Is High Cholesterol Really Catastrophic? Eminent cardiologist says “NO”
Ringkasan
TLDRIn a conversation between the host and Dr. Aim Malhotra, they discuss newly published research on LDL cholesterol and its relation to heart disease, questioning traditional beliefs. Dr. Malhotra emphasizes that LDL cholesterol may not be a standalone risk factor, especially in metabolically healthy individuals, and highlights the significance of lifestyle factors like diet and insulin resistance. The discussion critiques the reactive stance of cardiology toward cholesterol management and suggests that a more holistic, patient-centered approach may be necessary. The host shares a personal experiment demonstrating unexpected LDL responses to a high-carb diet. The conversation stresses the importance of skepticism toward mainstream medical narratives and encourages an open-minded approach to understanding heart health.
Takeaways
- 🔍 The relationship between LDL cholesterol and heart disease is complex.
- 📊 New data suggests LDL may not be a significant risk factor for metabolically healthy individuals.
- ⚖️ Lifestyle factors like diet and exercise play a crucial role in cardiovascular health.
- 💡 Insulin resistance and inflammation are key contributors to heart disease risk.
- 🔄 There is potential for reversing heart disease through lifestyle changes.
- 🚫 Current medical narratives may oversimplify cholesterol's role in heart health.
- 🔬 Research challenges the effectiveness of LDL reduction alone in preventing heart disease.
- 😮 Personal experiments highlight surprising dietary impacts on LDL levels.
- 📖 Awareness of media narratives is critical for understanding medical information.
- 🌍 An open mind is essential for evolving traditional views in cardiology.
Garis waktu
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
The conversation begins with a focus on an upcoming publication regarding LDL cholesterol and heart disease, prompting a discussion about the current understanding of LDL cholesterol as a risk factor, particularly for metabolically healthy individuals.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Dr. Malhotra finds the newly published paper fascinating and consistent with existing literature, questioning LDL cholesterol's role as an independent risk factor for heart disease while discussing historical data from the Framingham study.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
The dialogue highlights that understanding familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) requires a deeper investigation beyond just elevated LDL levels, citing that many individuals with FH do not develop heart disease, suggesting that additional factors like insulin resistance may play a critical role.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
A key point raised is whether LDL is considered a major or minor risk factor. Previous systematic reviews indicate a lack of consistent correlation between LDL reduction and actual cardiovascular event reduction, emphasizing the need for context in interpreting LDL data.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
As the conversation progresses, they discuss the appropriate time frame for studying the impact of diet on cardiovascular health and the importance of long-term follow-up in understanding the implications of LDL levels and diet on heart disease.
- 00:25:00 - 00:32:57
In closing, Dr. Malhotra encourages listeners to maintain an open mind about medical information, underscoring the complexity of heart disease and the potential limitations of mainstream narratives around cholesterol.
Peta Pikiran
Video Tanya Jawab
What is the main topic of the conversation?
The main topic is the newly published research on LDL cholesterol and its relationship to heart disease.
Why is the LDL cholesterol research considered controversial?
The research questions the traditional view of LDL cholesterol as a primary risk factor for heart disease, especially in metabolically healthy individuals.
What alternative factors are discussed in relation to heart disease risk?
Factors such as insulin resistance, hypertension, and lifestyle choices are discussed as having a greater impact on heart disease risk.
How do Dr. Malhotra's views challenge conventional cardiology?
He suggests that LDL cholesterol may not be an independent risk factor and emphasizes the importance of overall health metrics rather than just cholesterol levels.
What dietary approach is supported in the conversation?
A low-carb or ketogenic diet is suggested as potentially beneficial for metabolic health and heart disease.
How do cardiologists generally react to these new findings?
Many cardiologists may initially react with skepticism due to established medical narratives around cholesterol.
What is the impact of lifestyle on cardiovascular health according to the discussion?
Lifestyle changes, including diet and stress management, are seen as critical tools for reversing heart disease risk.
What personal experience does the host share regarding the research?
The host shares a personal experiment involving Oreos to illustrate the surprising effects of a high-carb diet on LDL levels.
What should be the audience's takeaway from this conversation?
The audience should maintain an open mind about evolving perspectives in medicine and challenge conventional wisdom on heart disease.
What message is conveyed about medical information and media narratives?
There's caution against blindly accepting mainstream medical narratives, especially those influenced by commercial interests.
