The REAL way to stop or reverse heart disease

That is , risk for such things as heart attack , need for heart procedures such as stent implantation or bypass surgery , or even sudden cardiac death , serious and often life-threatening events . Has it worked Well ?

80 million Americans now take statin cholesterol drugs to reduce cholesterol , yet there has been no meaningful reduction in such events and in fact , I'll bet some of your local hospitals have added multi-million dollar wings for cardiac care . It's the number one moneymaker for hospitals and healthcare .

The tragedy of all this is that the focus on issues like cholesterol have taken everyone's focus off the real causes of heart disease that are , in reality , easy to identify and manage .

And it involves no pharmaceuticals , no restriction of dietary fat , no need to reduce cholesterol , but draws from a handful of common sense and natural strategies that , time and again , have allowed people to stop or even reverse coronary atherosclerosis .

So in this episode of the Defiant Health Podcast , let's discuss all these unique and effective ways to put a stop or even reverse coronary disease . Let me tell you about how I've been reversing heart disease for the last 20 some years . It's quite easy and fairly straightforward . You don't hear much about it because it doesn't make a lot of money .

Now there's a lot of misinformation about heart disease . By heart disease , of course , I'm talking about coronary disease , that is , atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries , the three coronary arteries . That causes heart attack , sudden cardiac death . You get it stented or bypassed . That's the stuff that grows in your coronary arteries .

I'm not going to talk about other forms of heart disease valvular heart disease , heart muscle diseases , cardiomyopathies and many other rhythm diseases . Let's focus specifically on this most common form of heart disease coronary disease . When I say heart disease in this context , I mean coronary disease .

There's a lot of misinformation in this world because a lot of money is being made by mismanaging and not preventing this disease . So you may have noticed , for instance , maybe your hospital added an $80 million wing for cardiac care because they make a lot of money .

Heart disease is the number one moneymaker , number one source of revenue for hospitals and the healthcare system . So there's a ton of money at stake here and it's allowed . Proliferation of the silliest ideas like reducing cholesterol prevents heart disease . It does not . Let's be very clear on that . You do not have to reduce cholesterol .

Cholesterol is nothing more than a crude indirect marker that was meant to represent the lipoproteins , the fat-carrying proteins in the bloodstream that do cause heart disease .

So , starting in the 1950s and 1960s , because they couldn't really quantify tiny microscopic particles in the bloodstream that cause heart disease , so they said let's measure one component , one ingredient in these lipoproteins . Let's measure one component , one ingredient in these lipoproteins . They could have chosen apoprotein B , one of the main proteins in those particles .

They could have chosen triglycerides , they could have chosen many other things . As an indirect way to guesstimate the number of particles in the bloodstream that cause heart disease . They chose cholesterol . It's easy to measure . And then they showed that the various fractions of blood that layer out when you spin it down in a centrifuge .

You could use cholesterol to very crudely guesstimate how many particles are in each layer the high density layer , low density layer , very low density layer , and so on . Well , it became .

People started to view cholesterol as the cause for heart disease and then the appearance of cholesterol-reducing drugs pretty much firmly implanted this idea into the public's perception as well as my colleagues and they thought , everyone thought that reducing cholesterol was the way to reduce heart disease . It is not .

If you take a cholesterol-reducing drug , it has almost no effect . Some of the most recent evidence , for instance the HEARTS trial and the EVAPORATE trial these are two very nice studies , both using CT , coronary angiography .

That is , a CT scanner that creates three-dimensional images of the coronary arteries and gives you intense detail , very detailed breakdown of how much lipid tissue there is , fatty tissue , how much is fibrous , how much is calcific . It breaks down the components of atherosclerotic plaque very nicely . Now please don't hear get that test done . I would not do that test .

