Keto Lifestyle

[Doubleone]

Our physical health has such a big influence on the quality of our life... Not only for us individually, but the state of our health also affects everyone around us, our friends, our loved ones...  My longest and best friend (honorary bigger brother) is diabetic, has been on insulin, won't listen, doesn't mind his diet, etc... Monday he went into the hospital and had two toes and part of his foot amputated as a complication of diabetes.  During surgery he had a heart attack... and now he's looking at needing a stent in his heart so they can get him up to walk him around.  He's well supported, lots of family around, no assistance needed.  It's just that he's one of the biggest and strongest people I've known and has always been there for me; his nickname is the 'Giant'.  Right now I'm feeling rather helpless, frustrated, and sickened; I fear this is the beginning of a long slow painful decline for him.  Wishing he would practice Keto, maybe now, hoping he'll take it seriously, telling him it's not too late... I don't want to lose him... Not to this...  I know three cutting-edge physicians who are treating diabetic patients with Keto and seeing fantastic results.  Two of the patients who I know personally, just completed their first 100 mile bike rides last year.  Keto is potentially life changing... life saving.   

I sometimes hesitate to share info about Keto because it too quickly starts sounding like religion or some weird fanatical concept.  I'm not a medical expert, I don't know everything their is to know about everything.  It's just that I've found extraordinary health benefits through low-carb diet and Keto; I'm way healthier and happier now in my 50's than I was in my 30's.  Over my entire lifetime I was educated by the best and brightest on food pyramid and diet, but I always struggled with overeating and my weight.   I know now... the experts got it all wrong!   It took many years to wrap my head around this and I continue to learn more every day.  I'm just hoping that by putting the info out there maybe it can help people be healthier, happier, live longer, and enjoy more of life...   

The biggest thing to understand is that Keto isn't a diet per say, it's more of a lifestyle.  Ketosis (aka Keto) just describes the metabolic processes that instead of fueling your body with glucose, you control your diet in such a way to cause your body to use ketones for fuel.  This is 100% for real, it's natural, most people can do it, it preserves lean muscle, and it's not harmful to liver or organs.  The biggest benefits are not so much the weight loss (although that does happen), but having control of blood sugar, restoring balance to intestinal flora, and reducing inflammation responses.  We all know about diabetes and how high blood sugar is bad for us.  Most people artificially control their blood sugar through diet.  However that's not how it's supposed to work.  Our bodies were designed to be self-regulating with the liver controlling our blood sugar.  When we eat carbohydrates/sugar our bodies react by releasing insulin hormone, which lowers our blood sugar but the way it  does this is by converting and storing glucose as fat.  Insulin hormone is a fat storage mechanism; it basically signals the body, "Hey we've got enough nutrition on board, let's start saving fuel for later."  Unfortunately, this insulin dump also results in a rapid drop in blood sugar that later sends a hunger signal to the brain and we quickly feel hungry again.  Then we eat more of the same... It's like a blood sugar roller coaster.  If you get sleepy after a meal, or feel shakey and have to eat right now, or hungry again an hour after eating, you've likely experienced this insulin dump.  In contrast, when eating a low-carb high-fat diet (Keto) our bodies react in a very different way.  Our body releases leptin hormone, which signals the brain that we are satiated and no longer hungry.  With the leptin response we feel full, our blood sugar stays at an even level, we have more energy, we don't eat any more than we need, and we also lose weight...  No more sugar/hunger roller coaster.  But, that's not all.  Gut health is also a huge thing related to keto but the relationships have only recently been understood.  In our gut, unfriendly bacteria's feast on carbs/sugar and make toxic waste products that that signal inflammation responses in our body.  Unfortunately, when those bad bugs thrive it crowds out the friendly flora, and our bodies are left struggling with persistent inflammation.  Our body can't self-repair tissue until the inflammation subsides, but since the inflammation is ongoing we start to get into problems.  As one example, arterial plaques have been connected to the inflammation signaling chemicals.  Having a healthy gut reduces inflammation and restores beneficial chemical signalling mechanisms.  And... you guessed it... Keto diet helps.
 
I didn't know half of this when I started.  Fortunately, I had people way more knowledgeable than me that I could go ask questions and figure it out.  I'm happy to share what I know and what I've learned with anyone who's curious or may have questions.  If you're already doing keto, please chime in, let's compare notes, share what we know...

 

[RoamerRV428]

I don't put myself into a 'keto', 'low carb' category kinda cause I am mostly a zero carb eater I avoid carbohydrates like the plague they are Carbs are poison to me.