Lihat lebih banyak ringkasan video
- 00:00:00what you're about to hear is a
- 00:00:01conversation between myself and Dr aim
- 00:00:04Malhotra a famous consultant
- 00:00:06cardiologist and close friend of Robert
- 00:00:08F kennedy Jr who himself has been tapped
- 00:00:11for a position in the new administration
- 00:00:13i note that upfront to call out the
- 00:00:15elephant in the room our conversation is
- 00:00:18going to be centered around data that
- 00:00:19colleagues and I have just published
- 00:00:21around LDL cholesterol and heart disease
- 00:00:24that will be controversial actually
- 00:00:26republish it tomorrow morning as I
- 00:00:28record this but it's going to make big
- 00:00:30waves now if you haven't seen the video
- 00:00:32covering those new data please do so
- 00:00:34before or after watching this
- 00:00:37conversation now the last thing I'm
- 00:00:38going to say before we start the
- 00:00:40conversation is that science and people
- 00:00:42have something in common it's often the
- 00:00:44most controversial samples that are the
- 00:00:47most poorly understood so please keep an
- 00:00:49open mind and now for the conversation
- 00:00:52dr mahra thank you for taking the time
- 00:00:54to speak with me i want to get right
- 00:00:55into it i know you read our new paper
- 00:00:57which releases tomorrow morning to the
- 00:01:00public what was your reaction to reading
- 00:01:02the paper it was fascinating um Nick I
- 00:01:05mean really great work what you've done
- 00:01:07i think for me also it it seems
- 00:01:09consistent with what we already appear
- 00:01:11to know at the very least there needs to
- 00:01:14be a big question mark around the
- 00:01:16original understanding dogma on LDL
- 00:01:20cholesterol being a significant risk
- 00:01:23factor of heart disease especially as
- 00:01:24you've pointed out in people who are
- 00:01:27otherwise metabolically healthy and when
- 00:01:29you bring that into the equation you've
- 00:01:31then got to ask yourself whether or not
- 00:01:33it is truly an independent risk factor
- 00:01:34for heart disease william Castelli
- 00:01:36co-director of Framingham
- 00:01:381996 actually said looking at going back
- 00:01:42over Framingham data that LDL
- 00:01:44cholesterol unless it was above 300
- 00:01:46milligrams per deciliter or 7.8 millles
- 00:01:48per liter depending on which country
- 00:01:50you're in and what units you use it had
- 00:01:53essentially no value in
- 00:01:56isolation in predicting heart disease so
- 00:01:59it's very consistent with what we
- 00:02:01already know Nick i think that's why
- 00:02:02it's it's such a good paper thank you
- 00:02:05but would you agree with this you just
- 00:02:07mentioned LDL in isolation but I don't
- 00:02:10think we've actually had a population of
- 00:02:12people up until this point who as a
- 00:02:15population isolate LDL as a risk factor
- 00:02:18because we have generally in the
- 00:02:19population metabolic dysfunction as a
- 00:02:21background or we look towards familial
- 00:02:23hyper cholesterolmia and it's talked
- 00:02:26about as if it was just high LDL but I'm
- 00:02:29sure you'd agree like FH is a lot more
- 00:02:30also the ideology matters the cause like
- 00:02:33if you're born with a very high LDL
- 00:02:35because you have a broken lipid receptor
- 00:02:37that's very different than a metabolic
- 00:02:39response you're absolutely right so I
- 00:02:41think there's two points to be made
- 00:02:42there um so the first one in reference
- 00:02:45to what you said yes this is the first
- 00:02:46time I think this has been studied in
- 00:02:48this way but interestingly uh David
- 00:02:50Diamond and Paul Mason I don't if you
- 00:02:52read that paper they did a review of
- 00:02:54looking at statin trials specifically
- 00:02:56what they found in subgroup analysis of
- 00:02:59both primary and secondary prevention
- 00:03:00statin trials which is very interesting
- 00:03:03was that those subgroups that had normal
- 00:03:05triglycerides and HDL got no benefit
- 00:03:07whatsoever from the statin which is
- 00:03:09which is interesting but also on FH H so
- 00:03:13I was involved in some research looking
- 00:03:15at FH uh with a number of international
- 00:03:18scientists and this is an interesting
- 00:03:20one so the the big headline for FH and
- 00:03:22this is these are people I manage by the
- 00:03:23way so I'll give you some examples of
- 00:03:25what I found in my clinical practice
- 00:03:26which also seems to be consistent with
- 00:03:28the research okay is that in people with
- 00:03:31FH 70% of women okay and uh unselected
- 00:03:36and 50% of men with FH right genetically
- 00:03:40high cholesterol will not develop
- 00:03:42premature heart disease so the question
- 00:03:44then is is there any factors that
- 00:03:46differentiate those ones that do develop
- 00:03:48heart disease versus ones that don't
- 00:03:50when you look at the LDL they're the
- 00:03:52same so LDL isn't the differentiating
- 00:03:54factor they're obviously very high in
- 00:03:56both of them but it's not the
- 00:03:56differentiating factor what what is the
- 00:03:59differentiating factors well insulin
- 00:04:00resistance so type two diabetes
- 00:04:03hypertension smoking obviously um
- 00:04:06lipopro lipoprotein little a and
- 00:04:10fibbrinogen so I've had many patients
- 00:04:12come to me some of them by the way are
- 00:04:14probably lean mass hyper respponders
- 00:04:16right in their 50s but some of them are
- 00:04:17true FH and I look at their insulin
- 00:04:20resistance markers and I we go through
- 00:04:21the history i say listen actually you
- 00:04:23don't appear to be at high risk that
- 00:04:26these people are fit and active but
- 00:04:27they've been scared by their doctor that
- 00:04:30their cholesterol LDL is so high like
- 00:04:32250 300 like in similar to the people in
- 00:04:34your study and uh they literally think
- 00:04:37that you know they've got the fear of
- 00:04:38death put into them and but they're a
- 00:04:39bit reluctant they're a bit skeptical
- 00:04:41and they want to get a second opinion so
- 00:04:43what do I do I organize CT coronagrams
