ONL045 Chris Masterjohn Interview: Cholesterol Facts and Myths

This Week’s Interview with Chris Masterjohn

There is a lot of information and misinformation floating around about cholesterol, lipids, and the role of diet and cholesterol in heart health. How do you sort it all out? It’s vital to do your research and have a basic understanding of your body and the motives of medical authorities so you can weigh the information against that understanding. When I want accurate information NOT from the medical establishment, I defer to experts such Chris Masterjohn, The Weston A. Price Foundation, Al Sears, and others.

In Podcast show #45, Chris spoke to us extensively on the subject of cholesterol, a topic he explores with great knowledge on his website . As the name of his website indicates, cholesterol is essential to health. In the first part of the interview Chris explains its essential role in brain health and the delivery of fat soluble vitamins.

Listen to the interview with Chris on the player below when you are ready or find us on iTunes.

Chris also explained the lipid hypothesis and the history of medical adoption of cholesterol lowering drugs and dietary guidelines.

Chris’ encyclopedic mind is amazing, and the interview is well worth a listen. He summarized recommendations for heart health as a series of action steps to take: 1) Avoid excessive consumption of Omega 6 fats, 2) Eat a diet rich in antioxidants from fresh fruits and vegetables and supplementation with vitamin E and CoQ10, 3) Encourage efficient metabolism by monitoring your thyroid hormone, consuming sufficient iodine and selenium, and avoiding flouride, bromide, and chlorine.

Be sure to check out all the tabs on Chris’ website, sign up for his newsletter , and consider purchasing some of his very reasonably priced and well-researched special reports . You will be glad you did.

For additional reading about cholesterol, check out this article at the Weston A. Price Foundation , another Chris Masterjohn interview from Underground Wellness with comments from Ann Marie Michaels, this article by Chris , this blog on the Lyon Diet-Heart Study , nutritional advice from Al Sears , and these tips on video from Joseph Mercola . These should keep you busy for a while and give you some excellent research-based information not funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

The classic thesis on the rise of vegetable oil consumption in the United States and the adoption of the lipid theory by the American Medical Association can be found in the extensive and informative Oiling of America article by Mary Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon Morrell. I highly recommend taking the time to get familiar with these. They will open your eyes!

Great Source for Fish Oils

We really enjoyed Chris’ talk on cod liver oil last week and are pleased to let you know that you can purchase high vitamin cod liver oil high vitamin butter oil, and the skate oil he talked about from the Grain and Salt Society . You can enter their store through our website by clicking on their banner here.

Remember that when you order anything from our “Go Shopping” links, we can earn a small commission that helps us maintain our website and podcast.

We get Mail

I just listened to that Podcast today! I really enjoyed it! My only experience with cod liver oil was at a friend’s house when I was a little kid. We would stop at her house before school so we could all walk together, and she’d have us all line up for a dose. I never knew that it was actually good for me. I loved Chris’s explanation about Vitamin’s A and D working together and how the D is stored in the adipose tissue. I am looking forward to the next interview! – Shaileen Hathaway in Connecticutt

Cathy’s response – Thanks, Shaileen, for keeping in touch via facebook, twitter, and email and for the yummy liver pate recipe!

I have been into Real Food since 2001 when I lived in Switzerland. I discovered WAP after that and became a chapter leader in Oklahoma City for several years. I am completing my ND and look forward to helping more folks in the future. We are having HOT (weather) so far…little bit of Spring, had a major blizzard on the 31 of March, now HOT…we do need rain desperately, but with storms comes the real possibility of tornadoes! LOL! Blessings to you and your endeavors for the future…I will be watching and listening!! – Catherine Rott in Oklahoma

Shoutout to our new fans Linda Lefever , Morgan Polotan and Catherine Rott . Thanks for listening and becoming fans on facebook.

Our Anniversary

This week marks the first anniversary of our first Podcast recording at our kitchen table June 8, 2008. We struggled through that first one with a couple of takes and retakes, and did not actually publish it until a month later in July. I think we’ve started to figure out both the technical challenges and what seems to be working for formats.We need some suggestions for what you would like to hear from us in the future. What direction would you like us to take? We have donated a year of our time to the project and will need to find a way to fund the show so we can continue.

Social Media Updates

There are lots of ways you can give us feedback via social media. You can leave comments on our blog or on facebook at the Our Natural Life Podcast page , send tweets to us on twitter at ONL2 , or leave a review of our show on iTunes . We really like to hear from you and will respond! By the way, if you do not hang out on twitter, you can read my tweets on our website. I find lots of great information to pass on you won’t see on the blog or hear on our show. We currently have 24 fans on facebook and over 800 followers on twitter – growing every day!

Mealworms

We have babies in our mealworm farm! Last March, I decided to raise my own mealworms rather than pay $40.00 for 5,000 from the bird store to feed our backyard birds. Mealworms are the favorite of many species, including the Eastern Bluebird. The photo above shows a male bluebird on our deck feeding mealworms to a fledgling.

We did a show in April about raising red wigglers and mealworms that we called All Things Worms At that time I started my mealworm farm with a handful of my remaining store-bought mealworms. They had been in hibernation in my refrigerator for several weeks. In the interim they have morphed from worms to larvae to darkling beetles, laid eggs, and hatched thousands of babies! I first discovered them Saturday morning and was so excited. They’re kind of cute, as far as worms go.

Weston A. Price Foundation Membership Drive

If you have not yet joined the Weston A. Price Foundation, please consider joining today! For every 15 new members who list us as an introduction, we will earn one paid registration for the October conference in Illinois. Our goal is to earn one each for Jon and me, and one to give away to a lucky new member. Be sure to send us your name if you join so we can register you for this opportunity

Great Green Blog Challenge

Nominate your favorite green blog for the Great Green Blog Challenge . We hope your favorite will be Our Natural Life! While you are on the website, be sure to check out the trailer for FUEL:The Movie.

Nature’s Harmony in the New York Times!

If you’ve been listening to our Podcast for a while, you’ve heard us talk about our meat CSA from Nature’s Harmony Farm. We interviewed farmers Tim and Liz Young back in October . After only two years in the business, they have become the new spokesman of sustainable farmers. They’ve been on local radio and TV, on the cover of Acres Magazine, and now made it to the New York Times . The Youngs are loyal listeners. We really enjoy their quality, heritage pastured meats and poultry and are fortunate to enjoy it several times a week.

Next week’s show is still to be determined. We may post a short blog or have a surprise interview. I have surgery on June 9th and will be out of commission for a few days. For June 21, we are very excited to be sharing an interview with Ann Marie Michaels, known more widely as Cheeseslave. She will talk about the No GMO Challenge and how to use social media to promote accurate information on food issues. I can’t wait!

Cathy R. Payne, EdD

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