We have all been subjected to the low-fat, low-cholesterol propaganda put out by the FDA, CDC and the Center for Heart Disease stating that fats and cholesterol will clog your arteries and cause heart disease. We have Ancel Keys, and his diet-heart hypothesis from 1953, to thank for that. The diet-heart hypothesis basically stated that dietary fats and cholesterol cause heart disease, and by avoiding these foods you can avoid heart disease. He hand-picked 6 countries with the data he wanted, out of the 22 he studied, and the doctors and policy makers accepted it as science. Since then, we have been told to eat low-fat, low-cholesterol diets and have given statin drugs to anyone with a cholesterol level greater than 240. If this policy was correct, and fat and cholesterol caused heart disease, then we would  have seen a decrease in heart disease. However, not only have these number not declined, but they have increased. Today it is estimated that 17 million people around the world die from cardio-vascular disease every year.

Heart disease includes many things, but when we talk about heart disease and diet, we are referring to coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is thought to be caused by atherosclerosis, or narrowing or obstruction of the arteries. Conventional medicine does not know what causes atherosclerosis or how to cure it. Risk factors have been identified that are thought to contribute to the development of atherosclerosis, however, they are only risk factors and not causes of the disease. Risk factors include smoking, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, male gender, family history of arterial disease, stress and an anxious and aggressive personality. There are about 200 risk factors – and the list is still growing.

The risk factors that we hear most about are cholesterol and dietary fats. The popular media, doctors, pharmacists, government bodies and the food industry all push the idea that cholesterol and dietary fats cause heart disease and atherosclerosis. But, we actually need cholesterol and fat for life. We can’t survive without cholesterol. Cholesterol is one of the most essential substances in the body. It gives support to our cells, aids in healing inflammation and injury, assists in communication between cells, immunity, making sex hormones, producing bile for digestion and so much more.

The life of the diet-heart hypotheses is finally coming to an end and we are starting to become aware that inflammation is the real cause of atherosclerosis. C-reactive protein, the universal marker for ongoing inflammation in the body, is rapidly becoming the best marker for atherosclerosis and predicting is deadly complications like heart attack and stroke. Inflammation is the normal way for our bodies to respond to an injury. Things inflame when injured and then they heal. However, in western civilizations we are seeing this normal healing process go wrong with the formation of never healing lesions, or atherosclerotic plaques, inside the walls of blood vessels. The development of these atherosclerotic plaques is like an out-of-order attempt by the body to deal with an injury inside the blood vessels.

So what causes the inflammation and injuries inside our blood vessels? Once upon a time, we ate real food and it was very rare to hear of a person having a heart attack. Once these processed full of sugar and toxic vegetable oils were introduced, the incidence of heart disease skyrocketed.  Sugar, hydrogenated oils and processed foods cause inflammation in the body. In addition to these obvious causes of inflammation the list gets longer every day; man-made chemicals (personal care products and household cleaners), smoking, industrial pollution, pesticides, fertilizers, chlorine, fluoride, nutritional deficiencies, abnormalities in gut flora, infections microbes, lack of sunlight, sedentary lifestyle and nitrates just to name a few. We wonder why we are sick and getting sicker, but we are surrounded by toxins everywhere we go.

So, what can we do to help prevent atherosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes? We need to start eating real, nutrient dense food. STOP eating PROCESSED FOODS!!! And, stop polluting your body with chemicals. I know it can be hard to avoid all chemicals, as we live in a very toxic world, but we can make an effort to avoid them the to the best of our ability. Shop around the perimeter of the grocery store and limit the number of packaged foods you eat. Eat whole fat foods that haven’t been processed down to nothing. Wild caught, grass-fed, pasture raised, organic, non-gmo and local are best when possible. Also, try to avoid household products and cleaners that are full of chemicals and carcinogens that are known to be toxic to humans.