- 00:04:46for them and more often than not they
- 00:04:48come back completely normal which means
- 00:04:51that it reinforces that for them these
- 00:04:53people some of these with FH especially
- 00:04:56females that the if if cholesterol is a
- 00:05:00problem for them if LDL is a problem for
- 00:05:02them by your mid50s late 50s early 60s
- 00:05:06you will see some degree of
- 00:05:08aththeroscerosis and there is nothing
- 00:05:09there Nick nothing yeah no my mom falls
- 00:05:12into that category she's um MD PhD and
- 00:05:15she's had high cholesterol all her life
- 00:05:17but when she went low carb it went even
- 00:05:18higher so lean mass hyper responder on
- 00:05:20top of generally high LDL probably 160s
- 00:05:24200 LDL most of her life um and then she
- 00:05:27became a lean mass hyperresponder
- 00:05:28several years ago ldl's in the 400s
- 00:05:31she's having her 60th birthday actually
- 00:05:332 days today's uh April 6th her 60th is
- 00:05:36on April 8th happy birthday mom um but
- 00:05:39she wanted to know whether or not she
- 00:05:40should go on a statin i said just like
- 00:05:42get cardiac imaging you're a physician
- 00:05:44you know you know what this means get a
- 00:05:45CCTA zero plaque score no plaque and
- 00:05:48that made the decision for her so you
- 00:05:50know the high level truth I think that
- 00:05:51we agree on is when you look at risk
- 00:05:53factors like LDL and Apple B even if you
- 00:05:56consider them a risk factor it's very
- 00:05:58context dependent and to have a myopic
- 00:06:00focus on that is problematic well yeah
- 00:06:02that's true i agree and I think the
- 00:06:04other thing to add in which is another
- 00:06:05layer to trying to um really question
- 00:06:10whether or not LDL is an independent
- 00:06:12risk factor for heart disease and then
- 00:06:14the degree of which it is so you know is
- 00:06:16it a major risk factor is a minor risk
- 00:06:17factor and myself and um in
- 00:06:222021 I always get the year wrong 2021 in
- 00:06:24BMJ evidence-based medicine myself
- 00:06:27Robert Dro and Michelle de logero second
- 00:06:30author we did a systematic review which
- 00:06:32has now been corrected to a review for
- 00:06:34some reason because there was a bit of
- 00:06:35backlash but we really looked at all the
- 00:06:37randomized control trials looking at
- 00:06:38statins the PCKS9 inhibitor drugs which
- 00:06:42are very potent lowers of LDL
- 00:06:43cholesterol and a zetami and there was
- 00:06:46about 35 random ized control trials to
- 00:06:48answer this question is there a
- 00:06:49consistent relationship between the
- 00:06:51reduction in LDL cholesterol Nick and
- 00:06:54reduction in cardiovascular events
- 00:06:55because you got to look at the other
- 00:06:56side right because one is okay you've
- 00:06:58got a biomarker that's got some
- 00:06:59association with disease again context
- 00:07:02dependent the next question is does
- 00:07:03Loring it make any difference and we
- 00:07:05found there was no consistent
- 00:07:07relationship even from industry
- 00:07:09sponsored trials where the data is
- 00:07:11usually not independently verified so
- 00:07:14the when you and then your paper now so
- 00:07:16it's so good so strong so helpful that
- 00:07:19it really reinforces this message of
- 00:07:22course one of the things I want to ask
- 00:07:23you which was interesting of course one
- 00:07:25of the limitations is this one year okay
- 00:07:28but my understanding reading the paper
- 00:07:30is that the people enrolled had had
- 00:07:32their LDL levels quite high at least
- 00:07:35over 200 right um for a period of
- 00:07:38several years is that correct yes so the
- 00:07:40precursor paper to this um was a
- 00:07:42baseline study where we had a match
- 00:07:44population the Miami heart and what we
- 00:07:46did is we compared plaque levels in
- 00:07:48those two populations now at baseline
- 00:07:51the average age of the participants was
- 00:07:52about 55 in the keto group and they had
- 00:07:55been keto for 4.7 years on average right
- 00:07:58the end of this study it's 5.7 on
- 00:08:00average this we were looking at a
- 00:08:02one-year you know study but we still did
- 00:08:05look at about you know 5 years after
- 00:08:08they started keto and their LDL jumped
- 00:08:10how do they compare to a match
- 00:08:11population who is generally healthy and
- 00:08:14what we actually found was there was no
- 00:08:16increase in plaque in the keto group
- 00:08:18versus the people with LDLs that were I
- 00:08:22think the average levels at the baseline
- 00:08:23were 277 for the keto group and 123 for
- 00:08:26Miami heart right and that works out to
- 00:08:28about 700 milligram per deciliter year
- 00:08:30exposure actually the lean mass
- 00:08:32hyperresponders were trending to have
- 00:08:33less plaque it was a non-significant
- 00:08:35difference but there was a trend towards
- 00:08:36less plaque in the lean mass
- 00:08:37hyperresponders so by the end of the
- 00:08:39study 5.7 years on average everyone at
- 00:08:41least two years keto yeah that's
- 00:08:44fascinating I mean that adds adding
- 00:08:45another layer that it's a reasonably
- 00:08:47medium-term
- 00:08:48you know that you haven't seen any
- 00:08:50significant increase in LDL yeah
- 00:08:52and yeah with the higher resolution CT
- 00:08:56and geography we have now one year is
- 00:08:58pretty standard i mean our PI Matthew
- 00:09:01Budof is a um expert in cardiac imaging
- 00:09:04and like he said this is an appropriate
- 00:09:06time frame based on what other people do
- 00:09:07based on the modern technology the fact
- 00:09:09of the matter is of course we want to
- 00:09:11follow them for 2 years 5 years but like
- 00:09:13we don't have a time machine so check
- 00:09:14back with me in 2030 and we'll have more
- 00:09:16data these are where the data stand
- 00:09:18right now and I think yes they're
- 00:09:19preliminary but they're pretty
- 00:09:21reassuring but I also want to be
- 00:09:23respectful of your time and I have a few
- 00:09:24more questions I definitely want to hit
- 00:09:26um you're a cardiologist so you're