I agree with what you said. Blood sugar is a huge key to health. No doubt about that!

Your body does not need 1 carbohydrate to survive. Ahh, geez what does this tell one? HA I know what it means to me. Your body doesn't need it obviously therefore when ingested in larger quantities there is going to be bad effects, and there are for everyone.

Your body only requires fat and protein for survival.

I truly believe that ketones were the first choice of fuel for the body. That glucose burning bodies are our secondary back up system for survival. Cavemen hunted. Ate only fruit/veg in season when they could. Small quantities. For survival when meat was not available. Hunting was the main source of food for survival. Ketone burning bodies. It wasn't truly until big agriculture/true farming/food transportation came into practice did carbs take over in the form of a lot of fruit/veg available all the time and then processed chemical fake crap food jumped right on board behind that. Turning people from ketone burning bodies into true glucose burning bodies....and health started to decline and has only gotten worse and worse for all.

I dumped the carbs, turned my body to deep ketosis and haven't looked back. Energy thru the roof, over 60 lbs gone easily, never hungry (in fact many times I have to remember to eat LOL), brain/thought clarity is amazing actually, the fog has lifted and just a wonderful overall feeling of good health.

So yea, I hear you about your friend. My MIL was told to eat right or she would have to go on pills for being diabetic. She choose the pills. Then Dr said cut the carbs and eat better so you don't have to go onto shots. She didn't, she choose the daily shots. Her circulation is not good. She is forever tired etc due to BS roller coaster. She is older and ain't giving up her bread etc. Ugh. People do make their own choices tho.

Like you I hesitate to put my ketosis info out there cause many will never agree, no matter how much data is in their faces about blood sugar swings etc. So.....I like your post, agree with it all, live the extreme low carb/zero carb lifestyle and now I never speak much about it anymore to anyone cause 'food' can cause a lot of fights LOL and I ain't going there anymore. I had my share of people saying 7 grain bread is ok and more of that type of thinking, as long as it has fiber etc it is fine...ugh...fiber intake has nothing to do with sugar intake ever, so.....whatever. It is fun to chat again to other keto people who get it!!

 

[badmotorscooter]

Don't forget the medical community has convinced the general population that a high fat diet is bad for cardiovascular health. They make a big deal over cholesterol levels even though this hasn't been definitively proven to contribute to heart attacks or artery blockage.

I haven't completely converted over to a low carb diet because of other issues, but I practice intermittent fasting which has made a significant difference (12-14 hours a day with no calories).

I have always stayed physically fit and lean, but don't always feel as good as I think I should. I have some digestion issues and sometimes it's a struggle to keep functioning normally.

 

[Trebor English]

As I see it there are two distinct issues. One is talking to other people and the other is what I have decided based on reading and my personal health. When talking to the unconvinced it is almost like politics and religion. A lifetime of being told that meat is bad and grains are good is hard to turn around.

I keep a spreadsheet. There I record my weight, fasting glucose, and glucose one hour after eating (most of the time). I record everything I eat and every pill I take. I record my blood pressure whenever I put something else in the spreadsheet. I have cut carbs and consequently calories are down too. Weight was 193 today, down from 222. Glucose in March averaged 148 now it stays below 120 without any metformin. I keep reducing the blood pressure meds when it goes below 110 cutting a half pill at a time. When I talk to people I say that this is working for me and I have data to prove it. I don't try to tell them what I think they should do. I don't say "keto" as that just starts a fuss.

Like Garfield, I really like lasagna. Spaghetti carbonara is divine. It seems that easy, low cost, dried, shelf stable, portable foods are bad for me. Garlic bread is to die for. Literally, gain weight, soaring blood sugar, heart attack and die to be able to eat all the garlic bread I want. For me the choice has become clear.

