Q: I’m concerned about my risk for heart disease, but don’t know what blood tests I should keep my eye on. Can you explain how a woman’s blood fat levels might differ from a man’s?
– Erin in Dallas

A: If your cholesterol is above 200, most doctors say you should worry about heart disease. That is, unless you are a woman. The Lipid Research Clinics studied women between the ages of 50 and 69 years and found that high HDL-cholesterol (that’s the good stuff) was most protective against fatal heart attacks. In fact, women with HDL values less than 50mg/dl were more than three times more likely to die from heart disease than were women with higher HDL levels. On the other hand, total cholesterol values didn’t affect fatal heart disease when HDL was high. In essence, a high HDL “wipes out” any increased risk from high total cholesterol or LDL- cholesterol. A conflicting study investigated the risk for heart disease (not fatal heart attacks) in women and concluded that women who smoke and/or have high apo B levels (that’s the protein associated with LDL – high apo B means high LDL) are at highest risk for developing heart disease. Until further research irons out the discrepancies between these two studies, it is best for women to keep an eye on all their blood cholesterol levels. According to the National Cholesterol Education Program, people at lowest risk for heart disease have a total cholesterol below 200mg/dl, an LDL-cholesterol below 130mg/dl, and a ratio of total cholesterol to HDL- cholesterol under 4.5. Women at low risk should repeat the blood test every five years, while women with values greater than these should be checked annually or even more frequently. -Elizabeth Somer

Q: I’ve heard that eating meat isn’t good for us. But you recommend in The Origin Diet to eat it. Does meat cause cancer and heart disease?
– Ted from Santa Fe, New Mexico

A: It’s not so much meat, but the type of meat that we are eating that is the problem. Several studies show that consumption of red meat, with its high amount of saturated fat and cholesterol, is positively correlated with heart disease in both men and women. People who daily eat meat have a 50% higher risk of developing heart disease compared to vegetarians. In fact, disease risk increases as both the length of time and frequency of meat consumption increases. Consequently, people who adopt a vegetarian diet early in life have a lower risk of disease than do people who wait until after age 50 to switch from meat to beans. On the other hand, wild game or meats that nutritionally resemble wild game, such as fish, shellfish, and poultry breast, have little saturated fat and, in the case of fish, also contain healthful fats called omega-3 fatty acids. Our bodies evolved over hundreds of thousands of years consuming these types of meats, so it’s no wonder we thrive on omega-3s, and the iron, zinc, B vitamins, and protein in meat, which are very well absorbed. The bottom line: Limit meat consumption and choose only healthful meats (chicken and turkey breast meat, seafood, and wild game) or cooked dried beans and peas. – Elizabeth Somer