Rethinking Cholesterol: Myths, Facts, and Holistic Heart Health Strategies
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Rethinking Cholesterol: Myths, Facts, and Holistic Heart Health Strategies

In this episode, Dr. Alfred Alessi and Matt Tack tackle the complex topic of cholesterol, questioning its role as a villain or a misunderstood element in health. They delve into cholesterol's role in the body and challenge the conventional myth linking it directly to heart disease. The discussion shifts to the roles of inflammation and oxidative stress in cardiovascular health, as well as the effectiveness of statins. They explore the benefits of functional medicine for enhancing heart health and outline comprehensive cardiovascular wellness strategies. Listeners are offered exclusive perks, and the episode concludes with closing remarks and a summary of key insights.

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(0:00) Introduction and Cholesterol: Villain or Misunderstood? (2:09) Cholesterol's Role and the Heart Disease Myth (7:18) Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Heart Disease (10:53) The Effectiveness of Statins (11:02) Sponsor: Authentic Nutrition (12:24) Functional Medicine for Cardiovascular Health (26:11) Comprehensive Cardiovascular Wellness Strategies and Listener Perks (27:12) Closing Remarks and Episode Summary

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Fixing the root cause, not just the numbers, right?

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Lowering cholesterol doesn't fix your inflammation, doesn't fix insulin resistance or

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arterial damage, which are the real root causes of heart disease.

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So instead of relying on statins, focus on lowering chronic inflammation through diet and

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lifestyle, reversing insulin resistance with fasting, exercise and blood sugar control.

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Welcome to Health Decode, your number one source for real health information with your

00:00:26
host, Doctor.

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Alessi and Matt Tack.

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Alright.

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Welcome back to another episode of Health Decoded, the show where we cut through the

00:00:37
noise and get to the real story behind health, nutrition, and longevity.

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I'm your host, doctor Alessi.

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And I'm your host, Matt Tack.

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And today, we're tackling one of the biggest myths in medicine.

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Is cholesterol really the villain we've been told it is?

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And I love this topic.

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For decades, mainstream media has blamed high cholesterol for heart disease, and they have

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pushed statin medications as the only solution.

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But let's break down today.

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Is this really science or is this just some pharmaceutical propaganda?

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So today, what we're gonna break down.

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The truth about cholesterol's role in the body, what is it?

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Why inflammation, not cholesterol, is the root cause of heart disease and cardiovascular

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events?

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How statins might be doing more harm than good?

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And then the real root cause approach to heart health and longevity.

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So buckle up this episode is going to ruffle some feathers.

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How you doing brother before we get into it?

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How are you?

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I'm doing great, man.

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I am doing great this wonderful

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morning in Florida, man.

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It's beautiful.

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This weather is slowly getting hot again, so I'm just trying to take advantage of all these,

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like, nice cool mornings we got for the next probably couple weeks.

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So, Yeah, man.

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I'm I'm super pumped.

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I'm super pumped.

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This is the best time of year to be in Florida.

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It is.

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We need to get on the golf course probably.

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But whenever that could happen, we'll find the time.

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Anyway, let's let's get right into it, man.

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So let's talk about real quick.

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First things first, cholesterol, what is it?

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And, you know, why do why does it really called like the misunderstood molecule?

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And so for decades, cholesterol has been unfairly demonized as the primary villain

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behind heart disease.

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And what if we've been blaming the wrong thing this whole time, right?

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So the reality is cholesterol is essential for life.

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Without it, we would literally not survive.

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So let's talk about what are the vital roles of cholesterol in the body real quick.

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Cholesterol isn't just some harmful substance clogging our arteries.

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It's a crucial biological molecule that our body needs for every major function.

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Literally, our cells are made of cholesterol.

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So, our cells have a membrane and the membrane integrity requires cholesterol.

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Every cell is wrapped in a cholesterol rich membrane which helps to regulate what enters

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and exits the cell.

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Without cholesterol, the cells would lose their structure and essential nutrients wouldn't be

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properly transported.

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There would be no life.

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And so, cholesterol is also responsible for hormone production.

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We actually talked about this in our last episode, how cholesterol is the precursor to

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all major steroid hormones including testosterone, which is crucial for muscle

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growth, metabolism, libido.