Some people see conspiracies in the food / medication stuff. I see people just doing what they do. I start with the politicians. They want to control other people and continue to get reelected. That's what politicians do. Dogs bark. That's their nature. Politicians are what they are. When there are food shortages the masses get uncontrollable (see Venezuela) and that is antithetical to politicians. Politicians came up with the food pyramid to provide low cost abundant food to keep control and get reelected. They provide subsidies to farmers. Farmers grow what they can sell. That's what farmers do. They grow food crops and sell them. If the government requires that food crops be burned (ethanol from corn in gasoline) the sale prices are better and they grow more food. Then there are more votes for politicians. Ranchers use hay and corn to produce pork and beef. It's what ranchers do. Agribusiness folks buy, package and sell at retail whatever foods they can. General Mills puts grain products directly in stores. Hormel does the same less directly with other products. Pharmaceutical providers make drugs and sell them. Cholesterol meds are easier to sell when people believe that pork plugs your arteries so the fear gets perpetuated. Drugs that cure don't make as much profit as drugs that treat. So, not surprisingly, pharmaceutical companies like the high grain diet pushed by politicians. It keeps up sales of statins for fear of cholesterol and generates the whole new line of business based on "metabolic syndrome" resulting in high blood sugar from high carb, high grain, plant based diets pushed by politicians who want to avoid food shortages and famines to stay in power. I don't see conspiracies, just people doing what they do. Farmers farm, ranchers ranch, drug makers make drugs and politicians are the root cause of the whole problem. Actually it's our fault as we keep electing them.

 

[jeanmarie]

Nope. Couldn't do Keto. I have lost - and kept off - 25 pounds calorie counting with a phone app called Lose It. I take daily vitamins. But the idea of having to have special food for every meal, not being able to cheat for special occasions without throwing my body out of ketosis, always sticking out as the odd one, forget it. I know people who have pulled it off for a while. Two are on YouTube (Caravan Caroline and RVDebs ), but they always backside.

 

[Jacklelop]

I follow a Ketogenic Lifestyle too. Nice to see this thread. I woke up one morning and weighed 330 lbs.I was 58 years old with High Blood Pressure.. Breathing issues..Joint pain..Psoriasis.. Depression and Stress level that my Doc would just shake his head at. Keto was one of my saviors.I lost 130 in just over a year and I'm about to hit the road for a dream that 15 months ago I would never have thought possible. It's not for everyone but it has served me well.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

While I am very much not done losing weight...and it does slow after that initial six month period...all my numbers got better since low carbing. All the pills and crap they freaked about me stopping, was nipped in the bud in 5 weeks of eating greasy bacon and steak. (Cholesterol of 148 presently and all the other numbers are VERY pleasing to the doc. Better than the Lipitor crap with a rabbit-food diet, thats for sure.)
Steak and a salad is a lot better than the average cardboard food on weight watchers.
(Not to mention the bird-worthy portions.)

But the idea of having to have special food for every meal, not being able to cheat for special occasions without throwing my body out of ketosis, always sticking out as the odd one, forget it. I know people who have pulled it off for a while. Two are on YouTube (Caravan Caroline and RVDebs ), but they always backside.

If you tasted natural "sweet" again, you might have a different view.
Every thing we eat is loaded with corn syrup and sugar.
When you drop that crap for months, your tastebuds kind of re-align.
Strawberries used to be tart to me. Same berries from our patch as the five years previous...tastes the same to the kids who eat them...but to us, they are like candy.

...and every night counting those calories, you cannot eat TWO of these:


Unless herbal influences make me yearn for munchies, I usually have to remind myself to eat now.

With a Calorie eating program, I had to constantly weigh/measure everything and eat at the behest of a clock, not my body...screw that. Calorie counting, for us, was a LOT more time-effort to pull off with barely any weight loss.
Even worse, when we were counting, I was like a heroin addict always "jones-ing" for a taste.
Like that old twiggy-Mexican reefer we used to get. "I think I'm high."
"I think I ate..." is about how it always was.

With low-carb, if I want to slug down half a pound of T-bone with a huge plate of "gut bowl" as a side dish...I can.
(...and usually, after about six to eight bites, it gets wrapped up in the fridge for later.)

Low carb, if you are doing it right, once the first two weeks are behind you, the gurgling belly/hunger is over.
As far as cheating...if I were to eat cake at a wedding right now, I would have shooting pains down my shoulders in about 45 seconds. I would not even want it. One sip of the bubbly for the toast, thanks. Thats it.
(Besides, there is Brisket and salad on the serving table... )

 

[jim solo]

I'm half Keto. I drank two cans of dr. pepper a day, no more, quit the soda pop, cut my Carbs in half. Lost 40 Lbs in 9 months. Have not had any trouble with my weight since. The money I saved on soda pop, went towards new pants because I went from 34" waist to 31" waist. I have heart troubles and need to balance it out. Rice was another food that put my weight on, just two servings a year, because I like a bit of rice once in awhile. Plenty of fresh veggies too.

But, it does seem most folks I know are Diabetic, I'm not thankfully.

