anabolic extreme archives issue #2 dnp and insulin 2

September 2000
Issue #14

Dietary Cholesterol: Friend or Foe?
By Jason Meuller

This article is a bit of a departure from the norm for me. Those of you that follow AE have undoubtedly become accustomed to me writing about some aspect of bodybuilding drug use or my feeble attempts to entertain through humor. While I believe that the use of nutritional supplements is a vital component of any bodybuilder’s anabolic arsenal, I've rarely devoted any time to discussing such issues. The reason why I'm doing so now is because I'm pissed. I have always observed and monitored nearly every detail concerning sports and fitness. Sure, there has always been hyperbole concerning nearly everything described in this industry. Some of you might think this only relates to dietary supplements. However, I am here to tell you that a great number of things that you normally wouldn’t think about are hyped to extremes. This relates to how much weight a certain person has gained, to how many calories you should consume, to how fast and strong people are. I love many aspects of the fitness community, but I hate the constant hype and lies that is associated with it. Normally, I am not enraged by the condition of the industry but I’m afraid to say that the situation keeps getting worse and worse. In the past, companies would make an ineffective product appear as if it was the answer to all of your problems. Now, some companies are taking this one step further and promoting scientifically proven dangerous compounds and hyping them to be the ultimate answer to a given problem. “Why”, you say, “Would someone be that stupid?” I’ve thought about this long and hard and I believe I have the answer. For supplement companies to thrive, they must constantly introduce new and innovative compounds and delivery systems. This is not easy. Instead of doing hard work and developing something that actually works and is safe, a particular company will find something that sounds interesting, add it to their ingredient list, and then claim it is the newest and greatest discovery. I hate to say it, but I will expose a product today that suffers from this type of unconscionable marketing.

The product that has me so upset is distributed and marketed by Biotest. As most of you know, this Internet based company is affiliated with a pseudo-magazine called Testosterone.net. A few months ago, Biotest introduced a product called Methoxy-7 that contained a remarkable anabolic isoflavone called 5-methyl-7-methoxy isoflavone. I have used this flavonoid, which is contained in a competitor’s product, and I can assure you that it is quite effective. In this case, the problem is not with the active ingredient per se but with an accessory ingredient. In order to gain a marketing advantage over their competitors, Biotest decided that they needed something that looked and sounded special. I am assuming they decided that this special thing would be a delivery system. This would give them two seeming advantages. First, they could discredit their competitors by saying that only a product with their special delivery system is effective. More importantly, they could hype the uniqueness of their product and the many “benefits” of the delivery system. Now this isn't why I'm upset, such practices are commonplace in the sports supplement industry. Here's the problem. In order to make Methoxy-7 sound special, Biotest used a liquid carrier and emulsified the active isoflavone in none other than CHOLESTEROL. Ever heard of this stuff? I'm sure that every one of you who's reading this article has been inundated with information on the dangers of a diet high in dietary cholesterol. So why would someone add it to a supplement that's promoted to better overall health and performance? Good question. What is even more egregious than just putting cholesterol in the formula is how much they put…3 times more per day than what has been proven to cause serious health problems. Like I said before, I try not getting upset at many of the things I see going on in this industry. But I must tell you this has me fuming. These guys take an obviously dangerous compound and tout it as the next greatest thing since sliced bread. Now I'm a fair guy. So, I am not going to just give my opinions about the dangers of Methoxy-7 and cholesterol but instead will review the scientific literature and provide clear, proven evidence and facts of the true situation. Now I normally don't do this, to be quite honest with you I hate referencing my articles. But like I said, I'm fair and I don't want people reading this article to think I'm slamming Biotest simply because I don't like some of the people behind the company. This is a serious issue and needs to be addressed as such.

