Not so good, at least for our cholesterol levels, are the ubiquitous saturated fats. Examples of foods high in saturated fats include some dairy products like butter, whole milk, and cream. Other examples are whole eggs (not egg whites), red meat, chocolate, and solid shortenings.

Clearly the worst are the infamous trans fats. Now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires the nutrition facts label to include how many grams of trans fats are in a serving, avoiding trans fats is easier than it was just a few years ago.

Now, you can be sure that I eat an avocado almost every day. And my favorite trail foods have become a handful of almonds and a small can of sardines. The dressing for the salad that I regularly eat when I am home for lunch is flaxseed oil and vinegar. Flaxseed oil has the best ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats of any oils.

Consequently, my cholesterol levels have never been better -- even when I took medications for them. I don't take a single prescription medication for anything now.

In the lab results I just got back this week my HDL (good cholesterol) is up to 69 (the lab says that it should be above 40). My triglyceride level is down to 43 (it should be below 150). And best of all, my LDL (bad cholesterol) is down to 74 (it should be below 100). My low-carb, low-saturated fat diet is really working.