 

[maki2]

As far as fats, carbs, and other nutritional guidelines including the food pyramid we learned in the 1950s the scientific research and thinking is not static or stagnant. New thoughts and ideas come along constantly because there is ongoing scientific research happening. Everything about the human body, including its needs and its responses has not yet been discovered.

Remember our bodies change over time so what you might have been able to eat in the past could suddenly become something you can't eat today.

There is no one diet suits everyone plan.

 

[StarEcho]

DH and I have been living keto for a bit over a year now and we are both happy with it.  He has an easier time losing weight than I do, which is generally the way it tends to work, no matter what we eat.  But I've lost 40 lbs in that year.  The weight loss was dramatic initially but has stalled in the past 6 months and that's ok too.  I'm not living like this to lose weight.

DH had high A1Cs and was taking metformin prior to going keto. Now his A1C is normal and he is off any diabetes meds. His cholesterol levels are way down to within normal limits, and good cholesterol is high,  bad is low.  All from changing our eating habits.  Instead of eating low fat,  our diet now consists of at least 60% good fats like coconut, avacado, butter. Protein is about 35% of our diet.

One thing I want to point out is that weight loss is a function of calories in vs calories used to maintain your metabolism.  So no matter what your  diet....you can't take in more than you burn up and lose weight.  And in my case, I'm not very active. So I don't burn up calories as much day to day. That means that unless I reduce my intake to VERY low, I'm not going to lose weight.  My younger brother is very active but struggles with weight loss. But he also eats HUGE portions....maybe double what he probably should. So even though he eats keto he is not losing weight. Not gaining but not losing. Eating good fat foods also means that those foods are also calorie rich.  Meaning that a little goes a long way.  And generally you can be satisfied with that little.  But....for me, because I'm not active it's a lot easier to comfort eat. (Thankfully I've discovered pork rinds!) I find that being active helps me "forget" to eat when my mind has conditioned me to eat.

Another key feature to eating keto is the turning away from processed foods. It's absolutely amazing how big a deal that is.  we haven't gotten totally away from processed foods, maybe 75% reduction. 

My bottom line is that I think of keto as simply eating good foods. And my ultimate goal will be to eat other "good" foods that might happen to have a fair amount of carbs such as fruits and quinoa.  But I plan to stay away forever from carb rich foods which have no other redeeming nutritional value.

But all that said, I am VERY upset that the powers that be are still telling people to eat low fat foods since the science available now indicates the opposite.  We have our food pyramid upside down.  If you see a study that says eat low fat or the dangers of keto....look at who funds the study.  That goes for all research.  Follow the money.

 

[regis101]

I’ve changed my habits a few months ago and am seeing favorable results.

Eat food.
Mostly plants.
Not too much.
Nothing before 11.
Nothing after 7.
No booze. No sugar.

I do and will deviate some but the above creed has built in wiggle room.

YMMV

 

[RoamerRV428]

eating higher fat is great for people, but NOT combined with higher carb intake. that is the heart attack menu.

you can eat very high fat in a day and be super healthy. combine that with processed junk, tons of sugar and you have the standard American diet which is making people miserable and pushes a lot of health issues for many.

also when one 'turns' into a ketone burning machine you can't expect all other behaviors to 'just change' magically overnight. they don't and won't. emotions issues with food is very different than a physical issue with foods.

your body requires healthy good fat and protein foods to heal. as ones more into very low carb/keto type menu and your body starts to heal, it actually might require more food than you think. asking for the fuel it needs to heal and recover from a lifetime of junky eating. So if your body says eat a double steak at dinner, then eat just that amt it asks and enjoy. Many start very high kcals when starting to change their eating and it is fine. Yea you don't dump a ton of weight immediately but one will (with time) probably start to lessen their food intake. Your body won't require or truly ask for that much food....but if it is all behavior from 'seeing it' and eating it for no reason other than I can, then other behavior has to change. Many can recognize 'real hunger' when adopting a low carb type lifestyle and truly go by physical feelings, many tho are still in the ---see food, eat food, smell food, eat food, be around food, eat it and have stopped listening to their body.

I did low calorie diet. Lost 70 lbs fast and I friggin' had to starve to do just that. And to maintain, omg I could not cause I was starving point blank. Cause on reduced kcals you can eat whatever the heck ya want as long as ya don't go over X number of calories. Should one eat good foods, sure, but knowing I could eat 1200 in a day, sometimes I would eat a pint of ice cream cause I wanted it and then just starve thru the day. Most people can not hold a low calorie menu.