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Produces estrogen and progesterone which are essential for reproductive health and hormone

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balance, as well as cortisol.

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Cholesterol will help regulate the stress response and inflammation.

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And so, it also is responsible for vitamin D synthesis.

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Your body converts cholesterol into vitamin D when it's exposed to sunlight.

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And so vitamin D is also essential for immune function, bone health, mood regulation, and low

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cholesterol can lead to low vitamin D or a deficiency.

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We talked a lot about that in our last episode as well.

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Brain function and cognitive health.

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Cholesterol plays a key role in the component myelin.

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Myelin is basically a protective sheath around your nerve cells that ensures that the brain is

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efficient at signaling.

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I like to think of myelin like the rubber outer lining on a like a wire, right?

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That's going somewhere.

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It helps to insulate that and allow for faster transmission of signal.

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So that makes it very important for memory and learning.

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Low cholesterol has been linked to cognitive decline and dementia, as well as the ability

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for our body to produce neurotransmitters.

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So this controls mood and mental clarity.

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A study actually in the archives of neurology found that low cholesterol levels were

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associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

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Cholesterol is also responsible for bile production and fat digestion.

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So, cholesterol is a precursor to bile acids, which help your body to digest and absorb

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dietary fats.

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So without adequate cholesterol, the body will struggle to break down these essential fats,

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which then leads to malabsorption and deficiencies of fat soluble vitamins such as A,

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D, E and K.

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And so that's kind of a whole cascade of what can happen when our body has deficient

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cholesterol.

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And so what is this myth right the cholesterol heart disease myth.

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And what does research actually show on this show we're all always about research science

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based facts, not just like hypothesis.

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Obviously, we have our biases, but let's base some of that off of literature.

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And so the idea that cholesterol directly causes heart disease is based on outdated and

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flawed research.

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So, the first one, the Framingham study the Framingham Heart Study of 1971.

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This is one of the longest running cardiovascular studies and it found no direct

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correlation between high cholesterol and heart disease in people 50.

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In fact, individuals with higher cholesterol actually had a lower mortality rate.

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The Lion Diet Heart Study in 1999 showed that a Mediterranean diet actually reduced heart

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disease by seventy percent without lowering cholesterol levels.

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So this suggests that dietary patterns, not cholesterol, are the real drivers of

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cardiovascular health.

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And a neuroscientist, Doctor.

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David Diamond, was quoted saying cholesterol is not the enemy.

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It's a necessary component of every cell in your body.

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Lowering cholesterol without addressing inflammation is like blaming firefighters for a

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fire just because they show up at the scene.

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And so what's the takeaway here?

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Cholesterol is not inherently bad.

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The body produces cholesterol for a reason.

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And artificially lowering it without considering overall health can actually do more

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harm than good.

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So if cholesterol is not the enemy, why does modern medicine focus so much on lowering it?

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Hint here, follow the money, right?

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Big Pharma is going to make billions of dollars in profits from statin drugs.

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And so, if you really want to focus on protecting your heart, you have to focus on the

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real cause of heart disease, which we're going to get into next and talk about inflammation.

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Right?

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What is inflammation?

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How does it happen?

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And how is it the actual component here not cholesterol?

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So then what is the real cause of heart disease?

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Inflammation and oxidative stress are two indicators that you need to look at.

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So if cholesterol isn't the culprit, then here we go.

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What is it?

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For decades, cholesterol has been blamed for heart disease, but modern research tells a

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different story.

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If cholesterol were the main problem, then why do fifty percent of people suffer from heart

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attacks who have normal cholesterol levels?

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Here's a study from the British Medical Journal in 2017 found that half of heart attack victims

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had cholesterol levels in the normal range, suggesting that cholesterol is not the primary

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driver of heart disease.

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So then what is it?

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The real enemies are chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic dysfunction.

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And here's some true causes of what causes heart disease.

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Instead of fixating on cholesterol, we need to address the root cause of cardiovascular

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disease.

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So chronic inflammation.

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Inflammation damages the artery walls, causing the body to send cholesterol as a band aid to

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repair the injury.

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Over time, the repeated damage and repair cycles to lead to plaque buildup and the

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narrowing of arteries.

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What causes it?

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Here we go.

