You’re following all the official guidelines to reduce your risk for heart disease. You eat whole grains, walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day, and buy skim rather than whole milk for your ‘heart-healthy’ breakfast cereal.
But the more you stick to the doctor’s script, the sicker you feel.
I know because it happened to me.
It’s no secret I used to be a fat heart surgeon — and it wasn’t until I reached my 40s that I realized just how upside down America’s mainstream medicine is.
It starts at the top and trickles down.
Doctors are taught to parrot established guidelines like the American food pyramid or swapping butter for margarine. They’re not intentionally sabotaging your health, but like you, were hoodwinked into the marketing ploys of megacorps and fast food brands, not to mention vested interests writing the guidelines.
The lies of big food and big pharma have infected medicine and nutrition, and are shaving years off our lives.
And the only way out is through education — starting by dispelling common myths.
1. Saturated fat is bad for you
Saturated fat is a type of lipid found in whole milk, meat, and other animal products. For decades it’s been demonized as the main cause of heart disease — but when you look at the science, this has never been exactly true.
Research shows increasing your intake of saturated fat from natural sources can actually reduce your risk of heart disease. It’s also associated with lower risks for obesity, and regulates your blood sugar better throughout the day.
There’s no evidence to support cutting out saturated fats completely. But there is evidence that Proctor and Gamble, the parent company of Crisco, gave $1 million to the AHA in 1948. Then saturated fat became bad, and Crisco (a polyunsaturated fat) became good.
Not only are US saturated fat guidelines completely detached from legitimate evidence, but they promote the consumption of PUFAs, a toxic and potentially life-shortening lipid.
2. Your total and LDL cholesterol put you at risk for a heart attack
Doctors have a tendency to vilify cholesterol and prescribe medications to lower your numbers. However, cholesterol is less of a bad actor and more of a bad omen, especially if you understand its role in your body.
To summarize it quickly: cholesterol responds to inflammation in the body and works to heal damaged organs and tissue. If your body senses trouble in the heart, for example, it releases more cholesterol to control the damage.
Taking statins that lower your LDL cholesterol could actually make your heart health worse. It’s like firing the mechanic working on your car — and blaming them for the damage left behind.
I’m not saying cholesterol isn’t a factor in cardiac events like heart attacks. Cholesterol is certainly linked with heart health and a sign of poor metabolic function. However, we need to stop looking at LDL as a cause and start seeing it as an effect, which lets us address the underlying problems caused by foods like seed oils.
3. Seed oils are healthy
Lies repeated enough often become the truth — and nowhere is this more obvious than with seed and vegetable oils.
Oils like canola, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and rice bran have only been around for the past 100 years. Even then, they were only used for industrial tasks like oiling machines and lubricating metal equipment.
Americans now consume seed oils by the gallon, since they’re touted as ‘heart healthy’ alternatives by government guidelines. More than 11.56 million metric tons of soybean oil were consumed in 2022 alone.
But not only are seed oils a barely food-grade substance, they certainly aren’t the ‘heart healthy’ alternatives oil manufacturers would have you believe:
- Seed oils consist of omega-6 fatty acids, which cause inflammation in the body.
- Cholesterol is dispatched to fix up the damage, releasing more into the bloodstream.
- The regular consumption of seed oil leads to lasting inflammation that cholesterol can’t repair, slowly whittling down your heart health.
There are major differences between good and bad fats in your diet. The sooner you recognize them, the sooner you can find substitutions, and the sooner you can avoid the precursors to chronic disease.
4. Low fat is good for you
We’d like to think those in authority have our best intentions in mind. But when it comes to making money or avoiding bankruptcy, food companies will do just about anything to stay ahead.
It’s true that lowering your fat consumption can be a good thing. The less fat you eat, the fewer calories you consume, and the better your weight may be.
However, stripping fat from your diet completely is both unnatural and dangerous. The human body is optimized to burn fat for energy rather than carbohydrates, and a low-fat diet could leave you addicted to sugary snacks rather than fulfilling proteins — which is exactly what processed food manufacturers want.
Plus, low-fat versions of foods like yogurt and cheese are much more processed than their whole food variations. This breaks down any nutrients present in the food and leaves your body wanting for more. You’ll probably be hungry again after just a few hours, which sends your glucose levels on a wild roller coaster ride and increases your risks for diabetes.
Unlearning mainstream lies with metabolic health coaching
You’ve been told the same lies about metabolic health for most of your life. And if you don’t have a doctor you trust or a trained metabolic health coach by your side, separating fact from fiction can feel almost impossible.
If you’re looking to restart your relationship with metabolic health, I recommend starting with a robust education.My five unique online courses are self-paced and self-guided to match your metabolic health journey. In 20 video lessons or less per course, I’ll walk you through the principles of metabolic health, explain the function of cholesterol in the body, and provide suggestions for secondary activities like fasting and blood work.