I’ve spoken to many patients in my time as a heart surgeon, and the most heartbreaking phrase I hear is, “I wish I’d known that earlier.”
It immediately tells me the system has failed them. It’s also what motivates me to continue my work — which is doing everything I can to keep people off my operating table.
With this in mind, you should know one of the easiest ways to maintain your heart health is to avoid falling for the lies that could harm it.
You first need to know how to sort fact from fiction to avoid harmful myths about maintaining your heart health.
The most concerning heart health myths I’ve seen
These are the five most dangerous myths I’ve dispelled:
1. Heart attacks run in families, so either I’m not at risk, or there’s nothing I can do
It’s true that certain families appear to have higher incidence rates of heart disease. It’s also true that certain conditions are more common in specific families, like high blood pressure and obesity.
But these factors aren’t necessarily due to genetics. More likely than not, it’s related to lifestyle factors.
A study conducted in 2016 examined more than 50,000 people who carried a high genetic risk for coronary artery disease. They separated these people into two separate groups: one that led a ‘favorable’ lifestyle (aka no smoking, not obese, regularly exercised, and ate a healthy diet), and one that lived an ‘unfavorable’ lifestyle (the inverse of the previous).
Researchers concluded that people who had unfavorable genetics but led favorable lifestyles still had better outcomes than those with favorable genetics but unfavorable lifestyles. Genetics considered, living a favorable lifestyle can cut your risks for heart disease by 46%, which depending on your age, could result in a healthspan that’s many years longer.
There’s nothing to stop you from trying genetic testing for inherited heart disease, but keep in mind it’s often expensive and sometimes inaccurate. Remember: you can still get heart disease even if you do test negative — because heart disease is typically a collection of lifestyle factors more than just a single gene mutation.
2. Only older adults get heart disease
This myth is relatively well-debunked, but I still felt I needed a footnote here. Because no matter how old you are, you may still be at risk for heart disease.
More and more young people are winding up on my operating table. Statistics suggest this trend won’t be going away anytime soon.
I’ll remind you that gender isn’t a protective factor, either. Both men and women are equally at risk for heart disease, although it may present differently depending on your sex.
3. Saturated fat will clog your arteries
Saturated fat is one of the biggest boogeymen of heart disease. But the science simply doesn’t support it as a primary cause.
Case in point: studies show no significant evidence between dietary saturated fat intake and a heightened risk for heart disease. Another study finds that “a reduction in saturated fats cannot be recommended at present to prevent cardiovascular diseases and mortality.”
So what about avoiding saturated fat and replacing it with seed oil or margarine? This, unfortunately, could be extremely harmful to your health. Research suggests man made fats like vegetable oil might lower your cholesterol levels, but won’t lower your risks for heart disease (and in fact might make them worse).
Vegetable oils aren’t the ‘heart healthy’ alternative you’ve probably heard they are. You’re not going to clog your arteries from eating butter, coconut oil, or red meat, but you might worsen your heart with canola, corn, or grapeseed oil.
You’re welcome to learn more about this in a Heart Surgeon’s View on Carnivore and Saturated Fats.
4. Red wine lowers your risks for heart attacks
In 1991, a scientist named Serge Renaud presented a study examining the heart health of French populations. Although many of them followed diets high in saturated fat, they displayed lower incidence rates of cardiovascular disease than people from other countries. Serge eventually concluded that “the untoward effects of saturated fats are counteracted with wine,” and that “alcohol taken in moderation may be one of the most efficient drugs for protection from coronary heart disease.”
More than 30 years later, Serge’s ‘French Paradox’ is still alive and well. But the more research we’ve done, the more doubt has been cast.
The truth is that alcohol isn’t your friend, and a glass a day does not keep the doctor away.
A study in 2023 found a significant increase of all-cause mortality for women who drank more than 25 grams (around two drinks) per day and men who drank more than 45 grams (around half a cup) per day. Another found that alcohol consumption at any level increases your risk for heart disease — even when it falls within recommended limits.
Regardless of the clever wine marketing campaigns you may have seen, you’re better off curbing your drinking habits to protect your heart from further damage.
You can learn more about this in my video course on alcohol.
5. Cholesterol causes heart disease
As you can see, I’ve saved the most controversial for last. This is a patently false narrative built on decades of imprecise research.
Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since the first few studies. Today, we have a much more concrete understanding of how cholesterol really impacts the heart.
I’ve spoken extensively about cholesterol before, so I won’t belabor the point. But I will briefly summarize what makes this such a dangerous myth.
Because cholesterol, as you’ll see, is vital to health.
- First, you need cholesterol. Your liver creates approximately 80% of your cholesterol, which is found in every cell in the body. It’s also necessary for synthesizing nutrients like vitamin D.
- Eating cholesterol in food isn’t going to raise your numbers. That’s because in the majority of people, dietary cholesterol has very little effect on blood cholesterol. It’s also not associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. This is one of the reasons why it’s perfectly acceptable to eat more than two eggs per day.
- High total cholesterol doesn’t mean much in isolation. For example, higher LDL cholesterol is typically a sign of tissue damage and may raise your risks for heart disease. On the other hand, high HDL cholesterol is typically associated with fewer cardiac events, regardless of LDL level. So you should be focused on lowering certain types of cholesterol, but not all of it.
- Problems occur when your cholesterol gets too low. Relying on cholesterol-lowering medications like statins may lead to further illness, including Alzheimer’s disease. That’s why attempting to treat high cholesterol with statins alone could be detrimental to your health. Medications aren’t the only way to treat chronic disease, and in some cases, you could be robbing your metabolic health.
You can learn more about cholesterol and the role it plays in heart disease by downloading my free guide covering the top five overlooked truths of cholesterol.
Where to learn more about protecting your heart health
No one cares more about your heart health than you. That’s why I want you to be informed — so you can keep it healthy for years to come.
But I realize these won’t be the first (or last) myths you encounter. There’s quite a bit more to say than I had time for here.
If you’re curious to learn more about how to monitor and protect your heart, you can start with my course explaining the seven principles of metabolic health.