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Poor diet, high sugar intake, smoking, stress, and toxins.

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Doctor.

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Mark Houston, an MD, he's a cardiovascular expert, says this.

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The primary cause of heart disease is not high cholesterol.

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It's chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress.

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Lowering cholesterol without addressing these factors is like fixing a leaky roof with duct

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tape.

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So insulin resistance and high blood sugar.

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When blood sugar remains elevated due to poor diet, it triggers inflammation and arterial

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stiffening, increasing heart disease risk.

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This is why diabetics are two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

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Here's a study by Diabetes Care in 2019 found that people with insulin resistance had a

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higher risk of heart attacks than those with high LDL, the silent death killer, cholesterol.

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Right?

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So oxidative LDL, this is a big trigger.

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The real villain.

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LDL cholesterol itself is not harmful.

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It becomes dangerous when it becomes oxidized, inflammation, and free radicals rain the body.

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Think of LDL like a car.

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If it's parked safely, no problem.

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But if it gets rusted out oxidized, it causes damage wherever it goes.

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Here's a study from the Journal of American College of Cardiology found that individuals

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with high levels of oxidized LDL, that rusty LDL, were four times more likely to suffer from

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a heart attack regardless of their total cholesterol levels.

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This is why we preach resistance training and meditation.

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These are ways to reduce oxidative levels.

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Right?

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So here's a key takeaway.

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Cholesterol is not the enemy.

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It's a symptom.

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Cholesterol is like a firefighter that arrives at the scene of a burning house.

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As, doctor Alessia aforementioned, blaming cholesterol for heart disease is like a blaming

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firefighters for fires.

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Instead of lowering cholesterol, we need to fix the root issue here.

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Chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress are the three indicators that

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are going to increase those cholesterol levels.

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Now let's explore how to truly protect your heart without relying on statins.

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Now back to the episode.

00:12:24
Welcome back.

00:12:27
So are statins really preventing heart disease?

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Statins are the number one prescribed drug in the world with millions of people taking them

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daily to lower cholesterol.

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But the real question is, do they actually prevent heart disease?

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Here's a study from the British Medical Journal in 2015 found that statins only reduce the

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absolute risk of heart of a heart attack by one percent in healthy individuals despite

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significantly lowering cholesterol levels.

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So if they are barely moved the needle on heart disease prevention, why are they so heavily

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prescribed by doctors?

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The problem with statins?

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Statins are ineffective at lowering cholesterol, just as we discussed, but not the

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root cause of heart disease.

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More concerning is the fact that statins come with significant side effects, many of which

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are often downplayed.

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So here's a quote from a cardiologist stating statins lower cholesterol, but they don't

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address the root cause of their heart disease.

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Meanwhile, they come with significant side effects that often under, often go ignored.

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So here's some of the statin side effects that we see and standard standard American medicine,

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right?

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Muscle pain and weakness.

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Statins deplete your CoQ10, a critical enzyme for muscle and mitochondria production.

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And many patients experience muscle aches, fatigues, and even muscle breakdown.

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Increased risk of diabetes.

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Statins are worsened insulin resistance, raising blood sugar levels and leading to type

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two diabetes.

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One of our favorite sources, JAMA, in 2013 said, found that post menopausal women on the

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statins had a forty eight percent increased risk of developing diabetes.

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Here's another one, brain fog and memory loss.

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Cholesterol is essential for brain functions as statins lower it indiscriminately.

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And here's another study from Frontiers and Agings of Neuroscience in 2018 showed that

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older adults on statins had a higher incidence of cognitive decline and memory issues.

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Another one hormone imbalances and low test, something we're extremely big on, but

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cholesterol is the precursor for all steroid hormones, including testosterone, estrogen, and

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cortisol.

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So an expert review of clinical pharmacology in 2018 found that statins can significantly lower

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testosterone levels in men, which we're seeing as a rapid pace over the last twenty years.

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And the statins treat a symptom, but not the root cause.

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Lowering a cholesterol does not fix chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative

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stress, the real drivers of heart disease.

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Instead of focusing solely on cholesterol, we need to address the root cause through, and

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here are the four measures.

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Number one, anti inflammatory diets.

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Are you getting more like a Mediterranean diet with a proper balance of proteins and

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carbohydrates, and a good amount of fats?