I'll talk about other ways to look at coronary disease , because that test packs a lot of radiation about 300 chest x-rays worth of radiation . It's a useful test , very

beautiful pictures , but it gets you exposed to a lot of radiation . So there's a time and place for that , but not here . We're not going to talk about that today . Nonetheless , those two trials the HARTS and the EVAPORATE trial showed very interestingly that statin drugs do not regress carinatory atherosclerotic plaque . In fact , it allows significant progression .

Interestingly , these were studies of omega-3 fatty acids and higher doses , typically more than 3,300 milligrams of EPA and DHA per day , did achieve regression of carinatory atherosclerotic plaque , principally the fatty component . That's very important because the fatty component is the stuff that ruptures and that causes a heart attack and death .

So people think of coronary disease as a progressive disease gets worse and worse and worse 50% , 70% , 90% and then 100% . That's not how coronary disease works . It's a 30% 40 percent plaque , that is , it's not obstructing flow but it erupts because that plaque is inflamed . Underneath its cap there's inflamed tissue and that causes that plaque to rupture .

That's how you go from , say , a 30 percent blockage to a 100 percent blockage . Because when it ruptures , kind of like a little volcano or a pimple , the underlying tissue is exposed to blood and it causes blood clotting . So that's how a 30 percent or 40 percent blockage can rupture , cause a heart attack .

That's why it's very difficult to predict heart attacks because it comes from what would be regarded as a minor plaque . There are exceptions , but that is in general , general the rule . So how can we regress this ? Well , it's not going to be a statin cholesterol drug . So you can do this , you can regress , you can stop or regress coronary disease without drugs .

You do not need any drugs to do this . So how do you do it ? Well , first of all you have to know what causes heart disease , coronary disease , and there's a handful of things . There's two lipoprotein classes of particles . There's very low-density lipoprotein , vldl , and small LDL particles , not LDL cholesterol .

The indirect way to guesstimate these particles you can actually measure these particles VLDL and small LDL . Measure these particles , vldl and small LDL . Small LDL is a very vicious little thing because it's very adherent to the artery wall . It's very prone to glycation and oxidation , making it much more aggressive and causing heart disease .

If it gains entry into the artery wall , it provokes inflammation and small LDL particles last about five to seven days in the bloodstream as compared to a large LDL particle , a normal LDL particle that persists for 24 hours one day . So large LDL particles come from consuming fats and oils . Small LDL particles come from consuming fats , wheat , grains and sugars .

It's the amylopectin A you need to wheat and grains and sugars that promote formation of small LDL . So bear with me , this is how it works . So you eat , let's say , a bowl of breakfast cereal or other junk food that has wheat , grains and sugars in it .

Okay , your blood sugar , of course , goes way high when you do that 170 would be very common but your liver is very good at taking those sugars , the amylopectin A of grains or sugars , and converting them to triglycerides . And that process is called liver or hepatic de novo lipogenesis .

And all that means is your liver's ability to convert carbohydrates to fats , triglycerides . Well , triglycerides can't float freely in the bloodstream because if they did , they would coalesce , just like in salad dressing . The oil separates from the aqueous , from the water , right Water and vinegar . Same thing here . Triglycerides can't float freely in the bloodstream .

It would be very dangerous , you'd die . So the liver packages triglycerides into a water-soluble particle that's VLDL , very low-density lipoprotein , and it's very triglyceride rich , so that VLDL is itself able to enter the artery wall and contribute to coronary atherosclerosis .

And that VLDL , triglyceride-rich VLDL particle interacts with LDL particles and there's a series of enzymatic reactions that cause that LDL particle to become small . That's the cause . So VLDL , small LDL , and you can measure these things using lipoprotein testing , not lipid testing , cholesterol testing , but lipoprotein .

So the way that's most readily available is nuclear magnetic resonance , nmr , lipoprotein analysis . It's easy to get If your doctor says , oh , we don't do that around here , or insurance doesn't cover it , or that's not accepted , it's experimental . Those are all lies , those are all bald lies . None of this is true . It's covered by insurance . It's been around .