In fact, the stats on dieting are horrible. from surgery, to every eating plan on the planet, only like 5% of those who lose ever keep it off.

that is why my near zero carb meat eating menu is for me. It is the ultimate food I love. I AM a meat hound so this food category suits me to a T. And some days I eat hardly nothing cause I am not hungry at all and other days I balance that out by eating a full rack of ribs, a monster omelet and entire package of bacon and I am in my glory best thing, after eating I never, absolutely never feel the bloaty sluggy mess of eating carby food, I always feel energized and lean and ready to rumble. I can walk miles after eating big, other's around me need a nap! not a short one either, lol, the nasty meal shuts down their evening almost sometimes. Drives me nuts being so energetic and other's can't move...ugh

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Another key feature to eating keto is the turning away from processed foods. It's absolutely amazing how big a deal that is.  we haven't gotten totally away from processed foods, maybe 75% reduction. 

Isn't it amazing how many packaged chem-foods have unneeded carbs added to them?
TACO Spice is one that threw me for a loop.
(And...even though not low carb, anyone else remember when granola used to be in health food stores? Now it's all chemicals and candy. Would not feed that crap to the hogs.)

But all that said, I am VERY upset that the powers that be are still telling people to eat low fat foods since the science available now indicates the opposite. We have our food pyramid upside down. If you see a study that says eat low fat or the dangers of keto....look at who funds the study. That goes for all research. Follow the money.

The same foolish practices the USA has always employed. The illusion of truth.
The funniest thing to me is, we see this stuff. Clear evidence of what the government did wrong and how it affected people...less than 50 years back, seems to get lost in the "well...glad we don't do THAT anymore" thought process.

 

[RoamerRV428]

follow the money is so true in all of life point blank. advertising is all about making you buy, spend money here, no matter what!

I love Cheerios as one of the saddest adverts....part of a heart healthy diet! are ya kidding me??????? ugh, the 'heart healthy' diet info is BS to the max also LOL

cereal...one of the most useless foods ever created!

 

[regis101]

I once went into the grocery store with the intent to not buy any processed food(s).
Come to find out, I had to shop along the perimeter walls only to find what I deemed real food.
Everything , in any aisle, could be labeled as processed.
The fruits, veggies, meats, poultry, dairy and breads (if that's on your menu) is pretty much always along the outside walls.

 

[Queen]

Started reading Dr. Jason Fungs books on April 4th, on a low carb, moderate protein, high fat way of eating. No processed foods and I do intermittent fasting. Down 30lbs and feel fantastic.

I didn’t intend to “do keto” but seem to be in deep ketosis anyway. Other than liking potatoes I never cared for carbs or sugar much to begin with, now that I know what those things do to me, I have zero interest.

 

[highdesertranger]

Hi Queen good to see you posting. highdesertranger

 

[TeeCee]

This is great!
Love keto, i do somthing i made up called keto 1200 when i want to loose, as im smallish already.
Keto, not over 1200 cals for 10 days to drop 4 lbs, then back to reg keto
I will be van life in 20 months and figuring out now what i can bring and store easy.
Cant wait!

 

[Doubleone]

Wow! I am so totally blown away with the number of replies to this post.   It's so odd, I often felt like one of very few...  I absolutely love reading about all of your success stories!  It's so refreshing and encouraging to see how many of you out there have found or reclaimed health and happiness  with low carb and/or Keto.  

“…I don't put myself into a 'keto', 'low carb' category kinda cause I am mostly a zero carb eater. I avoid carbohydrates like the plague they are… Carbs are poison to me.   …fiber intake has nothing to do with sugar intake ever, so.....whatever. It is fun to chat again to other keto people who get it!!

