Understanding of HEART DISEASE, CVD, cholesterol, saturated fat has moved on A LOT since “The lipid hypothesis” (which even today is still called a hypothesis for good reason… it was never proven, and it won’t be because it’s not true).
For example, from the video below… “normalizing insulin can help the thyroid function normally, which improves cholesterol metabolism.”
I am shocked and horrified by the continued use of statins, given where we are now in our knowledge of heart disease. Regularly eating fish has been shown to have a greater effect than statins. That’s just ONE lifestyle factor!
We need to get into HOLISTIC prevention and management, the body functions as a synergistic WHOLE. And as the graph below shows, cholesterol is not even correlated with heart disease…
IF YOU ARE TAKING STATINS, we highly recommend researching it yourself, since your doctor is not necessarily up to speed. Chris Kresser’s in-depth articles are excellent…
Lifestyle intervention has already been proven to REVERSE atherosclerosis, plus there are much more important things to do than take statins, such as controlling insulin and chronic inflammation (important in many chronic diseases too), achieving a healthy weight, which is related to insulin control and is easy on the right diet that controls insulin, optimizing omega-6 and 3 balance, and getting the right nutrition… remember, that biochemistry is the interplay of all factors! These factors and others, get to the real roots of cardiovascular disease.
The video is a great chat between Dr. Mercola and Dr. Chris Masterjohn about the role of cholesterol in the body. It shows that biochemistry of cholesterol, (and every OTHER thing in your body) is complex, and MEDIATED by lifestyle factors, CRUCIALLY your diet…
What to do if you take statins or never want to
Given that lifestyle interventions are proven to reverse atherosclerosis, and that these lifestyle factors are now understood, the best thing you can do, is build them into your life…
- Achieve a healthy weight.
- Control insulin by eating correctly balanced meals with the right proportions of carbohydrate, fat and protein.
- Eat the types of foods we evolved eating, a natural human diet. Eat oily fish 3 times a week. Balance omega-3 and 6 by reducing omega-6 consumption to stop chronic inflammation.
- Exercise.
- Quit smoking.
- Reduce stress.
- Get enough high quality sleep.
- Supplement with vitamin K2 and magnesium, and vitamin D in winter. Vitamin K2 supplementation can actually help reverse atherosclerosis by moving calcium out of arteries and into bone.
The fact is that the answer to heart disease is the same as the answer to most other chronic diseases, and that is to provide the conditions for health. It may seem like an impossible task but all these things are actually quite easy to build into your life. It’s about getting into the right habits.
The key is to have a crystal clear idea of exactly what that lifestyle looks like and then take little steps every week to put it in place. Happy Guide lays out the lifestyle for you, and gives you the tools to easily achieve it.
At the end of the day, what matters is actually creating the conditions in your life that will work. It all boils down to actually DOING STUFF. All the theory has to be translated into simple actions that work, that are easy to do, and fit in with your life.
Get started on the Happy Guide program today, and get the best from your lifestyle so you can be happy and healthy.
Also, tell your doctor that you want change your lifestyle, and would like to be monitored regularly so that you can quit the statins. The ideal situation for you would be to find a health practitioner who is fully up-to-speed with all this, and has access to the right tests and can support you through the changes.
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Michael Kinnaird is the author of Happy Guide, the result of a 20 year exploration into what works for health and happiness.
Read Chapter 1 “The Happiness Secret”
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