There are 55 clinical trials human clinical trials showing that small LDL is the cause for coronary disease . So don't take those kinds of excuses . So NMR lipoproteins will identify the VLDL and small LDL and you want as close to zero small LDL as possible . Less than 200 nanomoles per liter is probably okay , but we want it close to zero as possible .

So what causes formation of small LDL and VLDL ? Wheat , grains and sugars . Period , not bacon , fat , not butter , not olive oil , not fatty cuts of meat , wheat , grains and sugar .

So if you start , let's say you get your NMR lipoprotein testing and you have 1,800 , say , nanomoles per liter , particle count per volume , wheat grain , sugar elimination , right , and your small LDL typically drops to zero and all kinds of other things happen . Your HDL goes up , triglycerides go down . You don't really have to follow VLDL .

By the way , you can follow triglycerides . Vldl tracks so well with triglycerides . You can use a basic triglyceride measure on a cholesterol panel . Ironically , total cholesterol , ldl cholesterol , are worthless . They're worthless . Cross them out with a big black magic marker . But the triglyceride value is useful .

That's the one that's usually ignored and you want that at 60 millirems per deciliter or less . That's usually ignored and you want that at 60 millirems per deciliter or less . That tells you you have very little VLDL that is causing heart disease and you have very little VLDL interacting with LDL to make small LDL particles .

So wheat grain and sugar elimination works incredibly well . So those are the lipoprotein causes of heart disease . Now , when you get that NMR panel , by the way , the first time you get it also specify lipoprotein A . We say lipoprotein little a little a in parentheses . That's a genetic pattern , because there's a bit of a different way to approach this .

If you had that specific genetic marker . If you don't have it , never have to test it again . Okay , because you can't get it . It's genetically determined . And how do we manage that ? That's a topic for another day . But so NMR lipoproteins with lipoprotein A , at least the first time .

It also helps to get a thyroid panel , tsh , free T3 , free T4 , thyroid antibodies and reverse T3 , because even a little bit of hypothyroidism can contribute to coronary atherosclerosis . So we try to keep that TSH , for instance , at two microunits per liter or less , between 0.2 and 2.0 . That's an ideal area , ideal range .

The Defiant Health Podcast is sponsored by Paleo Valley . Makers of delicious grass-fed beef sticks , healthy snack bars and other products . We're very picky around here and insist that any product we consider contains no junk ingredients like carrageenan , carboxymethylcellulose , sucralose or added sugars , and , of course , no gluten nor grains .

One of the habits I urge everyone to get into is to include several servings of fermented foods every day in your diet , part of an effort to cultivate a healthy gastrointestinal microbiome . Unlike nearly all other meat sticks available , paleo Valley grass-fed beef , pork and chicken sticks are naturally fermented , meaning they contain probiotic bacterial species .

Paleo Valley has also launched a number of interesting new products , including extra virgin olive oil , spice mixes , organic coffee , strawberry lemonade , super greens and essential electrolytes in a variety of flavors . And if you haven't already tried it , you've got to try their chocolate-flavored bone broth protein that makes delicious hot chocolate and brownies .

See the recipes for the brownies in my drdavisinfinitehealthcom blog . Listeners to the Defiant Health podcast receive a 15% discount by going to paleovalleycom . Backward slash defiant health . And in case you haven't yet heard , biotiquest probiotics are my first choice for intelligently , purposefully crafted probiotics .

I've had numerous conversations with Biotic West founders Martha Carlin and academic microbiologist Dr Raul Cano . They have formulated unique probiotic products that incorporate what are called collaborative or guild effects , that is , groups of microbes that collaborate with each other via sharing of specific metabolites , potentially providing synergistic benefits .

They have designed their sugar shift probiotic to support healthy blood sugars . Simple slumber to support sleep . Ideal immunity to support a healthy immune response . Heart-centered that supports several aspects of heart health . And antibiotic antidote designed to support recovery of the gastrointestinal microbiome after a course of antibiotics .

