Karatay Diet: Fact or fantasy?

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Various media reports have quoted doctors supporting Karatay.

Professor Karatay raised eyebrows among her colleagues when she claimed the chief cause of high cholesterol levels was insulin-resistance as opposed to the medical consensus on fat consumption.

Turkish Cardiology Association vowed to take it to the court when Karatay took it far enough to claim the patients should give up their cholesterol regulatory medication. However, as a person of science, she is not alone in her claim. Various media reports have quoted doctors supporting Karatay who elaborately explains several uses of cholesterol in an organism.

Daily Habertürk quoted Karatay saying that cholesterol was produced by our body as a protective agent against stresses like a hypothermic disease caused by viruses and bacteria. “Cholesterol is a bactericide and a virucide as well as being the basic structural unit of brain cells and nervous system. Breast milk is composed of cholesterol and Omega 3 fatty acids at around 90 percent. Cholesterol is innocent and its level rises in blood only to fix something going wrong.”

She added that it was not the cholesterol that clogged the arteries but the platelets, which are chiefly formed by the insulin hormone. High insulin in blood triggers coagulation, according to her account.