Dairy debate reveals a confusing catch
Dairy is suddenly everywhere, and even longtime skeptics are rethinking whether cheese and whole milk deserve a place on the healthy plate. Yogurt is being talked about as a possible successor to olive oil in wellness circles, and a well known food is medicine researcher and cardiologist has been publicly championing full fat milk products […]
The cardiovascular risk factor most doctors never bring up first
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally, a statistic that has persisted through decades of medical advancement, pharmaceutical development, and public health campaigns. Its persistence is not a failure of scientific understanding. The biology of heart disease and its risk factors are among the most thoroughly researched in all of medicine. What continues […]
Heart disease in the United States costs billions yearly
Heart disease has held its place at the top of America’s mortality statistics for decades, and the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show little sign of that changing. The condition remains the leading cause of death for men, women and people across most racial and ethnic groups in the country. […]
Could your stress levels be doing more cardiovascular damage than your food choices
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally, a fact that persists not because the science of prevention is lacking but because the gap between what medicine knows and what reaches the average person in a usable form remains stubbornly wide. The traditional heart health risk model, built around cholesterol levels, blood pressure, smoking […]
Healthy fats are doing something remarkable for the aging heart
Healthy fats have spent decades being miscast as the villain in the story of heart disease. For most of the late twentieth century, the public was told to cut fat, avoid it, and replace it wherever possible with low-fat alternatives. What followed was decades of fat-free crackers, reduced-fat spreads, and processed foods engineered to remove […]
New cholesterol guidelines that could save your life after 30
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and experts estimate that up to 80% of cases are preventable. Despite that, many people do not think about their cardiovascular health until something feels noticeably wrong and by then, damage may already have been quietly building for years. New guidelines released by the American Heart […]
What your cholesterol numbers are not telling you and why your heart disease risk may be higher than you think
Cholesterol is the most discussed cardiovascular risk marker in routine medicine and arguably one of the most misunderstood. The standard lipid panel that most people receive at their annual physical measures total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides. It is a useful starting point for cardiovascular risk assessment. It is also, according to a […]
Heart disease builds silently for decades and waiting for symptoms before acting is the most dangerous mistake you can make
Heart disease does not announce itself early. The arterial changes that eventually produce heart attacks and strokes begin accumulating in many people during their twenties and thirties, progressing silently through decades of apparent cardiovascular health before producing the first symptom that sends someone to a hospital. By that point the disease has frequently been developing […]
Canola vs. olive oil: what’s better for your heart?
The debate over cooking oils has moved well beyond grocery store aisles and into social media feeds, where conflicting claims about seed oils, olive oil and heart health are everywhere. Suggesting that an olive oil rich diet could raise low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol the kind commonly referred to as bad cholesterol more than canola […]
The hidden heart risk factor 20% of people have
For years, the conversation around heart health has centered on one number: LDL cholesterol. Keep that low, the thinking goes, and your cardiovascular risk stays manageable. But a growing body of research is challenging that assumption, pointing to a largely overlooked particle in the blood that can drive serious heart events even in people whose […]