The BiotiQuest probiotics are , I believe , among the most effective of all probiotic choices you have . Enter the discount code UNDOC15 , all caps , u-n-d-o-c-15 , for a 15% discount .

For defiant health listeners and due to demand for reliable , convenient sources of Lactobacillus roteri , our favorite microbe , I created two products my Roteri that contains 20 billion counts of L-Roteri alone , and Gut2Glow that , in addition to L-Roteri , has added marine source collagen , peptides , hyaluronic acid and the carotenoid astaxanthin , all combined to stack the odds

in favor of beneficial skin effects . Of course , you can take these products as is or you can use either as a starter to make El Rotary yogurt generate even higher counts of microbes for bigger effects . I'll provide a link for these products below in the show notes .

We also check a 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood level so important because vitamin D is extremely important . I want a very , extremely important component of your program to prevent or reverse coronary atherosclerosis . Okay , so we're going to follow the diet that eliminates the expression of VLDL and small LDL .

We're going to address nutrients that are largely lacking in modern life , that influence insulin resistance and inflammation . So insulin resistance and inflammation amplify liver de novo , lipogenesis , it makes it worse , and a high blood glucose glycates those small LDL parts . You see that it's all tied together right . So we're going

to supplement four things . We're going to supplement omega-3 fatty acids , because that's what's necessary for regression of coronary disease , and we're going to use a dose of at least 3,600 milligrams of EPA DHA per day . We also add vitamin D at a dose sufficient to raise your 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood level to 60 to 70 nanograms per milliliter .

Okay , typically typical dose it varies on body size , but a typical dose would be 6,000 units in an oil-based gel cap only , never tablets . Tablets are radically absorbed . So you want oil-based gel caps . They're very inexpensive and you want to wait three months after you start vitamin D before you check a blood level .

If you want to check a blood level , it takes three months for the level to stabilize . We're going to add magnesium because we live in a magnesium deficient society . Your drinking water is filtered . You have to right , you have to filter your water that removes all magnesium . And modern produce is very magnesium depleted because of modern farming methods .

So we have to supplement magnesium . There are many choices magnesium glycinate , bisglycinate , chelate , malate , malate , many of them . We want to get about four to five hundred milligrams of the magnesium component in those , those compounds .

So if you buy , let's say , magnesium malate , 1300 milligram tablets , you don't care about the 1300 million , you want to know how much magnesium is in there , and something like 133 milligrams of magnesium in the magnesium malate , because the rest of the weight is the malic acid . Okay , so you want about 400 to 500 milligrams of magnesium per day .

And then , lastly , iodine . We want iodine because most people aren't getting sufficient iodine . Iodine is necessary for your thyroid , to make thyroid hormones . So we try to get somewhere around 300 micrograms or so higher than the RDA , the recommended daily allowance for iodine , because I think that's insufficient .

So we try to get a larger quantity , about 300 , 350 . They're about doesn't have to be absolutely precise , and the easiest way to do that is just to buy inexpensive kelp tablets . So if your kelp tablets , if it says 30 milligrams , provides 100 micrograms of iodine , you're going to need about three of those . Okay , very , very , very easy .

So those are the four nutrients largely lacking in modern life that , when you put them together , it minimizes insulin resistance and inflammation , helps you turn off hepatic de novo lipogenesis that would have been causing VLDL small LDL .

Now , the diet we talked about also prevents your blood glucose from going high and it prevents glycation of the small LDL particles . This all fits together very well . Next , we address the microbiome , the gastrointestinal microbiome

. So if you have coronary disease , if you had a stent or a heart attack or had a high coronary calcium score , you have SIBO small intestinal bacterial overgrowth . And if you've been following my conversation , you know what that means .

It means that you've allowed fecal microbes that were supposed to be in the colon only to over proliferate and then ascend into the 24 feet of small intestine . Small intestine is very permeable because that's where you absorb nutrients like vitamins and minerals and amino acids . But when fecal microbes infest the 24 feet of small intestine , they live and die rapidly .