- 00:09:29obviously uh know many cardiologists how
- 00:09:31would they most cardiologists react to
- 00:09:35the idea now the evidence-based idea
- 00:09:37that lean metabolically healthy insulin
- 00:09:40sensitive people on a ketogenic diet
- 00:09:41with LDLs of 200 300 400 500 uh or more
- 00:09:46might not actually be a high-risisk
- 00:09:47group for cardiovascular disease how
- 00:09:49would they react cognitively emotionally
- 00:09:52well it's a really good question i can
- 00:09:54tell you that they probably first of all
- 00:09:57just part of human nature their initial
- 00:10:00reaction would be one of skepticism they
- 00:10:02won't want to believe it you know these
- 00:10:04things take time i've even seen that I I
- 00:10:07thought there's been great progress in
- 00:10:10the shifting of the paradigm of heart
- 00:10:12disease away from focusing on LDL
- 00:10:14cholesterol in part because of some of
- 00:10:16the work I've been doing and getting a
- 00:10:17lot of publicity on over the years m um
- 00:10:20but recently what I found Nick and and
- 00:10:22this is really important for the context
- 00:10:23of what we are up against in terms of
- 00:10:25the narrative that's why your paper's
- 00:10:28important it's why it's so important
- 00:10:29that we get some coverage on this and
- 00:10:31I'm sure it's going to do very well it's
- 00:10:33going to get a lot of certainly al media
- 00:10:34and hopefully some mainstream media will
- 00:10:36react to it and and and you know give
- 00:10:38you some amplify the message but what's
- 00:10:41happened in the last couple of years is
- 00:10:44I've noticed there's been almost a
- 00:10:45reemergence of an obsession and an an
- 00:10:48extra fear around cholesterol and I
- 00:10:50suspect that's also because of the
- 00:10:52non-statin new cholesterol lowering
- 00:10:54drugs they're getting pushed because
- 00:10:55they're very lucrative drug industry
- 00:10:57spend a lot of money on them so what
- 00:10:59I've been finding and this is the reason
- 00:11:00I find this is actually from my
- 00:11:02interaction with patients who come to me
- 00:11:03from sec for a second opinion or even
- 00:11:05reading letters from other reputed
- 00:11:07cardiologists in America
- 00:11:09i have a lot of patients in the US and
- 00:11:11in the UK where there is almost a a
- 00:11:14reinforcement of this cholesterol
- 00:11:16hypothesis like as in you know um unless
- 00:11:20you get your cholesterol down you're
- 00:11:22going to have a heart attack soon you're
- 00:11:23going to die there's a lot of
- 00:11:24misinformation unfortunately Nick within
- 00:11:27the minds of cardiologists and this is
- 00:11:30still based upon to a large degree as
- 00:11:33well the the focus on the management
- 00:11:36saying if you get your LDL as low as
- 00:11:37possible you are massively reducing ing
- 00:11:39a risk of a cardiovascular event yeah I
- 00:11:42I have an interesting assessment of that
- 00:11:44and I want to see your reaction to it i
- 00:11:47think that's going to backfire very
- 00:11:49strongly we have this you you just
- 00:11:52alluded to it lower is better mantra
- 00:11:54like really focusing on getting um LDL
- 00:11:57cholesterol and apple be lower and lower
- 00:11:59and lower and I think it is a reaction
- 00:12:02to alternative points of view on the
- 00:12:04pathogenesis of heart disease risk
- 00:12:06factors that are important whether or
- 00:12:07not people need to be treated and I
- 00:12:09don't think any self-respecting
- 00:12:11individual could stand behind the
- 00:12:13statement lower is better as an umbrella
- 00:12:14statement better with respect to what
- 00:12:16cardiovascular outcomes how are you
- 00:12:18lowering it because that's important But
- 00:12:20my impression is conventionalists might
- 00:12:23want to push a conservative narrative
- 00:12:26because they don't want people you know
- 00:12:29seeing an inch and taking a mile but
- 00:12:31what I think is happening I want to see
- 00:12:33if you agree is people even if they
- 00:12:36don't understand the depths of
- 00:12:38metabolism and cardiovascular health and
- 00:12:40athoscerosis pathophysiology most people
- 00:12:43can tell when they're being patronized
- 00:12:44to and when you project a message of
- 00:12:47lower is better that's all you need to
- 00:12:48know here's a medication people get
- 00:12:51pissed off yeah and they react and
- 00:12:54what's more I think a lot of
- 00:12:56conventional outlets including
- 00:12:58cardiovascular journals are destroying
- 00:13:01their credibility and the credibility of
- 00:13:02the Associated establishment by putting
- 00:13:05out what are effectively propaganda
- 00:13:07pieces that can be very easily explained
- 00:13:09so I can give specific examples but for
- 00:13:11example did you see the um the what was
- 00:13:14it in gemocardiology that there was that
- 00:13:16cardiovascular imaging report of the man
- 00:13:18with yellow nodules on carnivore no I
- 00:13:21didn't see that it's interesting i'll
- 00:13:23send it to you so it's a brief report
- 00:13:25and um they present a case of a man in
- 00:13:28his 40s that is the entirety of the
- 00:13:31patient's description they don't give
- 00:13:33his actual age they don't give any
- 00:13:35genetic family or other history and then
- 00:13:37they say he had been on a carnivore diet
- 00:13:40for 8 months eating get this 9 lbs of
- 00:13:46meat cheese and butter per
- 00:13:49day per day and and the senior the first
- 00:13:52author went on mainstream media news and
- 00:13:54doubled down on that narrative that that
- 00:13:56was the dietary intake and then they
- 00:13:57said he had um basically cholesterol
- 00:13:59oozing out of his skin and they showed
- 00:14:01something or whatever right yeah and it
- 00:14:03was just it read like a Monty Python
- 00:14:05skin it was behind a payw wall so people
- 00:14:07just kind of assumed maybe there was
- 00:14:08more details i looked at it i posted
- 00:14:10literally the whole thing on social
- 00:14:11media i emailed the journal i emailed
- 00:14:14the first author i even said to the
- 00:14:15first author if you actually have data
- 00:14:17on this patient and want to do a more
