wonderful. To
them it’s simply Bon Appetit!
The
French Paradox is a clearly a riddle. This
book looks at all the available scientific evidence to explain the riddle. And
to do that we need to go on a journey with a few twists and turns.
We will look at how the medical and pharmaceutical industries operate. We
will look at the differences between the research doctors, and the practicing
doctors. We will discuss cholesterol and the dangers of cholesterol-lowering
drugs. And we will look at foods that inflame our arteries that lead to heart
attacks and strokes. At the end of our journey we will have solved the riddle of
the French Paradox. Let’s
start our journey: Click on the cart below to purchase this book:
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