I'm of the opinion that LCHF is good for cardiovascular health, though I'm not about to encourage you to enter that fight with existing CAD, especially since you'd be fighting the doctors, too, just because that's a liability minefield (and I'm not a doctor).

However, here's some information that might beneficial to you:

http://chriskresser.com/can-vitamin-k2-prevent-cardiovascular-disease/ <- Vitamin K2 (a fat soluble vitamin) is known to reverse plaque development. A fair bit of research has been done on this, and only pre-formed K2 (found almost exclusively in animal products) does this. K1 (the version found in plants) does not, and the body does not convert it to K2 well.

Saturated fat intake increases HDL and changes the particle size of LDL (from the more dangerous small dense to the larger buoyant ones). Triglyceride levels are pretty directly correlated with sugar intake (more sugar = higher trigs). The evidence points to reduction in sugar being one of the best dietary changes you can do for CAD/CHD.

Regardless of diet (even ones almost entirely devoid of dietary fat), the body stores excess calories as a blend of the different types of fats (http://www.jlr.org/content/5/3/343.full.pdf) that comes out to about 40% saturated (primarily palmetic acid), 50% monounsaturated (primarily oleic acid), and 10% polyunsaturated (primarily linoleic acid). In other words, even if you consume a fat-free diet, if you're losing weight, your body is using saturated fat for nearly half of its internally-sourced fuel.

http://www.docsopinion.com/2014/03/17/will-the-popularity-of-lchf-trigger-new-epidemic-of-heart-disease/

http://www.docsopinion.com/2013/08/04/accused-of-a-crime-that-never-happened-lchf-on-trial/

http://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-how-to-prevent-and-reverse-heart-disease-naturally/

http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/05/your-diet-and-heart-disease-rethinking-butter-beef-and-bacon/ <- still doesn't really support LCHF, but make note of the parts that do fall in line. You know you're making inroads when places like Cleveland Clinic start agreeing

http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/how-did-we-come-to-believe-saturated-fat-and-cholesterol-are-bad-for-us

http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-i <- a huge series on the science of cholesterol. Nerdy as all get out, but hugely informational. Worth at least a skim

http://eatingacademy.com/books-and-articles/is-a-mediterranean-diet-best-for-preventing-heart-disease

http://eatingacademy.com/how-low-carb-diet-reduced-my-risk-of-heart-disease

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/58/2/228.abstract <- on PUFAs and CAD

I'm of the opinion/belief that CAD, high cholesterol, etc. are symptoms of a more systemic issue. Namely, untreated insulin resistance and/or systemic inflammation. There's a reason people with uncontrolled Diabetes are at orders of magnitude higher risk for cardiovascular issues than healthy people. A1C and fasting glucose numbers won't catch insulin resistance until it's way late, so even if those are normal, it doesn't actually rule out insulin resistance (to compare, I have PCOS+IR, as well, and my fasting insulin at last check was 13 units, glucose was 88mg/dL, and A1C was 5.6, but my C-Peptide was 2.8ng/mL, which is high and indicative of IR). Cholesterol is formed to carry "supplies" to various parts of the body and to heal damage (hence the common firefighter analogy). If your cholesterol is elevated, then it's because something else is wrong. If it's causing congestion within the vessels, it's because the particles aren't getting created in the right ratios (which means the substrates from which they're formed aren't right).

wabmester wrote: »

Looks like they just kicked off a clinical trial to see how Vit K affects plaque calcification:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26516910

Nice! I can't wait to see how this one pans out, since the other studies show a strong correlation with it.

The worry is that I can't seem to get a straight answer.
Is coumadin preventing the k2 in my food from doing it's job? Can I safely supplement k2? My docs say no.
I have also heard that long term Coumadin therapy contributes to plaque build up. Is this because it blocks k2 as well as k1?
Unfortunately, going without blood thinners is probably akin to playing Russian Roulette.

This is a sore spot for me too. My boyfriend had a heart attack in 2002. 2 stents. Then quadruple bypass in 2008. Thin (almost underweight at times) and athletic his entire life. Cholesterol (high total and low HDL) the only risk factor, along with the stubborn man unwillingness to take medicine for 20 years (learned his lesson after the bypass *eyeroll*). No way in the world that his GP or cardiologist will go along with LCHF. I just try to do what I can for him, not lowfat but not excessive fat, reduced but not super low-carb. Good thing he'll eat whatever I put in front of him, he doesn't miss the rice/bread/potatoes and likes things like zoodles. I just can't get the sweets to stop. He thinks it's ok because he's thin.

I might bring dark chocolate into the house and see if he'll eat that instead. I can't stop what he does when he leaves the house.

MEN!! LOL