- 00:14:18comprehensive report I will help you
- 00:14:20write it i will do the leg work and if
- 00:14:22you want to get genetic testing I will
- 00:14:23pay for it at my expense no response and
- 00:14:27that's a pattern there are more papers
- 00:14:29like that and I just think they see that
- 00:14:31and then they're like why would I trust
- 00:14:33gem cardiology you're right i think I
- 00:14:36think there are two other aspects to add
- 00:14:37in in terms of the the reaction which we
- 00:14:40have to acknowledge just head up just to
- 00:14:41understand the psychology but also the
- 00:14:43barriers to the truth one is um most
- 00:14:46cardiologists most doctors have no
- 00:14:49training or understanding of lifestyle
- 00:14:52interventions to prevent and manage
- 00:14:53heart disease okay zero so you know you
- 00:14:57give a man a hammer and every problem is
- 00:14:59a nail right so for them their only
- 00:15:02approach to see a high LDL which again
- 00:15:04they don't fully understand the data on
- 00:15:06is um because they're just following
- 00:15:07guidelines and a narrative that's being
- 00:15:09pushed through propaganda right is that
- 00:15:11they think they've got this drug and you
- 00:15:13take this drug the second issue is and
- 00:15:15this is a second barrier to to them
- 00:15:18maybe speaking out even the ones that do
- 00:15:20realize there may be an issue they would
- 00:15:23be very reluctant to go against what
- 00:15:25their peers and what the guidelines are
- 00:15:28telling them because they know that that
- 00:15:31is going to be potentially threatening
- 00:15:32to their career and I say this as
- 00:15:34someone as an example of of of being in
- 00:15:37this space for you know almost 15 years
- 00:15:41as soon as I wrote in the BMJ in 2013
- 00:15:44that saturated fat doesn't cause heart
- 00:15:45disease we've over overestimated I
- 00:15:47didn't say completely overestimated
- 00:15:48cholesterol as a risk factor we've
- 00:15:50overmedicated people on stands right we
- 00:15:52should be pushing low carb diets right
- 00:15:54hit all those in one 800 you know
- 00:15:56commentary piece that got peer-reviewed
- 00:15:58and and uh press released became a big
- 00:16:00news story i've had relentless threats
- 00:16:03to my career ever since then i've lost
- 00:16:05three jobs i went I carried on with the
- 00:16:07campaigning um but that was what happens
- 00:16:10so you you've got people one that don't
- 00:16:13understand it two if they do understand
- 00:16:14it are they going to speak out so but
- 00:16:16listen the truth is the truth and
- 00:16:18incrementally over time this ripple
- 00:16:20effect and the more and more of this
- 00:16:21sort of researcher gets out there and
- 00:16:23the more advocates we have Nick powerful
- 00:16:25advocates like yourself like Dave Felman
- 00:16:27right like others like Malcolm Kendrick
- 00:16:28in the space and Ravkco the more people
- 00:16:31that speak out and articulate this with
- 00:16:33the scientific evidence as you say the
- 00:16:35harder it's going to be for them to
- 00:16:36maintain this um this false paradigm
- 00:16:40yeah i mean I'm reassured like I don't
- 00:16:42need everybody to agree with me but I
- 00:16:44think there's this idea that all of
- 00:16:47mainstream medicine and all like
- 00:16:49clinicians are pushing forward one
- 00:16:52particular narrative and I can tell you
- 00:16:53and I'm sure you could tell my audience
- 00:16:54like on the back end like when I go
- 00:16:56around and talk to my peers at HMS um
- 00:16:59Harvard Medical School and like
- 00:17:00residents and talk to them about the
- 00:17:01research they're not like "Oh no
- 00:17:03everybody needs a statin." They're like
- 00:17:04"Oh this is interesting like I want to
- 00:17:07learn more." So when you kind of like
- 00:17:08remove the filter of social media I
- 00:17:10think a lot of people are generally
- 00:17:12curious and openminded because most
- 00:17:13people just want to help their patients
- 00:17:14nick you're right but I think that's a
- 00:17:16very good point and I find the same
- 00:17:18happens when I give talks and lectures
- 00:17:20to doctors usually primary care
- 00:17:21physicians or non-cardiologists very
- 00:17:23open-minded and they're finding it
- 00:17:25interesting not necessarily the same
- 00:17:28with
- 00:17:29cardiologists but it's a bit as Yeah you
- 00:17:31would know better than me on that all
- 00:17:33right my next question for you is um do
- 00:17:36you think you can reverse heart disease
- 00:17:39and I want to frame this in the context
- 00:17:42of in our paper we had um six people
- 00:17:44despite their extremely high LDL have a
- 00:17:46decrease in total plaque score and one
- 00:17:49with a decrease in non-calified plaque
- 00:17:51volume as measured by the CCTA now even
- 00:17:54though 6 out of 100 or one out of 100 is
- 00:17:57not you know a high percentage the fact
- 00:18:00that potentially we could have
- 00:18:02regression of plaque despite those
- 00:18:04levels do you think that could be
- 00:18:07generalizable given underlying
- 00:18:09physiology and do you think you can
- 00:18:11reverse heart disease absolutely yes and
- 00:18:13I'll tell you that not even that we can
- 00:18:16we know it happens so the question is
- 00:18:17what is the best what is the mechanism
- 00:18:20or what are the mechanisms of how it
- 00:18:22happens and what is the best you know
- 00:18:25management plan in general for people
- 00:18:28and obviously context dependent um so
- 00:18:31the first thing to say is you have to if
- 00:18:32you if you start from an understanding
- 00:18:34and people can look up this paper uh in
- 00:18:362017 I'm sure you're aware of it
- 00:18:38saturated fat does not cause the
- 00:18:39arteries heart disease is a chronic
- 00:18:40inflammatory condition that can be
- 00:18:42improved by lifestyle changes right so
- 00:18:44was me Rita Redberg Pascal my BMJ great
- 00:18:46on sports medicine so if you start from
- 00:18:49the understanding that the best un the
- 00:18:52best um explanation for heart disease is
- 00:18:55insulin resistance combined with chronic