Biotest and Testosterone.net claim that dietary cholesterol is a sought after, beneficial nutrient that will boost your hormone levels and improve your health. They paint a picture of bodybuilders that have serious deficiencies in this substance and would thus benefit substantially from Methoxy-7, which contains large amounts of cholesterol. Just so we're all on the same page, here's some of the claims made for this product taken directly from Testosterone.net. "Without giving away the entire secret of how the delivery system works, let me just say that one of the key ingredients is cholesterol. Don't freak out. We're not draining bacon grease into bottles; we're using pure, USP-grade cholesterol, which is pretty cool stuff. Cholesterol is the building block for all hormones, and it's present in all body tissues. In chemical terms, materials that use cholesterol as the base for their structures are called cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene derivatives, or "chicken wire" compounds. Cholesterol is vital for life, and an ample supply is necessary for optimal body function and hormone production. In fact, people who have very low levels of body fat (like bodybuilders) probably need significantly more dietary cholesterol than the average person. This might be part of the answer for why the high-fat Anabolic diet works so well. The bad rep associated with dietary cholesterol is really off base, too. The real culprits are saturated fats combined with oxidative and reactive byproducts that are generated by uncontrolled free radicals. So, as a general rule for good, healthy living, make sure that your diet includes known free-radical scavengers, like ALA and vitamins C and E, etc., and you'll be just fine." Wow! That's really amazing guys! And all this time I've believed all of the scientific evidence that clearly shows that excessive levels of dietary cholesterol are detrimental to cardiovascular health and overall longevity.

My position is that dietary cholesterol is detrimental and always has been detrimental. It can’t and won’t improve your health. In fact, you will be prone to some life-threatening disease states if you consume substantial amounts in your diet. I am also going to oppose them on their statement that bodybuilders have a "significant" need for dietary cholesterol and should consume dietary cholesterol products like their Methoxy-7. In some ways, I can’t believe that they would make such a bold statement. Even my first year health and nutrition classes in college taught us that your body produces all of the cholesterol that you need. According to the introductory text that we used, any additional dietary cholesterol that you consumed was detrimental. So there you have it…two sides of the same coin. Has dietary cholesterol suddenly become the good guy like Biotest and Testosterone.net have said? Has it really become your friend or is this simply an attempt by Biotest to befuddle their customers with pseudo-science and outright lies?

First, let us review the issue of inherent cholesterol deficiencies in "people who have very low levels of body fat." According to the Biotest “experts”, their Methoxy-7 cholesterol formula is a needed item by many people because their athletic endeavors cause them to be leaner than the norm. Now, to be totally honest, I could not find one, not one, reference that even hinted at deficiencies in athletes. Yes, there are some disease states that cause people to have abnormally low cholesterol levels but these are very rare. The problem with these diseases rests with malfunctions in cholesterol metabolism and cannot be fixed by simply increasing dietary cholesterol. I searched through a plethora of research papers for even a hint of cholesterol deficiencies in athletes but could not find it. I will not go into depth on this point because the scientific community generally regards it as a fact. Most websites or books on cardiovascular health and cholesterol will confirm this point. Basically, unless you have one of the rare and life-threatening cholesterol-metabolizing malfunction diseases, you have nothing to worry about in terms of deficiencies. I would go so far as to say this is common knowledge, I think you could ask the most nutritionally ignorant person about dietary cholesterol and they would know it was bad. However, for this article, I wanted to go the extra mile, like I said, I'm a fair guy.

What you should worry about though is how much cholesterol you consume in your diet. I do not want to come across as an alarmist here. Eating a few eggs and some meat each week is not necessarily going to cause you to have a heart attack if you are a relatively health person. If this were true, I would have dropped dead a long time ago. However, it has been clearly shown in the scientific literature that consuming even moderate amounts of dietary cholesterol (300mg or more) is directly linked to many disease states. This is very disconcerting when you realize that Biotest’s Methoxy-7 cholesterol formula contains over 500mg of cholesterol per serving! This is almost unbelievable to me. Study after study confirms that over 300mg per day is detrimental to your health and Biotest recommends over 1000mg (2 servings) per day of cholesterol. If you follow Biotest’s recommendation, you will expose yourself to more than a 60% greater chance of having coronary heart disease and reducing your lifespan by as much as 10 years! An even worse problem is that many people will take more than the two recommended servings…the health consequences could be devastating. Now, it's important that you understand that this isn't going to happen overnight. Someone who purchases Methoxy-7 and uses it for a month probably isn't doing any damage to his or her overall health. However, prolonged intake of excessive amounts of cholesterol has clearly been shown to be extremely harmful.

