In honor of National Heart Month (February), I gathered up 10 awesome facts about your heart’s health. Mind. Blown.
Some of these facts are the opposite of conventional thought, but just keep in mind that there’s a possibility that emerging research has not yet reached your personal healthcare provider and he/ she may be unaware of new developments in heart health.
New research takes on average 17 years (SEVENTEEN YEARS!?!?) to reach conventional healthcare as normal routine. Personally, I like to know now what awesome things I can do for myself in order to be healthier. If you’re like me, read on!
#1: High cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease.
REALLY? WHY? In your body, you need cholesterol to build and maintain cell walls, to convert into bile in the liver, to be a precursor to Vitamin D, to utilize its antioxidant properties in case your immune system is attacked, to be a precursor to steroid hormones, and for cells to function properly. That’s a lot of important processes. And that’s not all of them.
Do you hear sirens?
Think of cholesterol as the fire department of the body. You wouldn’t want to tell the firemen to go away if your house was on fire, would you? It’s a good idea to let the firemen work on putting out the fire and instead, try to figure out what caused the fire in the first place. Hint: it’s inflammation!
Additionally, cholesterol in the blood and cholesterol in food is about the same chemically, however, your body actually only absorbs and uses about 15% of the cholesterol you eat. You excrete the remaining 85%!
And if you eat a lot of cholesterol, your body will make less of it and if you eat less, your body will make more – your body is a master at keeping balance!
#2 Red meat doesn’t cause heart disease.
REALLY? WHY? In regards to meat, what can lead to heart disease is the poor quality of the meat. Cows are ruminants – their bodies were built to eat different types of grasses.
Conventional feedlots, however, feed them soy and grain, which can lead to sickness and storage of toxins in their fat because farmers force them to eat something that their bodies cannot process. To prevent sickness, farmers give them antibiotics as a preventative measure. So you’re getting antibiotics and toxins along with your steak.
Not to mention the poor quality of their lives as farmers raise them in conventional feedlots…
MMM tasty…
Grass-fed, grass-finished, and pasture-raised are the best labels to look for when buying meat. Yes, it’s a little pricier, but consider it an investment in the health of your future self. And it tastes way better – I promise.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Americans actually ate far more red meat than they do today. When you hear that Americans are eating “more meat” than ever before, it’s because “experts” have included chicken and other poultry in that statistic. Until the mid-twentieth century, Americans actually reserved poultry for more special occasions. We raised chickens more for eggs than meat.
Lastly, L-carnitine (an amino acid derivative) is known to protect against heart disease. The best source for that? Red meat.
#3 Salt does not cause heart disease.
REALLY? WHY? Your body uses sodium in nerve function, muscle function, and in your blood and the fluid around your cells. It uses sodium to keep your body’s fluids in balance – again, with that balance stuff! Your body is extremely smart.
What happens if there’s an imbalance? Low-salt diets can increase the risk of death from heart attacks and strokes and not prevent high blood pressure.
Extremely lowering salt consumption can also increase insulin resistance, which increases the risk of heart disease.
The World Health Organization recommends less than 2g of sodium a day, but no country in the world has been able to achieve that. One study actually found that subjects only experienced ill effects on diets where sodium was more than 5g per day. That’s a difference of 3g that people could be having without being at risk for heart disease.
#4: Saturated fat does not cause heart disease.
REALLY? WHY? Humans evolved eating animals and animal fats (and veggies!). We wouldn’t be here today if these things caused heart disease. Heart disease rates actually skyrocketed after the introduction of hydrogenated oils and processed foods, which follows after hundreds of thousands of years of eating animals and animal fats with minimal heart disease rates.
“Experts” often cite the Framingham Heart Study as proof of the cholesterol-animal fat theory of heart disease. But in 1992, after 40 years of the study, the director of the study noted, “The more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol. We found that people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.” [Italics added for emphasis].
So why do “experts” still tell people to cut down on saturated fat?
The authors of the study had spent the last 40 years touting that saturated fat intake and high cholesterol were the largest risk factors of heart disease, but they decided not to publicize the actual (but opposite) findings of their study.
#5: The low-fat diet heart theory was never properly proven.
REALLY? WHY? Most medical doctors receive 1-2 weeks of nutrition education. Speaking from personal nutritional education experience, there is way more information to cover than just 1-2 weeks’ worth. Doctors are advising people on what to eat when they themselves may not fully understand the implications on the body.
Additionally, there is no one perfect diet for every body. Every person is different – hence the term bioindividuality.
The low-fat diet heart theory first came about in the 1950s by a man named Ancel Keys. We have almost 70 years of research conducted after that – 70 years! Study after study has disproven this theory time and time again, but the idea still perpetuates.