- 00:18:56inflammation right then of course
- 00:19:00theoretically anything you do to combat
- 00:19:02insulin resistance and chronic
- 00:19:04inflammation will at the very least stop
- 00:19:07the progression of heart disease but
- 00:19:09also potentially reverse it
- 00:19:10understanding that it's a dynamic
- 00:19:12process we were led to believe for many
- 00:19:14many years that it was a gradual
- 00:19:16accumulation of plaque over time and it
- 00:19:17was fixed and it would just increase but
- 00:19:19we now know that isn't true the best
- 00:19:22data I've seen but also the angiograms
- 00:19:24I've seen with my own eyes Nick was uh
- 00:19:28in India a cardiologist called
- 00:19:30cardiologist called Satish Gupta he did
- 00:19:33a study um called the Mount Abu open
- 00:19:36heart trial which was essentially a
- 00:19:37single center perspective observational
- 00:19:39study where he took several hundred
- 00:19:42patients okay this is really interesting
- 00:19:44I mean this is it's mind-blowing
- 00:19:46actually what what what he did and what
- 00:19:48I saw myself and what were in his
- 00:19:50results results is mind-blowing so he
- 00:19:52took several hundred patients who had at
- 00:19:53least moderate to severe obstructive
- 00:19:55coronary artery disease that means the
- 00:19:57stenosis was at least 50 to 70% okay
- 00:20:00they were high risk for whatever reason
- 00:20:02they didn't want to have a bypass or a
- 00:20:03stent they wanted to manage through
- 00:20:05alternative means he put them through a
- 00:20:07healthy lifestyle program okay you ready
- 00:20:09for it
- 00:20:11lowfat high fiber 50 grams a day
- 00:20:14vegetarian diet two 30 minute brisk
- 00:20:17walks a day and something called Raj Yog
- 00:20:20meditation for 40 minutes a day okay and
- 00:20:23he put them on this lifestyle plan and
- 00:20:25then he repeated their andrograms two
- 00:20:27years later like gold standard coronary
- 00:20:29invasive coronary okay completed their
- 00:20:32andagrams two years later on an average
- 00:20:34the the reduction in the stenosis was
- 00:20:37about 18 to 20% so 70 became 50 50
- 00:20:41became 30 for example which is huge huge
- 00:20:43change in the plot right and of course
- 00:20:46events were reduced as well and then he
- 00:20:48did his own you know analysis of what
- 00:20:50was it what what was the independent
- 00:20:52factor or factors behind reversal and it
- 00:20:56wasn't the diet it wasn't the exercise
- 00:20:59the only independent factor for reversal
- 00:21:02was actually the meditation 40 minutes
- 00:21:04of meditation a day is there an
- 00:21:06explanation for this yes we know that
- 00:21:07chronic stress as a attributal risk for
- 00:21:11heart disease is is now thought to be
- 00:21:13equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes a
- 00:21:15day or being diabetic or hypertensive
- 00:21:17and we know the the mechanism through
- 00:21:19chronic inflammation and through
- 00:21:20increasing clotting factors so
- 00:21:22potentially that was what so the the
- 00:21:24reason why this is fascinating is I
- 00:21:27think all these things played a role and
- 00:21:29my personal view is and this is my
- 00:21:31hypothesis that if one was to pick a
- 00:21:33diet that is likely to be the most
- 00:21:35effective for insulin resistance and
- 00:21:36chronic inflammation it's going to be a
- 00:21:39low carb or ketogenic diet with
- 00:21:42anti-inflammatory components in the food
- 00:21:43and that's why I and I'm very happy for
- 00:21:46people to contradict this or find a
- 00:21:47better way but at the moment I seem to
- 00:21:48think looking the literature you know as
- 00:21:51a general default a low carb or
- 00:21:53ketogenic Mediterranean diet seems to be
- 00:21:55in my view the best dietary approach for
- 00:21:57this so that needs to be then tested but
- 00:21:59I think that the other component is is a
- 00:22:01stress reduction and I'd be curious of
- 00:22:03course I don't know whether there's
- 00:22:04something you can look into is that the
- 00:22:06the patients your participants in your
- 00:22:09particular study i'm wondering what else
- 00:22:11they were doing other than the diet in
- 00:22:13terms of lifestyle i mean I think for
- 00:22:15the most part the population tends to be
- 00:22:17pretty active um but we don't have to my
- 00:22:20awareness like detailed lifestyle
- 00:22:22assessments so it would be interesting
- 00:22:25to take a survey of that small
- 00:22:27population which we could do post talk
- 00:22:28those six people and see if they were
- 00:22:30doing anything that made them stand out
- 00:22:32but just to kind of summarize your last
- 00:22:34point when you know another way to frame
- 00:22:36this is when we're learning um you know
- 00:22:39in our first year at at Harvard Met
- 00:22:41about risk factors for cardiovascular
- 00:22:42disease really you're saying maybe they
- 00:22:45should have on their bullet points all
- 00:22:46right LDL app insulin resistance and
- 00:22:48then medical school itself
- 00:22:51yeah i don't know probably I joke about
- 00:22:53it but I mean you you can probably
- 00:22:55empathize one of the worst hits I've
- 00:22:57taken to my health has been as a
- 00:22:58function of medical training which I'm
- 00:23:01not even a medical resident right now
- 00:23:02i'm finishing up my fourth year of
- 00:23:03medical school but it is just ironic
- 00:23:06that the training load almost requires
- 00:23:09you to martyr yourself in terms of your
- 00:23:11lifestyle and the reason I raise that is
- 00:23:14because I think it can create an
- 00:23:17underlying bias about the value of
- 00:23:19lifestyle in medicine when you can't
- 00:23:20live it yourself just because of the
- 00:23:21training that's required very true very
- 00:23:23true and that's actually something that
- 00:23:24still exists um within medicine you know
- 00:23:28I remember during the pandemic uh when
- 00:23:30the whole thing was happening with COVID
- 00:23:32and there was data coming out and it
- 00:23:33looked pretty consistent that adver poor
- 00:23:35metabolic health was also a risk factor
- 00:23:37for poor COVID outcomes that was then