Yeah, the way I say it to tell people that I’m allergic to carbs…  I don’t see it so much as poison, it's just not the right fuel for me.   I can eat maybe 50 to 100 carbs a day, and still stay in mild state of ketosis, but if I exceed that I’ll actually get physically sick, like a hungover stomach flu type sick...   Last year, I discovered quite by accident that a small amount of carbs can be beneficial especially if physically active over consecutive days.  I got into a problem during an 8-day 500-mile bike ride.  I was eating my usual diet but not enough protein and carbs.  For the first three days I was feeling like a beast but bonked so hard right at the end of day 3 it actually hurt…  I just couldn’t replace fuel fast enough with the continuous high-wattage output, and that taught me a lot about endurance nutrition needs.  I ended up eating everything in sight that night, carbs and all, and the following day I was feeling better.  I continued eating all foods and a day later I finally felt like my usual self and back to beast mode for the rest of the week…  I don’t eat a lot of carbs as a general rule, but that experience taught me that I need to eat what my body needs based on physical activity.  My endurance fueling routine is to start with fat, later add protein, and finish up with some carbs if needed.  But once I take those carbs I'm on a 2-hour egg-timer before I run out of gas.   It’s not so much of an issue on single-day rides as on multi-day…  I can ride 30 miles on coffee, but then I need to eat.  I take a protein recovery drink in proportion to the intensity of workout.  In example, if I need protein to repair muscle, but I've found eating too much protein converts to glucose and can kick you out.  In general, I look at fiber as basically a freebie; we need that to help keep intestines healthy.   The cool thing about fiber is that it slows the digestion of any carbs we do take in, making the lower glycemic.  I only count the net carbs in my daily numbers, which are total carbohydrate grams minus the fiber grams.  Fiber is a carbohydrate, but we don’t digest it… So my goal is no more than 50-100gms net carbs per day, but when I get really strict I’m under 25gms carbs.  I also discovered the need to eat some complex carbs (potato, squash) on the night before a heavy training or endurance ride, if I need to recharge muscle glycogen.

 

[Doubleone]

“Your body does not need 1 carbohydrate to survive…. Your body doesn't need it …Your body only requires fat and protein for survival.”

This exactly what I have been told by two knowledgeable physicians.  We really don’t need any carbs, we can survive on protein and fat.  Protein will convert to glucose if needed, and Ketones are enough to fuel us.  However, we also need vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes.  We can get those through healthy vegetables and supplements.  On low carb or Keto diet we tend to blow off electrolytes in urine, so most people need to increase our salts… sodium, potassium, and magnesium.  Just be cautious with salt if you have blood pressure or kidney problems.  Magnesium tends to help relax muscles and lower blood pressure.  Potassium needs to be balanced with sodium, but be careful with any heart or other medical conditions.  Calcium is also somewhat of an electrolyte we need to keep in mind, along with vitamin D.  Most people are low on vitamin D.  I was deathly low on vitamin D and the nurse called me in a panic telling me to go right then to get a prescription strength vitamin D and take two immediately.   She told me the doctor was concerned I’d have a heart attack from not enough available calcium.  I always thought we got enough vitamin D in milk... but I was wrong.  Vitamin D regulates our calcium, and I later learned calcium is connected to literally everything in our metabolism… heart rate, muscle contractions, mood, cognition, nervous system, sleep cycle, energy, on and on.

“...medical community has convinced the general population that a high fat diet is bad for cardiovascular health. They make a big deal over cholesterol levels even though this hasn't been definitively proven to contribute to heart attacks or artery blockage.”

“When talking to the unconvinced it is almost like politics and religion. A lifetime of being told that meat is bad and grains are good is hard to turn around.”

I truly believe that physicians are well meaning but they can only teach what they know and learn in medical school.  The oddest thing is that physicians receive only a couple weeks of training in nutrition and most never receive any additional training after graduation.  Studies have shown the average physician is 15-17 years behind current research.  There is also intense political pressure within the medical community and from licensing bodies for doctors to conform to the norms of medical practice.  Doctors can actually be sanctioned for malpractice if they stray too far away from the ‘party line’.  Physicians who now recognize and recommend Keto diet are actually kinda putting themselves out on a limb… 

The food pyramid, American diet, and cholesterol recommendations evolved from Dr. Ancel Keys’ Seven Countries Study and earlier studies he published in the late-1940’s to about 1952.  Keys was the first to theorize a connection between cholesterol and coronary disease.  He also did research for the military.  Interesting tid bit… “K-Rations” were nicknamed after Keys.   Around 2016, researchers revisited his studies and found serious flaws, and developed other studies indicating that we may actually need full-fat, cholesterol, and protein.   Some of the latest info even suggests a link between low cholesterol and Alzheimers, that we aren’t getting enough and the right type of cholesterol.  Our brains and certain body tissues are essentially made from cholesterol, so artificially controlling cholesterol with diet or meds might be harmful because we don’t have the right building blocks for our brains to self-repair (but more research is needed).  

Yeah, it all starts sounding like politics and religion... but I'm kinda happy if people just listen and can have a polite conversation.  If they don't want to do it, or they already have a system that works for them, I'm happy to listen also.  Ultimately we all have to do what we think best for ourselves, and I respect that.