You do not have to look very hard to find that dietary cholesterol is ultimately detrimental to the human body. Studies abound, as do books and websites. The first negative consequence that I want to focus on is the most obvious and well-known…cardiovascular disease. In a study¹ published in Lancet, one of the most prestigious medical journals, 1824 middle aged men were studied for an amazing 25 years. It was conclusively shown that “intake of dietary cholesterol was associated with risk of death from ischaemic heart disease, from other cardiovascular diseases combined, from all cardiovascular diseases combined, and from all causes combined.” For those of you who want to argue with this study then please review another journal submission² produced by the Northwestern University Medical School. Please read carefully what they had to say, “In humans, ingestion of dietary cholesterol raises serum cholesterol, largely through its effect on low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Over the range of intake in usual American diets, this effect is substantial, e.g., with 300 mg of cholesterol intake per 1000 kcal, rather than 100, serum cholesterol is on average about 6% to 7% higher, equivalent to a 12% to 14% greater risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). In international studies based on the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization (Geneva) data, mean per capita dietary cholesterol levels are consistently related to CHD mortality rates. In addition, since 1981, four prospective within-population studies have shown that dietary cholesterol intake of individuals is significantly related to their long-term CHD risk, independent of and in addition to serum cholesterol, blood pressure, and cigarette use. On average, a 200-mg/1000 kcal higher intake of cholesterol at baseline was associated with a 30% higher CHD rate (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.5). Conversely, a lower intake of cholesterol was associated with significantly lower risks of CHD, and of all causes mortality as well. For example, with 19 years of follow-up in the Chicago Western Electric Study, a 200-mg/1000 kcal habitual lower cholesterol intake was associated with a 37% lower risk of death from any cause, equivalent to a life expectancy longer by 3.4 years. The importance of a low-dietary cholesterol intake for prevention of CHD merits increased emphasis.” Besides these studies, there are many more^3,4,5,6,7 that end with the same conclusion!

If you think that this is the only negative consequence of ingesting cholesterol then think again. Not only can Biotest’s Methoxy-7 cholesterol formula cause you serious cardiovascular problems but it can have other harmful effects as well. In animal studies, dietary cholesterol has been linked with abnormal liver function⁸ as well as being a co promoter of colonic carcinogenesis (colon cancer)⁹. If this isn't causing you concern then consider what another study had to say: “…the hypercholesteremic diet was associated with an impairment in the host immune response and increased susceptibility to viral, bacterial, and tumor cell challenge...”¹⁰ The final negative consequence that I would like to point out to you is the possible negative effect that dietary cholesterol can have on mineral balance. In another study¹¹ dietary cholesterol negatively impacted mineral balances throughout the body and caused some damaging effects on various organ systems. Read what the study concluded… ”Histopathological examination of liver sections of animals treated with cholesterol revealed the presence of mild degree of fatty change, while the kidney tissues showed glomerular lesion in the form of obliteration of Bowman's capsule with increased cellularity inside, beside degenerated tubules and interstitial fibrosis.” As you can clearly see, dietary cholesterol is not your friend. As doctors have recommended for decades now, do your best to reduce dietary cholesterol. The only thing you can expect from consuming it is negative consequences, including some life-threatening diseases.