- 00:23:38proven later on for example you had
- 00:23:40hypertension you were 34 more times more
- 00:23:42likely to be hospitalized or die from
- 00:23:44COVID than if you were metabolically
- 00:23:46healthy right yeah so and and you then
- 00:23:48it's diabetes obesity all those things
- 00:23:50and I remember there was a situation in
- 00:23:52the middle of the pandemic early 2020 or
- 00:23:54mid 2020 where one of the teaching
- 00:23:56hospitals in the UK I don't know if you
- 00:23:57remember this it was a big social media
- 00:23:59thing bmj even wrote about it one of the
- 00:24:02teaching officers of the UK were very
- 00:24:04proud to announce that they were getting
- 00:24:06a free crispy cream donuts like a
- 00:24:09thousand crispy cream donuts for the
- 00:24:10staff now the point is it's not just
- 00:24:12that and I obviously objected to it and
- 00:24:14I you know I made a fuss on social media
- 00:24:16there was a huge you know back and forth
- 00:24:18backlash you know lots of people joining
- 00:24:19in and one of the things that was really
- 00:24:22interesting to observe is a lot of these
- 00:24:24doctors who found it funny that I was
- 00:24:26saying that why this is not setting good
- 00:24:28example in the middle of the BC epidemic
- 00:24:30but also you're probably going to make
- 00:24:31the risk your risk of COVID um outcomes
- 00:24:34worse if you are and we actually do have
- 00:24:36data showing that the people that had
- 00:24:38very high glucose levels with type two
- 00:24:40for example or Even non-diabetics who
- 00:24:41came to hospital with high glucose had
- 00:24:43worse outcomes so there's definitely
- 00:24:44some evidence for that but in general it
- 00:24:46wasn't sending good message people were
- 00:24:48responding like jokingly like as if they
- 00:24:50as if diet had no they were being very
- 00:24:53explicit i mean I'm talking about people
- 00:24:54who are diabetists and endocrinologists
- 00:24:57they're thinking that diet has no role
- 00:24:59to play in disease or very little role
- 00:25:01to play in disease i mean I mean that's
- 00:25:05what we're up against yeah no no free
- 00:25:07crispy creams to incentivize
- 00:25:08immunization it's like setting aside
- 00:25:10your opinion on you know social
- 00:25:13distancing whatever the pathophysiology
- 00:25:16is clear the risk factors are clear poor
- 00:25:18glycemic control insulin resistance
- 00:25:20diabetes are high risk factors for poor
- 00:25:21outcomes the fact that you would
- 00:25:23incentivize people to get an
- 00:25:25immunization by giving away free donuts
- 00:25:27it's such a dysfunctional
- 00:25:30like it's it's I don't see how people
- 00:25:33can see that and think that that's okay
- 00:25:35so what we would need obviously is like
- 00:25:37a cultural shift where everybody sees
- 00:25:38that every healthare practitioner sees
- 00:25:40it and like this is not appropriate it
- 00:25:43it just not but speaking about junk food
- 00:25:46I wanted to ask your opinion on this in
- 00:25:47case you hadn't heard of it um you know
- 00:25:50let me frame this as you're a fire brand
- 00:25:53of sorts you've definitely gotten your
- 00:25:54name out there don't have trouble
- 00:25:56putting your opinions out there which I
- 00:25:57think is great um as as a general uh
- 00:26:00point I am new to the scene new to the
- 00:26:03social media scene and I've only been
- 00:26:04putting effort into social media for
- 00:26:06about like a year and a bit and my
- 00:26:09emergence was we were doing this
- 00:26:12research this is now our like 11th paper
- 00:26:14on this topic but people weren't talking
- 00:26:15about it they're like where's the data
- 00:26:17i'm like I've shown you like 12 times
- 00:26:19the meta analysis of RCTs and that we've
- 00:26:22done on this particular topic like you
- 00:26:23are ignoring it entirely so I wanted to
- 00:26:25force a conversation so do you know what
- 00:26:28I did at the beginning of 2024 is this
- 00:26:30Oreo Oreo cookies yes yeah tell me a
- 00:26:33little bit more about that cuz I
- 00:26:34remember just I I superficially source
- 00:26:36all the what was happening but it was I
- 00:26:39was just like look first of all I don't
- 00:26:41have many resources at the time I was
- 00:26:42like a 27year-old you know medical
- 00:26:44student but I'm like but I really want
- 00:26:46to force this conversation how can I do
- 00:26:47it so I'm like all right what do I have
- 00:26:49i have brands i have an Oxford PhD i
- 00:26:51have a Harvard Harvard Medical School
- 00:26:53and I have social media not big on
- 00:26:55social media but can I design an
- 00:26:58experiment that is so provocative
- 00:27:00everyone will have to talk about it and
- 00:27:02so based on my understanding of the
- 00:27:03lipid energy model which is the idea
- 00:27:06behind the lean mass hyperpres this
- 00:27:08population of people low carb high LDL
- 00:27:10the leaner you are the higher your LDL
- 00:27:13that is a graphic of the mechanism we
- 00:27:15have paper that I'll post in the video
- 00:27:17notes but that aside the physiology as I
- 00:27:20understood it would predict that I could
- 00:27:22reverse my high LDL by just adding carbs
- 00:27:26to my diet it didn't have to be a swap
- 00:27:28it could be a pure addition of carbs it
- 00:27:29could be any carbs too so I'm like what
- 00:27:32is the most viral worthy source of
- 00:27:35carbohydrates and I'm like I think Oreo
- 00:27:37cookies i can't think of something
- 00:27:38that's like has a better brand for just
- 00:27:40being delicious unhealthy than Oreo
- 00:27:43cookies so I designed a crossover
- 00:27:45experiment where I eat my baseline diet
- 00:27:47i'd lock it in for 2 weeks get lipid
- 00:27:49tests then eat Oreo cookies for about 2
- 00:27:53weeks the dose was 12 cookies per day
- 00:27:56which is about 100 g of carbs add it to
- 00:27:58my diet diet was locked in this was not
- 00:28:00a swap then um do a wash out period to
- 00:28:03reset and go on 20 millig of crust um
- 00:28:07for 6 weeks the statin phase was longer
- 00:28:10because I wanted to give it you know a
- 00:28:11fair shot and I went for the gorilla
