The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher

Wednesday 23 March 2011

High concentrations of HDL cholesterol are associated with a decreased risk of colon cancer

This post includes a synopsis of a study published in the Gut journal on 2011 Mar 7 and a recipe for grass-fed beef stock.

Study title and authors:
Blood lipid and lipoprotein concentrations and colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutition                                                                 
van Duijnhoven FJ, Bueno-De-Mesquita HB, Calligaro M, Jenab M, Pischon T, Jansen EH, Frohlich J, Ayyobi A, Overvad K, Toft-Petersen AP, Tjønneland A, Hansen L, Boutron-Ruault MC, Clavel-Chapelon F, Cottet V, Palli D, Tagliabue G, Panico S, Tumino R, Vineis P, Kaaks R, Teucher B, Boeing H, Drogan D, Trichopoulou A, Lagiou P, Dilis V, Peeters PH, Siersema PD, Rodríguez L, González CA, Molina-Montes E, Dorronsoro M, Tormo MJ, Barricarte A, Palmqvist R, Hallmans G, Khaw KT, Tsilidis KK, Crowe FL, Chajes V, Fedirko V, Rinaldi S, Norat T, Riboli E.
Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21383385
                                                                                                                                            Books:
Ignore the Awkward.: How the Cholesterol Myths Are Kept AliveThis study of more than 520,000 investigated the association of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I (apoA) with the incidence of colorectal cancer.

The study found:
(a)  For every 16.6 mg/dl (.43 mmol/l) increase in HDL cholesterol there was a 22% decreased risk of colon cancer.
(b) For every 16.6 mg/dl (.43 mmol/l) increase in apolipoprotein A-1 there was an 18% decreased risk of colon cancer.

An analysis of 27 trials found the best way to raise HDL cholesterol is to eat saturated fat. See here.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Websites : Videos : Food Mall


Recipe of the day

Grass-Fed Beef Stock                                                                                   Food Mall: Beef
Ingredients:
4 pounds of beef marrow, knuckle bones, bits of leftover beef
3 pounds meaty rib or neck bones
4 or more quarts cold water
1/4 cup vinegar
3 onions, coarsely chopped (or your bag of collected frozen onion parts)
3 carrots coarsely chopped (I omit this sometimes)
3 celery sticks, coarsely chopped (I omit this if I don’t have celery)

Preparation:
Place all of your bones that have meaty bits on them on a large cookie sheet or roasting pan and brown in the oven at 350 degrees until well-browned (30-60 minutes usually). Meanwhile, throw all of your non-meaty marrow bones into a pot, add the water, vinegar and vegetables. Let sit while the other bones are browning. Add the browned bones to the pot, deglaze your roasting pan with hot water and get up all of the brown bits, pour this liquid into the pot. Add additional water if needed to cover the bones. Bring to a boil and remove the scum/foam that rises to the top. No need to remove the floating fat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least 12 hours and as long as 72 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the more rich and flavorful it will be.

Remove the bones with a slotted spoon and/or tongs. Strain the stock into a large bowl, then ladle into mason jars. Let the jars sit until they are pretty cool, then freeze or refrigerate. You can remove the congealed fat after refrigerating or even freezing.