The actual amount of carbohydrates required by humans for health? ZERO.

You may find this hard to believe - but it is documented fact that the Yupik, Inuit and Aleut (formerly known as Eskimos) consume very low levels (close to zero) of carbohydrates during winter.
For 6-9 months every year they subsist entirely on caribou, reindeer and whale meat. That's a lot of animal-based protein and an enormous amount of fat.
Surprisingly, they don't succumb to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high BP, or any of the other ills of the modern age we're so familiar with.
Instead, they happily live to a ripe old age. In fact they have an extremely low mortality rate from heart disease.
And they have the same exact biochemistry and physiology we do!

The Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson was among the first to document in his book "The Friendly Arctic" that the Inuit would often go 6-9 months every year living on nothing but meat and fish.

Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson

Stefansson himself spent 11 years exploring the Arctic. He lived almost exclusively on meat for 9 years, consuming very low levels of carbohydrates as the Inuit do, while remaining perfectly healthy.
Interestingly, in 1927 William A. Thomas reported that he found no incidence of scurvy (a disease resulting from vitamin C deficiency) or rickets (softening of bones in children because of deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, phosphorus, or calcium) among the Inuit who "lived off the land". However, he reported a high incidence of these diseases among those Inuit who subsisted on canned food, flour, dried potatoes and cereals.

A similar finding has been described in a blog post by Dr. Michael R. Eades, MD, author of Protein Power and The Protein Power Lifeplan.
Claire Cassidy, Ph.D., the author of the study* described in Dr. Eades' post compared hunter-gatherers with agriculturists who likely shared the same genetic heritage, but lived in different times. She found that the former had better bones, no signs of iron-deficiency anemia or infection, few (if any) dental cavities, fewer signs of arthritis and were generally larger and more robust than their agricultural contemporaries.
Clearly, human health took a nosedive when we switched from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture; and grains and other forms of carbohydrates became a large part of our diet.

In 1929-30, Stefansson and Danish explorer Karsten Anderson undertook a study under the auspices of the Journal of the American Medical Association to show they could eat a 100% meat diet - with no carbohydrates - in a closely-observed laboratory setting for an entire year.
Their diet included muscle, liver, kidney, brain, bone marrow, bacon and fat from beef, veal, pork, lamb, and chicken. Carbohydrates were limited solely to glycogen from these meat sources.
This came out to 100-140 grams of protein, 2-300 grams of fat and 7-12 grams of carbohydrates, making up a total of 2-3000 calories per day, mostly derived from fat.
A typical day's diet might look like this:
Breakfast - lean beef, 190 grams; fat, 100 grams.
Dinner -  liver, 200 grams; fat, 75 grams.
Supper - lean beef, 200 grams; marrow, 70 grams.
(Not a very varied or appetizing menu, I must admit).

At the end of an entire year on this diet without carbohydrates, vitamin supplementation or any other additives, both men were perfectly healthy and reported to be "in good physical condition, mentally alert and physically active".
They'd lost a little weight, but they had normal cholesterol and blood chemistry values; and their physiological functions were normal.

It is relevant to point out here that the meat and fish consumed by the Inuit and by these explorers came from wild game that lived freely and ate their own natural foods. They were not farmed or force-fed things they normally wouldn't - and shouldn't - eat.
Also, the Inuit and the explorers also led a physically demanding life, not least because living in those conditions requires a lot of energy expenditure.
I would definitely NOT recommend eating the meat of today's farmed animals that are force-fed a diet of hormones, antibiotics and ground-up animal parts for even a single day, much less every day for a year to the tune of 2-3,000 calories/day!

I only wish to use this very real example of an entire ethnic group of people - although old traditions are dying fast, even among them - and the experiment with Stefansson and Anderson to convey the concept of the relative unimportance of carbohydrates in our diet.

*Cassidy CM. Nutrition and health in agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers: a case study of two prehistoric populations. in Nutritional Anthropology. Eds Jerome NW et al. 1980 Redgrave Publishing Company, Pleasantville, NY pg 117-145.

You can read about these revolutionary nutritional ideas and the very real health benefits of a diet that is rich in protein, contains moderate amounts of healthy fat and low carbohydrates in these groundbreaking, must-read books by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades:

   

On Cholesterol, Part I

Cholesterol is a bad word, a "bogey that terrifies people beyond reason." (More on the quote later).
Doctors, scientists, the government and independent regulatory agencies, drug companies and most of all the media - it seems like everyone is taking turns to blame this biological entity for everything bad that happens to us, health-wise.
Obesity. Diabetes. Metabolic syndrome. Heart attacks.
If you believe most of what you see and hear, our cholesterol levels are at the root of these and every other major health problem.

