One of my patients went on a high protein low carbohydrate diet. i.e. lots of meat. He did this for weight loss.  I was concerned that this would worsen his cholesterol I was not in favor of this diet but he tried it anyway and I monitor the results. Four months later he had lost 20 lb. and his cholesterol when from 240 to 220. I asked him what he had been eating. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, Steak chicken vegetables. No bread, potatoes, grains, fruits or sugar.  I am still against this diet for other reasons see the Osteoporosis page.

I began investigating what was happening here. I had been taught that red meat raised your cholesterol and you could eat all the carbohydrates you wanted.

Another patient had his cholesterol and triglycerides in good control with medication and diet. One summer he came in for his usual check with a blood test prior. His triglycerides were 400 whereas they had been around 160 and cholesterol was also up 20 points. We were surprised and I ask what happen? No extra meat or fats. He raised corn on the cob and was eating lots of corn and he was being good about avoiding the butter.

The following is the result of my investigation into these cases.

The Food Pyramid introduced within the last 10 year has been teaching the American people to base their diet on starches but what has been the result? American have become more obese.

In reviewing the Biochemistry of insulin;
Insulin maintains a normal Blood Sugar.
Your brain, muscle and many other cells run on Glucose.
Insulin causes glucose to be stored as fat in fat cell.
Insulin prevent the breakdown of fat. (i.e. conversion of fat to glucose).
Insulin signals the liver to make cholesterol.

Diabetics have a significantly higher total cholesterol and triglycerides than the average population.

The consumption of refined sugar has been increasing from very little a 100 years ago to about a 150 lbs. of refined sugar per person in U.S. per year.

Insoluble fiber slows the rate of .absorption of carbohydrates. A good thing.

The higher and faster the rise in blood sugar the more insulin is secreted.

Carbohydrates, starches/ white bread/potatoes, can contrary to some commonly held beliefs, be digested and absorbed nearly as fast as the more simple carbohydrates, such as table sugar.

More on insulin;
It causes glucose amino acids, and free fatty acids move into cells where potential energy is stored as fat and glycogen to be used later.
Glucose is the major stimulus for insulin secretion
It activated an enzyme, lipoprotein lipase, that promotes the removal of triglyceride from the bloodstream and their deposition in fat cells. Another word it Promotes fat Storage.

Insulin also inhibits the breaks down of storage fats.

The  Indians in the southwestern United States and the island people in the Pacific have the some of the highest incidence of diabetes in the world. Hybridized corn, white rice and table sugar are believed to be the cause, along with a heredity predisposition. Prior to the introduction of these refined carbohydrates to their diet diabetes was rare. 

The incidence of diabetes in the U.S. has nearly tripled since 1960. The average amount of fat in the diet has not risen.  We can not blame the rise in obesity on fat consumption.

Refined sugar and processed grain products, stripped of the coatings or husks, are almost immediately absorbed in a very concentrated fashion, resulting in rapid secretion of large quantities of insulin.

Most fruits contain the basic sugar fructose and stimulate approximately one third of the insulin secretion stimulated by glucose.

"The free use of sugar in any form tends to clog the system and is not infrequently a cause of disease. " Counsels on Health-pg.- 154

. "I frequently sit down to the tables of the brethren and sisters and see that they use a great amount of milk and sugar. These clog the system, irritate the digestive organs, and affect the brain. Anything that hinders the active motion of the living machinery, affects the brain very directly. And from the light given me, sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat." Healthful Living -pg.- 167

"In regard to our diet, we have not placed butter on our table for ourselves for years, until we came to the Rocky Mountains. We felt that a little butter, in the absence of vegetables and fruit was less detrimental to health than the use of much salt or sugar, sweet cake and knickknacks. We do not use it now, and have not for many weeks."--Letter 1, 1873, p.- Manuscript Releases Volume Seven--pg.- 350

There should be in our sanitarium a cook who thoroughly understands the work, one who has good judgment, who can experiment, who will not introduce into the food those things which should be avoided. It is well to leave sugar out of the crackers that are made. Some enjoy best the sweetest crackers, but these are an injury to the digestive organs. Butter should not be placed on the table, for if it is some will use it too freely, and it will obstruct digestion. But for yourself, you should occasionally use a little butter on cold bread, if this will make the food more appetizing. This would do you far less harm than to confine yourself to preparations of food that are not palatable. Manuscript Releases Volume Twelve--pg.- 173

From "JAMA 1994 May 11;271(18):1421-8" a study was done copairing the effects of variation in carbohydrate content of diet on glycemia and plasma lipoproteins in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. "RESULTS--The site of study as well as the diet order did not affect the results. Compared with the high-monounsaturated-fat diet, the high-carbohydrate diet increased fasting plasma triglyceride levels and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels by 24% and 23%, respectively, and increased daylong plasma triglyceride, glucose, and insulin values by 10%, 12%, and 9% , respectively. Plasma total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels remained unchanged. The effects of both diets on plasma glucose, insulin, and triglyceride levels persisted for 14 weeks. CONCLUSIONS--In NIDDM patients, high-carbohydrate diets compared with high-monounsaturated-fat diets caused persistent deterioration of glycemic control and accentuation of hyperinsulinemia, as well as increased plasma triglyceride and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, which may not be desirable."

In fruits Fructose is the main sugar.

From the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1993 Nov;58(5 Suppl):796S-799S I quote "Fructose supplementation in diabetes mellitus was advocated before insulin was discovered. Fructose elicits a lower glucose and insulin response in healthy individuals and in individuals with diabetes." This is because fructose must be converted to Glucose to be utilized and this slows the rise in blood glucose levels in much the same way that fiber slows the absorption of sugars and prevent the insulin stimulating Sugar spikes.

Summary

Refined carbohydrates ( sugar, white bread, white rice, process grains, cream of wheat, etc.) clog the system by causing excess insulin therefore excess fat deposition, excess cholesterol production.

Hybrid Corn is like a refined Carbohydrate. Potatoes also have a high Glycemic index.

For obesity carbohydrate are to be reduced and fiber should be increased. Fructose in fruit is the preferred sugar.

Atherosclerosis is aggravated by insulin excess and excess saturated fat.

The Food pyramid is in error,  in that it encourages refined carbohydrates.

The fiber in our food delay carbohydrate absorption limiting the insulin excess state.

. "We advise you to change your habits of living; but while you do this we caution you to move understandingly. I am acquainted with families who have changed from a meat diet to one that is impoverished. Their food is so poorly prepared that the stomach loathes it, and such have told me that the health reform did not agree with them; that they were decreasing in physical strength. Here is one reason why some have not been successful in their efforts to simplify their food. They have a poverty-stricken diet. Food is prepared without painstaking, and there is a continual sameness. There should not be many kinds at any one meal, but all meals should not be composed of the same kinds of food without variation. Food should be prepared with simplicity, yet with a nicety which will invite the appetite. You should keep grease out of your food. It defiles any preparation of food you may make. Eat largely of fruits and vegetables." Counsels on Diet and Foods pg. 200