I can only hope that everyone that has read this article has been enlightened by this valuable information. I hope that this article helps bring consumer awareness as to just how low supplement companies will go to sell supplements. I truly hope that you see the dangers of carelessly consuming too much dietary cholesterol. Biotest would like you to believe that their Methoxy-7 product "significantly reduces body fat, lowers cholesterol, and improves the body's ability to utilize oxygen. In other words, it's not only anabolic, it's healthy!" I can only give you my strongest warning to stay away from Biotest’s Methoxy-7 cholesterol formula and any product like it. The active ingredient in Methoxy-7, 5-methyl-7-methoxy-isoflavone can be a very effective bodybuilding supplement. However, by bathing this powerful anabolic compound in cholesterol, Biotest has effectively turned a worthwhile supplement into a killer.

REFERENCES:

Dietary Cholesterol and Ischaemic Heart Disease. Shekelle RB, Stamler J. Lancet 1989 May 7; 1(8648): 1177-1179
Dietary Cholesterol and Human Coronary Heart Disease. The Epidemiologic Evidence. Stamler J, Shekelle R. Arch Pathol Lab Med 1988 Oct;112(10):1032-40
A Dose-response Study of the Effects of Dietary Cholesterol on Fasting and Postprandial Lipid and Lipoprotein Metabolism in Healthy Young Men. Ginsberg HN, Karmally W, Siddiqui M, Holleran S, Tall AR, Rumsey SC, Deckelbaum RJ, Blaner WS, Ramakrishnan R. Arterioscler Thromb 1994 Apr;14(4):576-86
Effects of Dietary Cholesterol on Plasma Lipoproteins and Their Subclasses in IDDM Patients. Romano G, Tilly-Kiesi MK, Patti L, Taskinen MR, Pacioni D, Cassader M, Riccardi G, Rivellese AA. Diabetologia 1998 Feb;41(2):193-200
Dietary Cholesterol Increases the Susceptibility of Low Density Lipoprotein to Oxidative Modification. Schwab US, Ausman LM, Vogel S, Li Z, Lammi-Keefe CJ, Goldin BR, Ordovas JM, Schaefer EJ, Lichtenstein AH. Atherosclerosis 2000 Mar;149(1):83-90
Role of Dietary Cholesterol in the Optimal Diet for the Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia. Illingworth DR, Hatcher LF, Pappu AS, Newcomb KC, Connor WE. Can J Cardiol 1995 Oct;11 Suppl G:115G-117G
Effects of Increasing Amounts of Dietary Cholesterol on Postprandial Lipemia and Lipoproteins in Human Subjects. Dubois C, Armand M, Mekki N, Portugal H, Pauli AM, Bernard PM, Lafont H, Lairon D. J Lipid Res 1994 Nov;35(11):1993-2007
Effect of Cholesterol-enriched Diet on Liver and Heart Enzymes in Male Rabbits. Konecka AM, Jezierski T. Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol 1997 Nov;118(3):505-8
Dietary Cholesterol as a Co promoter of Colonic Carcinogenesis. Collins J F. et. Al. Gastroenterology 94 (5 Part 2). 1988. A74
Inhibition of Host Resistance by Nutritional Hypercholesteremia. Kos WL, Loria RM, Snodgrass MJ, Cohen D, Thorpe TG, Kaplan AM. Infect Immun 1979 Nov;26(2):658-67
The Correlation Between Serum Total Cholesterol and Some Trace Elements in Serum, Liver and Heart of Rats Fed High Cholesterol Diet. Abu-el-Zahab HS, Abdel Aal WE, Awadallah R, Mikhail TM, Zakaria K. Nahrung 1991;35(8):827-34

BACK TO CURRENT ISSUE

{HOME}~{CURRENT ISSUE}~{BACK ISSUE}~{STORE}~{DISCUSSION BOARD}
{PRESIDENT'S OFFICE}~{VIP ROOM}~{TRAINING}~{CONTEST}~{ABOUT US}
{CONTACT US}