- 00:28:13dose of 20 milligrams i will also note
- 00:28:15the senior author on that paper is a two
- 00:28:17author paper me and uh professor William
- 00:28:19Cromwell i don't know if you know him
- 00:28:21but he's a lipidologist over 30 years
- 00:28:23experience i chose him because he's very
- 00:28:25open-minded but he's also has
- 00:28:27relationships to people that are
- 00:28:28relevant in the space um he trained
- 00:28:30Thomas Dpring uh in lipids who's
- 00:28:33obviously very close to Peter so um
- 00:28:36anyway he gave me input on how to design
- 00:28:39it that's how we decided on the 20
- 00:28:40milligrams of crust for six weeks anyway
- 00:28:42I executed on the study and the
- 00:28:44punchline was the Oreo cookies were
- 00:28:46twice as powerful as the statin at
- 00:28:48reducing my LDL the Oreo cookies dropped
- 00:28:50my LDL by 71%
- 00:28:53from 384 to 111 in 16 days the reason it
- 00:28:57was 16 days not exactly 2 weeks 14 days
- 00:29:00is because the drop was so dramatic at
- 00:29:0314 days and we were doing weekly tests
- 00:29:05so that was only the second what was
- 00:29:07actually what what was the what was the
- 00:29:08mechanism of the drop i'm curious
- 00:29:10because the diet because of in general
- 00:29:11like high sugar high carb diets will
- 00:29:13give you high small dense LDL that
- 00:29:15increases LDL so how come it dropped i'm
- 00:29:18curious what was actually that dropped
- 00:29:19it our understanding of the physiology
- 00:29:21of the seed oil no no no so when you go
- 00:29:26um low carb and you're very lean you
- 00:29:27release more free fatty acids even than
- 00:29:29someone with obesity or diabetes and the
- 00:29:32spillover of the fatty acids goes to the
- 00:29:33liver and then there's recirculation
- 00:29:35whereby your liver exports more large
- 00:29:38VLDLDL right and then there's a really
- 00:29:41rapid turnover of the VLDLDL so your
- 00:29:43baseline starting LDL was actually quite
- 00:29:46high compared to most people yes on a
- 00:29:48ketogenic diet although I will note if I
- 00:29:50when I eat a standard American diet
- 00:29:51before I went keto my LDL is about 90
- 00:29:53like my LDL at at bas and what was it
- 00:29:56what was it only on keto so are you a
- 00:29:58lean mass hyperresponder then yourself
- 00:29:59yes so my LDL fluctuates between 250 and
- 00:30:02566 okay that makes me Okay now I
- 00:30:05understand now makes sense i want to
- 00:30:07move on because I want to be respectful
- 00:30:08of your time my final questions for you
- 00:30:10one one quick question though before you
- 00:30:12answer sorry we can put this in what
- 00:30:14happened to your triglycerides and HDL
- 00:30:16when you ate the Oreo cookies so that's
- 00:30:19really interesting hdl because of it
- 00:30:21it's complicated and I know you have
- 00:30:23like 2 minutes left so I I'll was stable
- 00:30:25i think over time if I continued it
- 00:30:27would have dropped that's the prediction
- 00:30:29um the triglycerides went were stable or
- 00:30:33went down most people wouldn't think our
- 00:30:35model predicts that but it actually does
- 00:30:37because in the acute setting 2 weeks I
- 00:30:42remained insulin sensitive like you
- 00:30:44don't get metabolic syndrome in 2 weeks
- 00:30:47what happened was the relative
- 00:30:49hyperinsulinemia while being insulin
- 00:30:51sensitive was probably triggering my
- 00:30:54lipoprotein lipase to be more active so
- 00:30:56the fat had been cleared out of my blood
- 00:30:57from the diet when I got the fasting
- 00:30:59test so what's going to happen is the
- 00:31:02leprop is going to pull extra
- 00:31:03triglycerides out of the VLDL so my go
- 00:31:06down and they did over the longer term
- 00:31:08it would have gone up though obviously
- 00:31:10as I accumulated like fat in my liver
- 00:31:11became insulin resistant but it was all
- 00:31:13predictive with the model now I I
- 00:31:15generally rail against short-term
- 00:31:16studies but short-term studies can be
- 00:31:18useful when you're testing dynamic
- 00:31:20systems which is what this is okay yeah
- 00:31:22great i want to jump into a couple more
- 00:31:25questions one you're good friends with
- 00:31:28um RFK Jr do you one think he'll see
- 00:31:32this paper listen to this conversation
- 00:31:34and if he does what do you predict his
- 00:31:36reaction will be listen I think first of
- 00:31:38all he's obviously extremely busy man
- 00:31:40doing lots of stuff at the moment it's
- 00:31:42really important things um given the
- 00:31:44fact that I am closely aligned with him
- 00:31:46and uh I can communicate with him on a
- 00:31:50regular basis part of this will
- 00:31:52definitely be part of the bigger picture
- 00:31:54i'm sure he it will come across um his
- 00:31:57uh you know uh he will be aware of it
- 00:32:00for sure we'll make sure that happens
- 00:32:02and in general and with a with with a
- 00:32:04broader perspective also looking at
- 00:32:06shifting our current approach to
- 00:32:07preventing and managing heart disease
- 00:32:09for sure and this is 100% part of the
- 00:32:11story excellent and with my last
- 00:32:13question I want to ask is there anything
- 00:32:14I should have asked you that I haven't
- 00:32:16anything you want to say to my audience
- 00:32:18no I think people just need to be keep
- 00:32:20an open mind and realize that and have a
- 00:32:22think about how they receive medical
- 00:32:24information and uh the fact that most
- 00:32:28stories in the mainstream media do not
- 00:32:30actually fulfill criteria for accuracy
- 00:32:33especially if they are sponsored by very
- 00:32:35powerful vested interests so I think
- 00:32:39yeah just keep an open mind that's all I
- 00:32:40would say fantastic well thank you so
- 00:32:42much for your time to my audience links
- 00:32:44to the papers and associated videos are
- 00:32:46going to be down below um with more
- 00:32:48information thanks so much for taking
- 00:32:50the time and I look forward to uh this
- 00:32:52hitting the news streams tomorrow
- 00:32:55awesome thanks so much
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