Microbes only live for a few hours and you're having trillions of microbes dying and shedding their toxic compounds into the intestine and then into the bloodstream . That's called endotoxemia . That's a major driver of coronary disease , as well as weight gain , hypertension , atrial fibrillation , cardiomyopathies , dementia , risk for numerous forms of cancer , autoimmune disease .

In other words , if you address endotoxin , if you address SIBO and endotoxemia , you have taken huge control over your health and you gain numerous health advantages , among which is facilitating regression of your carotid atherosclerotic plaque . How do we do that ? That's a conversation all of its own , but we do it , and my way of doing it .

We make something called SIBO yogurt . It's not yogurt , don't be confused . It's not like the stuff in the store . It happens to look and smell like yogurt , so we call it SIBO yogurt .

But the rationale is this we're going to choose microbes three of them that we're going to ferment , using a prolonged fermentation , to get very high microbial counts of about 300 billion per half cup or 120 milliliters serving . So three microbes Lactobacillus roteri , lactobacillus gasseri .

Those two microbes take up residence in the small intestine where SIBO occurs and they're very good at producing bacteriocins . These are natural antibiotics that kill those invading fecal microbes . I like to throw in Bacillus subtilis . The original recipe was Bacillus coagulans . I replaced it with Bacillus subtilis because it's a better microbe for producing bacteriocins .

It's a spore former also , so it doesn't really colonize the small intestine , but it germinates in the small intestine . We co-ferment those three as yogurt and there's some other variations on this , but for the moment let's just talk about making the yogurt . We ferment for 36 hours in the presence of some added prebiotic fibers .

We get those super duper counts and then we consume a half cup per day and so far , when consumed over four weeks , it has gotten rid of SIBO in about 90% of people . My experience it's superior to antibiotics to correct SIBO . Now one of the ways you can verify this is to get one of these devices . This is called the AIR device .

You blow into it , talk to your smartphone , registers hydrogen on your breath on a 0 to 10 scale , because microbes produce hydrogen gas . But we can't Humans cannot and there's a very specific protocol we follow . It's all detailed in my SuperGet book . So how to use the device ? Okay , it's about $150 , $200 , something like that .

The good thing about it is you can use it forever , over and over and over again , unlike the testing in a laboratory clinic where you have to pay about $400 or $500 every time you do it . This one you can do over and over and over . You can share it with people you're close to also . But you don't need the device .

This is in case you wanted to verify whether or not you have SIBO . But if you don't care because the solution is just so simple , right ?

If the solution is something that looks and smells like yogurt you make in your kitchen that costs you a few dollars to make because you have to buy I use organic , half and half a very minimal cost , and so you can just proceed with the yogurt . Because , even though I call it SIBO yogurt , it has numerous health benefits beyond just reversing SIBO .

You get better skin , you get a reduction in wrinkles , men can experience a rise in testosterone , women can experience restoration of youthful moisture in their vaginal tract . There's an increase in all the effects of oxytocin , like generosity , closeness , affection for other people close to you , acceptance of other people's opinions , a return of youthful musculature .

In other words , if there's no downside except a little bit of hassle in making it , then you don't have to be absolutely confident you have SIBO or not . So the air device only if you want to validate , verify whether you have it or not . But you can just go ahead , because if you have coronary disease , you've got SIBO .

You can look for other telltale signs also , like fat droplets in the toilet . Intolerance to foods could be nightshades histamine-containing foods , fodmaps , legumes Just about any food intolerance tells you you have SIBO , causing the food intolerance . And the food intolerance almost always goes away by taking the SIBO yogurt . Now some people have really bad SIBO .

If you say , for instance , I took Anabiox for four years for whatever condition , you may have SIBO really bad , you probably want to do the yogurt for many months , not just four weeks .

And even if you don't have bad SIBO , it's a good idea to continue intermittent consumption of that yogurt , maybe three times a week or so , because SIBO loves to come back and you want all those benefits like better skin , deeper sleep , libido , all that kind of stuff .

