Does body fatness modify the effect of dietary cholesterol on serum cholesterol? Results from the Chicago Western Electric Study.

The hypothesis that lean persons are more responsive than fat persons to the effects of dietary cholesterol was investigated in 1,903 middle-aged employed men who were examined in 1958 and 1959 as participants in the Chicago Western Electric Study. Change in intake of dietary cholesterol was positively associated with change in serum cholesterol for men in the lowest tertile of body mass index (defined as weight (kg)/height (m)2) (26.6) after adjustment for change in body mass index and change in intakes of energy and saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. A decrease of 150 mg/1,000 kcal in dietary cholesterol was associated with mean changes of -0.46, -0.18, and 0.13 mmol/liter in serum cholesterol for men with body mass indices of 26.6, respectively. Body mass index was strongly correlated with subscapular skinfold thickness; thus, these differences in body mass index reflect true differences in adiposity. These results may help to explain inconsistencies that have occurred in feeding experiments with dietary cholesterol, and they suggest that a reduction in dietary cholesterol should have a more favorable effect on the serum cholesterol levels of fat persons after they have lost weight

Personality is of central concern to understand health: towards a theoretical model for health psychology

This paper sets out the case that personality traits are central to health psychology. To achieve this, three aims need to be addressed. First, it is necessary to show that personality influences a broad range of health outcomes and mechanisms. Second, the simple descriptive account of Aim 1 is not sufficient, and a theoretical specification needs to be developed to explain the personality-health link and allow for future hypothesis generation. Third, once Aims 1 and 2 are met, it is necessary to demonstrate the clinical utility of personality. In this review I make the case that all three Aims are met. I develop a theoretical framework to understand the links between personality and health drawing on current theorising in the biology, evolution, and neuroscience of personality. I identify traits (i.e., alexithymia, Type D, hypochondriasis, and empathy) that are of particular concern to health psychology and set these within evolutionary cost-benefit analysis. The literature is reviewed within a three-level hierarchical model (individual, group, and organisational) and it is argued that health psychology needs to move from its traditional focus on the individual level to engage group and organisational levels