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Balancing blood sugar and insulin sensitivity.

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Are you promoting resistance training in your day to day?

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Get to getting yourself out of bed breath to reduce your oxidative stress loads.

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Supporting mitochondrial production.

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How how do you do that?

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Right?

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And that's through the process of movement.

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So you need to move more.

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You need to walk.

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Insulin resistance is done through resistance type training.

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And managing stress and lifestyle factors.

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What are you putting in your day to day?

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And we have a six week challenge coming up that you can be part of.

00:16:07
I'm gonna plug that in because these are great ways that you can start implementing all four

00:16:13
of these factors over a six week period that are absolutely going to change your life.

00:16:18
Yeah, that's great man.

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That was a great plug for that because that's exactly what this is about.

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It's about educating and helping people to make healthier choices when truthfully they probably

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just don't know, right?

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It's not their fault, they just don't know what that looks like.

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Now let's get into we obviously got some background, what is cholesterol?

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What's the real cause of heart disease?

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It's not cholesterol, it's the inflammation and that chronic level of high inflammation plus

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insulin resistance.

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And so what is the functional medicine approach?

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We always want to give some actionable takeaways, right?

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So how do we actually protect the heart without just blindly taking a statin, right?

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Most people go to the cardiologist and they just say here take this, right?

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There's not a lot of like depth into that process.

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It's just like boom bang, you're in and you're out, you have a statin drug now that you're on

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forever.

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It's kind of crazy.

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And so, how do we actually protect the heart, right?

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So again, statins are going to lower cholesterol, but that's not the problem and so

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they're missing the whole point.

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Inflammation, insulin resistance and arterial dysfunction.

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So if you really want to protect your heart, you need a functional approach that focuses on

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the root cause, which is lowering the inflammation, improving your metabolic health

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and strengthening your cardiovascular system from the inside.

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So how do we do that?

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How do we reduce inflammation naturally?

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Chronic inflammation is going to damage blood vessels.

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So the key to preventing this, eliminate inflammatory foods and prioritize nutrient

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dense, heart healthy choices.

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And no, that's not Cheerios, okay?

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I know they put a heart on the box, that doesn't mean that's a healthy choice.

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That is marketing, by the way.

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So, adopting an anti inflammatory diet.

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Prioritizing Omega-three fatty acids, number one, right?

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Wild caught fish, grass fed meats, things like flax seeds, coconut oils, load up on

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antioxidants, berries, dark leafy greens, turmeric, green tea and then increasing your

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fiber intake, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, all of these things are going to help with

00:18:14
that.

00:18:14
And so a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that increasing

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omega-three intake reduced the risk of heart disease by thirty percent.

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Whereas you mentioned the study that the statins lowered the risk of heart disease by

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one percent.

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So that should tell you right there that the inflammation is the problem, not the

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cholesterol, right?

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That kind of solidifies it for us.

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And so, what's the next step?

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It's cutting out seed oils.

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This is a big one, right?

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Industrial seed oils like canola, soybean, corn and sunflower are high in omega-six fatty acids

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which drive inflammation up and oxidative stress.

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The excess omega-six's create an imbalance in the omega-six to three ratio which can worsen

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cardiovascular health.

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Real quick, I just learned this the other day, Canola oil was created as an engine lubricant

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during the, I think it was during the Cold War.

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They used this to quickly manufacture missiles, weapons and stuff like that.

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Was a lubricant.

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And then after the war ended, they had so much of this stuff on deck.

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They were like, how do we get rid of this?

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Oh, let's just repurpose this as cooking oil for people to eat.

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And so the it was kind of a crazy little documentary I watched, but that kind of that

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kind of shook me.

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I'm not buy I don't buy anything with canola oil anyway, but now I'm even more vigilant

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about that.

00:19:33
So next, how do we optimize the omega three intake?

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So we want to aim for a one to one or in my opinion, two or three to one of omega three to

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omega six.

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The average American ratio currently is 20 to one.

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Right?

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So we're eating so much more omega six than three.

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So prioritizing wild caught fatty fish, pasture raised eggs is a great one, and then grass fed

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meats.

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Now on top of that, this is something we discussed in the last episode, Sometimes that's

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not going to be enough for us with the way that the American food system is.

