Diana, you only need 2% so it that is taken in a small glass of milk, it’ll help digestion. I have acquired a taste for goat milk, and goat cheeses (lovely stuff from Spain), and they’re delicious in soups, etc., too. I will check on butterfat contents of foods - do you recall the Adele Davis books of yore by any chance? I think I still have them. She was absolutely on target with everything we’re dealing with today, like Rachel Carson!

 Olive Oil, the high quality, is perfect for salads/breads, and the lower quality for cooking, and canola, too. Might check into the Omega Diet book by Dr. Simipoulous - I adore her, have experience with her at NIH, and she has put together th finest book on the of the world’s healthiest communities in which to live, Cypress (her homeland).

Yes, tons of veggies, and fruits, beans, lentils, grains, etc. Do you swim?

Diana, I’ve read a ton of papers (scientific incl nutrition) and nothing is mentioning "absorption" other than in fetal rats! In my 4 years of nutrition and diet therapy in college, we were told 2% min. butterfat; however, milk is not processed the same way now, and I am reading that a tendency for the higher fat content milk causes rancidity that inhibits calcium absorption like rancid fats, period - which does make sense; however, I would tent (from what I’ve read and I do it) stick to organic milk products, only.

This is an excellent website - I’ve read the whole darned thing - and may order the book, too (I certainly should for what it gave me):  http://tinyurl.com/cfo6ca (believe me it’s far too long to enter here). Credible source, too.

Are you getting enough roughage, and fiber, Diana? It’s all part of the metabolism of fats/cholesterol; however, I am very familiar with the cellular problem associated with elevated cholesterol and was present at the first presentation when that "cell wall defect" was presented by a Noble Laureate. Some people’s cell walls lack a receptor for cholesterol; hence it is not absorbed and carried out (metabolized) of the body; it circulates in the blood vessels (to put it simply). So, there are several components responsible for high LDL, beside eating high fat foods.

Stress is another! And it’s very dangerous - because "stress chemicals" can cause damage to the heart muscle, resulting in an MI (myo [muscle] cardial [heart] infarct [trauma]) = myocardial infarct. That’s why taking CoQ10 after the age of 60 is beneficial - the hormone we once had released in the the heart muscle ceases being produced, so that’s replaced and adding the L-Carnitine with it, helps too. And, don’t forget to take Omega 3 each day, as a capsul or in flax seeds/oil/capsules, plus eat the fish!

I focus on getting 2000-3000 U of Vit.D each day (try it at least for now), and 1400-1500 of Calcium; magnesium, too. The nation’s top bone & mineral specialist advised me (when parathyroid cancer was found and those calcium-metabolizing glands had to be removed) to merely use TUMS Calcium since it’s the most readily absorbed. I’d bet on his advise any day, and to pay attention to "elemental calcium" in any preparation - in many it’s drastically reduced from what appears on the label as most easily seen.

If you read on in the link, to daily intake of food groups, Chapter 11, I think, and look at the required weekly intake of beans, lentils, and yellow vegetables, fruits, grains, etc. for our age groups, you may be shocked. I appreciate the weekly intake, frankly, because I can target better with that approach, in my purchasing, preparation, and cooking, etc.

For example, I save all veggie scraps in a closed container in my freezer, including onion skins (for color too), and make broth from them when I have about 6 cups. I merely steep them in about 2-3 qts. of water, with fresh celery leaves, and garlic cloves (whole), for about 5 hours, then I drain them, puree the veggie contents, and add it back to the broth, then put it into small Mason jars for freezing, and a couple in the refrigerator. These are quick uses making rices, pasta, soups, etc. I can then toss the left over roughage into my garden beds. ;-))

I’ll alternate making a broth from organic chicken, too - that is delicious! But, overall, anything to increase roughage. Baking Cannellini, white Northern, Chick Peas, and other beans (after sauteing onions, etc. in olive oil) makes a far firmer bean that is better tasting and has more fiber that those cooked in water in crock pots, or saucepans, too. They are then simply to add to salads, and soups, etc. quickly.

Hugs.