Keys authored a study called the Seven Countries Study, which concluded that those nations with diets lower in saturated fat (animal fat) had lower rates of heart disease and vice versa for nations with diets higher in saturated fat.
He actually had data from 22 countries but only included 7 in his final report. That’s a difference of 15 countries!
The data for those remaining 15 countries actually showed countries with diets higher in animal fat but lower in heart disease rates, as well as countries with diets lower in animal fat but higher in heart disease rates.
Seriously? This guy left out 68% of the data he collected and in 1956, based off of his work, the American Heart Association officially denounced butter, lard, eggs, and beef as unhealthy when they were previously regarded as healthy.
And it just snowballed from there!
#6 Drinking water is great for your heart.
REALLY? WHY? Dehydration causes the vascular system (your blood system) to selectively close some of its blood vessels. This is just one of the many ways your body tries to protect you, but prolonged dehydration can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure), which can increase the risk of heart disease or stroke.
Also, good hydration supports good lymphatic flow and proper blood viscosity – both very good things!
#7: Having healthy digestion is good for your heart.
REALLY? WHY? Proper protein digestion is critical to make available the amino acids needed by the heart.
You need the correct stomach acidity to absorb calcium and digest B vitamins, which are important in heart function.
Proper liver and gallbladder function enables you to digest healthy fats and the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), which are also important in heart function.
Lastly, you need the right bowel flora (gut bacteria) to produce vitamins B1, B2, B12, and K2 – again, important in heart function.
So if you’re not digesting your food properly, you’re not absorbing the nutrients your heart needs!
#8: Carbohydrates are more to blame than you realize.
REALLY? WHY? As a nation, we’ve been told to eat a diet of mostly whole grains for decades (and reduce animal fat and protein) and yet heart disease rates keep increasing and we keep gaining more and more weight. I think there might be a connection…
Carbohydrates raise triglyceride levels, which increases numbers of small, dense lipoproteins that cause damage to your arteries.
But wait… there’s more!
Also, eating mostly carbohydrates causes your body to use carbohydrates as fuel, which means you can’t access your fat stores. In fact, it causes your body to drive more fat into your fat stores (you guessed it – weight gain!). And increased body fat has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease.
Cereal or a bagel for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, and pizza for dinner – it adds up. There’s a reason you’re hangry (hungry + angry) after only 2 hours!
Your body burns through carbohydrates at a much quicker rate than fats or proteins. Changing it up to have eggs and sausage (and a veggie!) will be a much healthier breakfast than cereal or a bagel – and you won’t get hangry.
#9: There are better and more accurate tests for heart health (that insurance will pay for!) than simply using Total Cholesterol.
REALLY? WHAT ARE THEY? First, let me explain where the number for Total Cholesterol comes from. It is the combination of your LDL-C, HDL-C, and VLDL-C numbers. Conventional thought says it’s best to have a level below 200 mg/dL, however, there’s no scientific basis for this number.
In fact, using this number is like telling someone the combined score of a football game was 49. It doesn’t give you an accurate picture of what actually happened in the game. You have no idea whether one team scored all of the touchdowns, whether it was a more evenly matched game, or even whether there were some field goals.
Here are some measurements that will give you a more accurate picture of your heart’s health:
HDL-C: Known as “good” cholesterol, this is actually not cholesterol, but a transporter of cholesterol. Optimal levels are 70 mg/dL or higher and are heart-protective. Anything below 50 should cause you some concern.
Regular exercise, reduced alcohol consumption, and eating healthy dietary fats such as coconut oil, butter, ghee, well-sourced fatty meats, avocados, and olive oil provides your body with the materials for making HDL.
Triglycerides: These transport fat and blood glucose to the liver – a very important job. Elevated levels indicate an increased risk for heart disease. Optimal levels are 100 mg/dL or less, maybe even closer to 70.
Reducing carbohydrate intake (especially white bread, pasta, white and brown rice, sugar, potatoes, wheat, etc.) has been shown to improve this number.
VLDL: Transporter of triglycerides and other fats. High levels indicate an increase of triglycerides in the blood, which is not good for your heart. Optimal levels should be between 10 and 14 mg/dL.
Reducing carbohydrate intake has also been illustrated to improve your VLDL levels.
hs-CRP: Stands for High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and is basically a marker of inflammation in the body. As I said above, inflammation is huge when it comes to determining heart disease risk. The higher your levels of hs-CRP, the greater your risk of heart disease. Ideally, aim for a level below 1.0 mg/dL, but between 0 and 3 is healthy.
Broken record here – reducing carbohydrate intake (especially processed carbs) has been shown to reduce inflammation in the body.
#10: Heart disease’s main cause is inflammation as a result of long-time unresolved blood sugar and insulin resistance issues from eating processed foods.
