Then I read opinion pieces that say things like:

"UV rays convert cholesterol into vitamin D" and "you need blood cholesterol, it's shipped to damage sites and used in repair" and "higher blood cholesterol doesn't always mean increased risk of heart attacks" and "statins reduce cholesterol but don't reduce the risk of heart attack" and "sure, your blood cholesterol is lower. You know why? Because your body is using it and no longer able to replace it"

I wonder how much medicine/biology/biochemistry background I'd need to be able to make my own reasoned decisions. Roll on (friendly) AI.

Not to mention http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/majority-of-hospita...

I was pleasantly surprised. Triglycerides went down and HDL went up after about two months on the diet -- the ratio improved immensely. Total cholesterol was up a bit, but I had expected that. I'm going to get my cholesterol checked again in a year or so.