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So this is where we recommend an omega-three supplement that has both EPA and DHA, right?

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Those are the two different types of the omega-3s that we want.

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So what's the next step?

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Addressing insulin resistance, which is a huge, huge thing.

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Insulin resistance is one of the biggest drivers of heart disease, but it gets ignored

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in conventional medicine.

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High insulin is gonna trigger inflammation, it's gonna stiffen the arteries and it's gonna

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promote fat storage around the organs.

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All of which increase cardiovascular risk.

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So, how do we now promote insulin lowering that insulin resistance?

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So, intermittent fasting is going to improve the sensitivity, right?

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So, fasting lowers your blood sugar, it improves your function of insulin and it

00:20:50
reduces overall inflammation.

00:20:52
You have to think about it like this, every time you have sugar in your bloodstream,

00:20:55
insulin has to respond to take it from the bloodstream and put it where it needs to go.

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Whether that's the brain, the muscles, the organs, it's going to utilize it.

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When sugar is chronically high in the bloodstream, insulin gets worn out, right?

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And so the sensitivity to that goes down, right?

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Imagine if you watch TV all day, your sensitivity to like sounds and lights and stuff

00:21:14
goes down as well because you're so desensitized.

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And so, when we fast, there's less sugar coming in, the body now improves the sensitivity of

00:21:22
that insulin making it more apt to function.

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So, we recommend starting with like a twelve hour overnight fast, right?

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That's a simple way to just get used to it.

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And then working your way up to like a sixteen to eight, right?

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Where you're doing sixteen hours, no food, and then an eight hour eating window.

00:21:38
That's a great kind of daily intermittent schedule.

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That's something I do probably three or four days a week.

00:21:43
Longer fasts, however, like twenty four to forty eight hours can actually further reset

00:21:47
your insulin sensitivity and thus improve metabolic flexibility.

00:21:52
So, a study in Diabetes Care 2020 found that regular strength training lowered heart disease

00:21:59
risk more than statins in pre diabetic individuals.

00:22:03
That's awesome.

00:22:03
So, that's a great, great study that was done that showed the benefits of strength training,

00:22:08
something that you and I preach for longevity and that everyone should be doing.

00:22:13
So let's get into that.

00:22:14
Strength training and movement.

00:22:15
So exercise is one of the most powerful insulin sensitizers.

00:22:19
It's going to lower blood sugar, improve vascular function, and thus reduce

00:22:24
inflammation.

00:22:25
Strength training improves muscle insulin uptake, which reduces excess blood sugar.

00:22:31
Aerobic exercise like walking, cycling, swimming is going to help clear triglycerides

00:22:37
and improve blood vessel function.

00:22:40
And then daily movement, right?

00:22:42
10 plus steps a day, avoiding prolonged sitting.

00:22:45
This is going to keep blood flow and prevent metabolic stagnation.

00:22:48
It's also going to help with lymphatic drainage, getting the lymph system to clear

00:22:52
toxins and metabolic waste.

00:22:55
So then how do we support arterial health and vascular function?

00:22:58
And here's a few really profound and strong ways to do that.

00:23:02
So, a healthy heart isn't just about avoiding blockages, it's about maintaining flexible,

00:23:07
well functioning arteries that can properly transport oxygen and nutrients throughout the

00:23:11
body.

00:23:13
Magnesium and potassium, these are amazing for blood pressure.

00:23:16
Magnesium relaxes the blood vessels and helps regulate the heart rhythm, while potassium is

00:23:21
going to balance sodium levels and prevent the stiffening of the arteries.

00:23:25
So, some of the best sources of magnesium, dark leafy greens, avocado, almonds, pumpkin seeds,

00:23:32
as well as a magnesium supplement with multiple forms.

00:23:35
And then best sources of potassium, bananas, potatoes, citrus fruits and beans.

00:23:41
The next one on the list, CoQ10 for heart energy.

00:23:44
So CoQ10 is a coenzyme basically essential for mitochondrial energy production, especially in

00:23:51
your heart.

00:23:52
So, the heart has the highest demands in the body of mitochondrial energy production.

00:23:56
It's beating all day long, boom, boom, boom, right?

00:23:58
So, it needs that.