So the diet , the four nutrients that synergize to minimize insulin resistance and inflammation , and then addressing the microbiome , the gastrointestinal microbiome , but specifically addressing the SIBO that is very likely to be present when you have coronary disease . Now one way to track this is to do a CT heart scan for coronary calcium score .

Not that CT coronary angiography I talked about earlier with high radiation , just a simple CT heart scan that generates a value as a coronary calcium score . That's about 10 chest x-rays worth of radiation . So it's not zero . But it's not terrible either and it's very inexpensive . You can get it , typically for about $100 . Most hospitals have it .

They're offering it now because they think of it as a lost leader . They want you to have a really

high score so they can trick you into getting more testing that CT , carotid angiogram , heart catheterization , a stent even if you don't need it . How often is that done ? All the time it's done all the time . So be very careful . If you talk to any of the doctors or the staff when you get your cardiac , they may try to twist your arm into more testing .

Don't fall for it . They're trying to use the calcium score as a loss leader . They don't make much money on it , so they try to get you to buy more things . You know , if they talk you into heart catheterization and stent now you've got a bill of $50,000 to $100,000 . They make a ton of money doing this . So be very , very careful .

But you can use that calcium score . So a normal score is zero and then the scores go up to the thousands and it tells you how much plaque you have in your arteries . People say things like well , I don't care about hard plaque , calcium , I don't want to know much soft plaque . No , no , no , calcium is an index of total plaque .

Okay , soft and hard and fibrous elements , so you can use that score . So let's say your score is 400 and you're a , let's say , 55 , 55-year-old guy or maybe a 63-year-old woman , score 400 . What if you do nothing ? How high would the score go ? 25% per year . So a year from now , 500 . Another year , 625 .

So at a score of 400 , you're about seven , eight years away from dying or having a heart attack or needing a procedure , really needing a procedure . Well , what if you took a baby aspirin , 40 milligrams of Lipitor , cut the fat and saturated fat in your diet and exercised a serious exercise program ? How fast will that score increase ?

25% per year , it has zero impact on that score . It's ridiculous , but that is the prevailing standard of care . My colleagues , even to this day , call that ridiculous mix of things optimal medical therapy . No joke , they actually call it that , which is absurd , right ? So we're going to do the things I talked about .

We're going to follow a diet that generates elimination of VLDL and small LDL , no wheat , grains or sugars , and , of course , you eat whole foods . Right , you eat foods like beef , pork , fish , avocados , green leafy vegetables .

You know the drill healthy whole foods , not fast foods , not junk foods , not preservatives containing foods , not ultra processed foods , real food but no wheat , grains or sugars . That triggers formation of small LDL and VLDL .

We're going to combine those four nutrients iodine , omega-3 fatty acids , magnesium and vitamin D that synergize to minimize insulin resistance and inflammation . Then we're going to address the microbiome and we're going to do so by making something called SIBO yogurt that pushes back invading fecal microbes in the small intestine . Now that's what we do in a nutshell .

There's more . There's more you can do for the microbiome , for instance , like fermented foods , restoration of other keystone species ,

fibers . So there's more to that . I invite you to take a look at my Super Gut book where , by the way , the source of all the microbes we use is in the Supercut book . Also , in my blog , williamdavismdcom , it has these recipes where to source the microbes .

I also invite you to join me in conversations in my innercircledrdavisinfantthealthcom I know it's a mouthful and there we have tons of educational materials , discussions , videos , hundreds of videos , and we have a weekly two-way Zoom where it's typically a hundred , some people , and we talk about these kinds of things .

You can say things like well , I tried to make the seabull yogurt and it didn't turn out right . You can talk about these kinds of things . We help you problem solve . So that's once again innercircledrdavisinfinitehealthcom . So we're here to try to help you . The program works .

We've seen it over and over and over again People produce their carotid calcium scores not 100% , but close .