Structure of the cholesterol molecule

Consider the US government.
It has spent many millions of dollars on informing Americans about cholesterol through its National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP).
In its pamphlet entitled "High blood cholesterol: what you need to know", the first question you encounter is "Why is cholesterol important?"
A fair question.
The answer, however, is truly staggering. "Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting heart disease."
Staggering because there's plenty of evidence out there that this is simply not true. And not on the fringes or in blog posts expressing anti-establishmentarianism, neither.
The evidence is right there in black and white in peer-reviewed articles based on controlled studies and published in standard scientific and medical journals.

So why do most people believe the worst about cholesterol, to the extent they are even willing to take drugs that force down their body's production of this innocuous little molecule?
Good question.
Whatever the reason, health authorities everywhere are united in assigning cholesterol the bad-guy role. Its as if there is nothing good or normal about it - and the best thing we can do is lower our blood cholesterol levels as quickly as we can and make sure they stay low.
But guess what?
The truth is very different, and much more complex. And that is what this blog post is about.

First of all, cholesterol is not a fat at all but a waxy, solid alcohol. Up to 7% of our body's cholesterol is found in our blood; the remaining 93% is stored in our cells.
In fact, it is first and foremost an essential structural molecule that makes up one-fifth of the outer protective cover - called the "plasma membrane" - of each and every one of the 50 or so trillion (a trillion is 1 followed by 14 zeros!) cells in our body.
Plasma membranes separate cells from the rest of the body and from each other, and keep the identity and integrity of each cell intact.
Essential means that we cannot survive without cholesterol.

Unlike carbohydrates. Did you know that the actual amount of carbohydrates we need for health is ZERO? I kid you not.


Cholesterol keeps cell membranes stable and strengthens them against mechanical rupture, while also keeping them fluid and accessible. This allows them to function properly, allowing nutrients and waste matter to move in and out as needed.

Cholesterol has many other critically important functions:
It serves as a building block for hormones, including testosterone and estrogen.
It is chemically modified to make vitamin D, necessary for normal development and function of our bones, immune system and nervous system.
It is the main component of bile acids, without which we cannot absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K from our diet - all essential for life.
It plays a major role in the transport of triglycerides, the real fats in our blood.
It contributes to the normal development of our brain and nervous system.
It is hugely important for the creation and repair of all our body's cells - without cholesterol, our body cannot repair cells or make new ones.
For instance, did you know that the entire lining of our intestine is replaced every 4 to 5 days? We grow new hair, skin, nails, bone, muscle and blood cells constantly. 
Cholesterol is essential for these processes of our bodily renewal.
All in all, it's no lie to say - no cholesterol, no life.
So in reality, cholesterol the biological molecule is very different from the bogey governments and drug companies would have you believe.

Did you know - up to 3/4ths of the cholesterol we need is made in our liver, intestines and skin?
Dietary sources account for a mere 20-25%.
Now follows a statement which has profound implications for many things, not least your understanding of dietary cholesterol's role in disease.
The statement is this:  
A regulatory feedback loop in your body monitors and controls your blood cholesterol levels, so that when your dietary intake of cholesterol decreases, your body adjusts and makes more; and when you consume more cholesterol, your body makes less.

Why is this so important?
While it is relatively easy to understand, the implications of this statement are profound.
It means that if your body is functioning normally, reducing dietary intake of fats and cholesterol can be counteracted by your organs which compensate to keep your blood cholesterol levels constant.
In other words, a diet low in cholesterol and fats will not affect blood cholesterol levels significantly. 

But what about the well-known association between hypercholesterolemia, the medical term for high blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides - and heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure?
Hypercholesterolemia is usually caused by genetic abnormalities passed down through families - although it may also be a result of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and alcoholism.
Elevated blood cholesterol levels in people afflicted by this disease are caused by a failure of their body's ability to regulate their blood cholesterol levels for various reasons.

If nothing else, I'd want you to take these 2 messages away from this post: 
1. Cholesterol is an essential biological molecule, absolutely necessary for life. 
2. Trying to lower blood cholesterol levels by restricting dietary consumption of cholesterol or fat simply does not work in the average person.