After his heart attack his doctor probably put him on a very large dose of cholesterol lowering medication. It would be shocked if the diet got his number down to130 alone. Jmho
Dave
Depending on the causation of high cholesterol, is what needs to be considered in treatment. If your diet sucks then yes, eliminate a lot of that which isn't healthy. But, that is the big issue what is a "bad" diet. the government has long misguided us about what they pass as the "universal" diet. We all differ in calorie needs and the components of our diets.
Does high cholesterol immediatley warrant treatment- no it doesn't. It all depends on the breakdown of components. Eskimo's have been studied and found that their cholestero numbers in excess of 300- are not detrimental to their health.
If I follow a strict no carb, high protein diet, my cholesterol significantly lowers. With medication- it is dramatically lower. So, there is a very realistic possibility that his total number was lowered by that diet alone.
The government did a paralell study and found that for weight loss, there wasn't a significant difference between low fat or low carb approach. The same study also showed that Low carb was better at reducing overall cholesterol levels.
If anything, a the correlation to "man made" vs natural fats and heart disease is the issue. Since man made fats have hit the market- heart disease has increased.