REALLY? WHY? Chronic, long-term inflammation is dangerous and life-threatening. Cholesterol cannot accumulate in your arteries without inflammation.
Like I said before, the cholesterol is trying to protect you against the inflammation. Figure out why there’s inflammation, fix it, and cholesterol levels should go down naturally.
Other causes of inflammation are smoking, lack of sleep**, chemical exposure, infrequent exercise, excessive alcohol consumption, stress**, and high blood pressure. Stress could mean any number of things such as work stress, family stress, or even internal stress like a disease.
**Wanna get better sleep to help your heart and reduce your stress? Grab your free One-Day Plan for the Best Sleep Ever.
So what can you do? Here’s 5 quick tips to help your heart:
- Get rid of all hydrogenated vegetable, soy, peanut, corn, cottonseed, safflower, and canola oils. Out of your house and out of your life! Don’t eat foods containing the oils above. For example, the above toxic oils exist in things like ready-to-use dough, fried foods, dairy and non-dairy coffee creamer, pre-made baked goods (crackers, cookies, cakes, pies, cinnamon rolls, donuts), packaged snacks, margarine, vegetable shortening, fast food, microwave popcorn, and many more.
- Reduce the amount of processed carbohydrates you consume. Better yet, if it came in a box or a package, don’t eat it. That’s hard, I know. But the best option!
- Drink. More. Water. The best guideline is to drink half your weight in ounces of water each day. Of course this can vary based on the weather and your activity level, but it’s a good general amount to aim for.
- Ask your doctor for better testing, like the tests listed in Step 9. It’s your health, so take charge. Ask for copies of your results. Ask questions. Repeat anything you don’t understand and ask your doctor to go over your results with you and . Pick up some books to read about cholesterol (see below for some suggestions).
- Moderation of EVERYTHING is key. Don’t shy away from red meat, saturated fat, or salt. Of course don’t overdo it with them, but they should be part of a healthy diet.
BONUS TIP: I kind-of said this in Tips #1 and #2, but it deserves to be reiterated. Processed foods are terrible for you. Get rid of them.
Your body does not recognize processed foods. It body treats the components of processed foods as toxins. All that buildup of toxins in the body leads to disease and weight gain.
You’ve heard of trans fats, right? We all know they are dead-awful. But get this: the food industry is creating and using all kinds of oils that haven’t even been studied to the extent that trans fats have. They don’t even know what implications these new oils have on the human body, but they’re using them anyway – and legally!
There could be worse things than trans fats in your food and you don’t even know it.
This is where the phrase “vote with your dollars” comes from. If enough people refuse to buy this harmful stuff, they’ll eventually stop making it.
Ok rant over! Thanks for sticking with me for this entire post. Below, check out some books, people, and my sources for more info.
If you want to eat better but don’t know where to start, click here for some one-on-one nutritional coaching from yours truly.
Books for more heart health info
- Cholesterol Clarity: What the HDL is Wrong with My Numbers?
- Put Your Heart in Your Mouth: Natural Treatment for Atherosclerosis, Angina, Heart Attack, High Blood Pressure, Stroke, Arrhythmia, Peripheral Heart Disease
- The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet – Y’all, Nina Tiecholz spent NINE YEARS researching this book. It’s extremely thorough and well-researched.
- The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It
- Cholesterol and Saturated Fat Prevent Heart Disease: Evidence from 101 Scientific Papers
- The Great Cholesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won’t Prevent Heart Disease – and the Statin-Free Plan that Will
- Cholesterol Won’t Kill You, But Trans Fat Could: Separating Scientific Fact from Nutritional Fiction in What You Eat
- Fat and Cholesterol are Good for You
- The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy That Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease
- Ignore the Awkward: How the Cholesterol Myths are Kept Alive
- Hidden Truth About Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs
People for more heart health info
Sources for this blog post
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz
Cholesterol Clarity: What the HDL is Wrong with My Numbers? by Jimmy Moore with Dr. Eric C. Westman
Put Your Heart in Your Mouth: Natural Treatment for Atherosclerosis, Angina, Heart Attack, High Blood Pressure, Stroke, Arrhythmia, Peripheral Vascular Disease by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride
Urinary Sodium and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Informing Guidelines for Sodium Consumption
Wow Kristen…you have a LOT of great information here! I do try to stay away from processed foods…but they always find a way to “sneak” back into our house and my diet. I think the info in your post is enough to make me try much harder to get rid of them. I will continue to refer back to this…THANK YOU!!
Thanks Caryn! It’s a pretty meaty article, but I wanted to put it out there anyway. I’ve enjoyed reading all the heart-health books I can find. And I hear you on the processed foods sneaking back into the house… it’s so hard to keep them out!