The cholesterol controversy : the series

Abstract

In the previous instalment we learnt how Ronald Krauss, one of the most respected nutrition researchers, had worked out that LDL-cholesterol consisted of two sub-fractions, one with large soft particles and the other with small dense particles, and that the small dense particle sub-fraction was the one linked to atherosclerosis and not the other. He also noted that saturated fats increased the “good” sub-fraction and lowered the “bad” sub-fraction, and that carbohydrates did the opposite. This suggested that carbohydrates were implicated in atherosclerosis rather than saturated fat.