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Article: Cholesterol, diet & heart disease.(Shorts)
- Article from:
- Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
- Article date:
- May 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Townsend Letter Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In their article "The Role of Cholesterol and Diet in Heart Disease," public health scientists Alice Ottoboni, PhD, and Fred Ottoboni, MPH, PhD, explain the fallacies that underlie the hypothesis that cholesterol and high-fat diets cause heart disease. Although cholesterol (particularly LDL-cholesterol) has been maligned, it performs several necessary functions in the body. Cholesterol, a sterol (steroid alcohol) found only in animal tissue, provides membrane flexibility for every cell in the body. Without cholesterol, our bodies could not make steroid or sex hormones, vitamin D, bile acids, or other necessary biochemicals. Cholesterol combined with the proteins that ...