Butter O/T

One thing is that they didn't smoke. They also had lots of excersise doing farm work in what we now call "the old fashioned way".

Oleo is a good half step. Better still are substitutes like "Take Control" containing in many cases zero cholesterol.

Many are the tasty things to tempt the palate and in moderation some of them can be indulged judiciously. But as to carelessly slogging down cholesterol laden products as well as a host of others while telling yourself that it is okay to do so will take years off your life. Like it or not, thems the facts.

And you're right--it isn't my opinion that makes it so. Rather it is the years of empirical evidence, studies and monitoring that does. I've seen not only study after study backed up with evidence, I've seen the results first hand.

I'm not sure just what there is to "win" for you in this discussion. If you want to slug down high cholesterol foods and tell yourself you're not doing any damage, go right ahead! I'm certainly not stopping you. As you clutch your chest someday and everything grows dark, at least you'll have the memory of: "At...least....I won....the....butter...fight. I....knew...I was...right.....uuuuu hhhhh hh!"

To continue the example, the same is true with plants. You can sow a field with wheat and yet not all individual plants are going to be the same height, produce the same number of individual grains per head and so on. The differences rapidly increase if you are comparing say wheat, to barley, oats, rye and so on.

You see Farmall, there are actually DIFFERENCES between individual members not the least of which is genetic make up as well as susceptibility and resistance to certain diseases, conditions, metabolism and other factors that affect health.

Sure, we can all think of individuals who have eaten poorly, or wisely, failed or abided by conventional rules of health and still demonstrated traits counter to the conventially understood trend and so on. Does that mean one should make no effort to work with the odds, find out what an individual’s properties and risks are? By no means.

Take group A comprised of 1000 individuals, particularly if those individuals are older, and are failing to get their heart rate up in a steady routine manner through proper exercise. Include in their diet 500 milligrams of cholesterol each day and you have a real problem in the making. Will they all the Group A individuals die before 1000 individuals in group B who are keeping their cholesterol level to say 200 milligrams a day? No they won’t. Will there be a substantially noticeable trend for group A to have more cardio vascular related problems than group B? You bet there will.

Will there be some individuals in group A who outlive some individuals in group B? Yes there will. But you will notice a definite trend. Of group B members to outlive group A members. Look deeper into it and you will find that there is a correlation between the survival rate and the level of cholesterol in their systems and the condition of their cardio vascular system.

Will there be some individuals in group A, who die of other causes besides cardio vascular related issues such as cancer, accident and other disease factors? Yes there will. Does that mean their high cholesterol was not a ticking time bomb that would catch up to them and take years off of their life provided nothing killed them first? Indeed it does not.

Will there be some members of group B who die earlier than members of group A for a variety of reasons, in some cases cardio vascular issues? Yes there will. Does that mean there is no value in trying to keep ones cholesterol under control? By no means.

I recall Jim Fixx the famous runner who died of a heart attack decades ago before there was wide spread focus on cholesterol consciousness. I believe if memory serves me correctly that his cholesterol count was above 400 and he was in his fifties. Does that mean there was no value to keeping in good physical shape? Not in this world. It was later found that his family traits contained a very high cholesterol count. He would have never made it to the age he did if he would have spent his time slumped in front of the TV indulging in himself in all sorts of high fatty foods, and then rousing himself only to move over in front of the computer monitor.

Much can be done to keep your cholesterol in control through excellent medications, exercise and proper diet. The choice is up to you. Just don’t kid yourself about diet not making a difference and that you are all right because you don’t “feel” like your artery walls “are fat.” No need to take my word for it. Ask your doctor and get your cholesterol checked, if for no other reason than for the sake of your spouse and children and avoid winding up in your grave before your time. When WAS the last time you had it checked? If you happen to be one of the fortunate few who runs a low cholesterol count without effort, than knock yourself out and have all the butter you want. Being able to cite some folksy story about some local character who your dad knew that ate like a horse is going to be precious little comfort when your family has to summon the ambulance on your behalf. That is provided they are around to summon it for you. It seems a very small price to pay to me. Perhaps you feel giving up butter is just too great a sacrifice on your part. I hope you live to give that a second thought. I’ll bet your wife does too.