00:23:59
So, statins are actually going to deplete your CoQ10, which lead to muscle fatigue, weakness

00:24:04
and reduce heart function.

00:24:06
Kind of counterintuitive if you ask me.

00:24:09
So consider supplementing one hundred to three hundred milligrams a day of CoQ10, especially

00:24:14
if you're taking a statin.

00:24:16
And then the next one is vitamin K2 for artery protection.

00:24:20
We discussed this vitamin in the last episode as well and how it's important to bind with

00:24:25
vitamin D3 for optimal absorption.

00:24:28
So vitamin K2 directs calcium into the bones and the teeth where it's supposed to be and

00:24:34
away from the blood and the arteries where it can cause the calcification and stiffness.

00:24:39
And so, a study in the European Journal of Nutrition 2019 found that vitamin K2

00:24:44
supplementation reduced arterial stiffness by 50%, significantly improving heart health.

00:24:51
So some of the best sources of K2 grass fed dairy like butter and cheeses opting for grass

00:24:57
fed of course, natto which is basically fermented soybeans, pasture raised eggs, beef

00:25:02
liver, or a bioavailable supplement, of course.

00:25:07
So, what's the key takeaway here?

00:25:09
As always with functional medicine, fixing the root cause, not just the numbers, right?

00:25:15
Lowering cholesterol doesn't fix your inflammation, doesn't fix insulin resistance or

00:25:19
arterial damage, which are the real root causes of heart disease.

00:25:23
So, of relying on statins, focus on lowering chronic inflammation through diet and

00:25:28
lifestyle, reversing insulin resistance with fasting, exercise and blood sugar control, and

00:25:34
then support your arterial health with essential nutrients like magnesium, CoQ10 and

00:25:38
K2.

00:25:40
So, by addressing the root causes, you're not just reducing risk factors, you're building

00:25:44
long term health which will then last a lifetime.

00:25:49
And so in closing, is cholesterol the real enemy?

00:25:52
No.

00:25:53
Are statins the best way to prevent heart disease?

00:25:56
Probably not.

00:25:57
And what's the real solution?

00:25:59
Addressing inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress through diet and

00:26:03
lifestyle.

00:26:04
So, you've been told that you need a statin, don't just take this as gospel, get to the root

00:26:10
cause of your heart health.

00:26:11
Obviously, if there are levels that are way out of control, you can use it short term and then

00:26:16
get back to a state of balance.

00:26:18
But at Adolescent Functional Health, we're always going to take a functional medicine

00:26:21
approach to cardiovascular wellness instead of just slapping a prescription on the problem.

00:26:27
We're going to test for inflammation markers, insulin resistance and nutrient deficiencies.

00:26:31
So if you're interested, schedule a consultation.

00:26:34
Let's create a personalized plan for lifelong heart health.

00:26:38
And listeners of the Health Decoded podcast who are on our newsletter can get exclusive

00:26:42
discounts and price reductions on all supplements and blood work.

00:26:47
And as always, if you found value in today's show, like, subscribe, and share this episode

00:26:53
with someone who needs to hear it and wanna get in touch with us or be featured on an episode,

00:26:58
email us questions at ask@AlessiFXHealth.com.

00:27:02
And then you can go over to Alessi FX Health dot com to sign up for our newsletter and check

00:27:07
out our resources page to learn more about our approach to nutrition and cutting edge

00:27:10
therapies.

00:27:12
We wanna thank you for tuning in to today's episode of Health Decoded where we break down

00:27:16
the science, bust the myths, and help you take control of your health naturally.

00:27:21
Until next time, as always, stay curious, stay empowered, and remember, your health is in your

00:27:27
hands.

00:27:28
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded where we break down the truth about all things health

00:27:34
and empower you to take charge of your well-being.

00:27:37
If you found value in today's episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with

00:27:42
someone who needs to hear this.

00:27:44
For more resources and personalized support, visit us at AlessiFunctionalHealth.com and sign

00:27:50
up for our newsletter.

00:27:52
To hear your questions answered live on the show, send them to askalessiFXhealth dot com.

00:27:57
That's ask@ALESSIFXhealth.com.

00:28:03
Until next time, stay curious, stay empowered, and remember, your health is in your hands.