Fueling Your Life, Part 2: Fats, Cholesterol, and the Heart Numbers Nobody Talks About
Part 2 of the “Fueling Your Life” series, adapted from my workshop on nutrition for longevity, weight management, and blood sugar control. Part 1 covered what’s actually in our food; this part is about fat, cholesterol, and the heart.
The #1 killer, quietly
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men. It kills 321,000 men a year — one in every four male deaths — and every 40 seconds someone in the US has a myocardial infarction. The number that stays with me: half of those who die suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms. Feeling fine is not the same thing as being well.
The American Heart Association’s own preventive list is refreshingly ordinary: smoking, physical inactivity, nutrition, obesity, cholesterol, sleep, blood sugar, blood pressure. Most of that list is decided in your kitchen and your bedroom, not the pharmacy.
Bad fats and good fats
Fat was never the enemy. The wrong fats are.
The fats I avoid:
- Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils — cottonseed, soybean, generic “vegetable oil”
- Trans fats — margarine and synthetic butters
- Rancid industrial seed oils — corn and canola oil, found in practically every bread, cracker, cookie, and boxed food
The fats I use — the ones not altered by man:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Avocados and avocado oil
- Coconut and coconut oil
- Raw nuts, seeds, and their oils
- Real butter, raw cheese and yogurt
- Grass-fed meats, eggs, and whole milk
- Fatty fish — wild salmon, sardines, small fish — and algae oil
The cholesterol conversation nobody finishes
Your brain needs cholesterol. Your body needs it to heal — in some chronic infections, cholesterol runs high precisely because the body is trying to repair. Cholesterol is a fire crew, and blaming it for the fire misses the point.
The number I watch more closely is homocysteine. Elevated homocysteine — especially alongside high triglycerides and high CRP — signals real vascular danger, and in my reading of the research it is a far better predictor of heart attack than cholesterol alone. The beautiful part: the “treatment” for elevated homocysteine is largely nutritional — vitamins B6, B9 (folate), and B12, which help the body clear it and calm the inflammation underneath.
Oxidative stress: the rust underneath
Oxidative stress is what happens when your body’s exposure to damage outpaces its ability to repair. What drives it: toxins, cigarette smoke, polluted air and water, dehydration, excess sugar, medications, preservatives, alcohol, chronic stress, processed food. What it feeds: diabetes, cancer, COPD, Alzheimer’s, joint pain, premature aging — and heart disease.
Antioxidants your heart particularly loves: D-ribose (supports repair and recovery of heart tissue), resveratrol, CoQ10, lycopene, and liposomal glutathione.
Inflammation — the root I keep coming back to
Blood sugar swings, chronic stress, high sugar intake, processed food, artificial sweeteners, elevated blood pressure, a sedentary life, smoking — they all pour into the same river: chronic inflammation. And chronic inflammation flows out into cancer, heart attack, stroke, migraines, diabetes, joint pain, weight gain, and stress intolerance.
This is why I don’t chase symptoms one at a time. Cool the river, and remarkable things happen downstream.
A favorite ally here: turmeric — specifically its curcuminoids, in meaningful concentration. Beyond its anti-inflammatory effect, curcumin has been studied for fat metabolism, insulin resistance, oxidative stress in the liver and kidneys, and mitochondrial protection.
Promoting good cholesterol, the food way
Olive oil. Fresh-water salmon. Beans and legumes. Avocado. Nuts and seeds. Berries. It is not complicated — it is just consistent.
Next in this series: the nutrients almost everyone is missing — and why food alone often can’t close the gap anymore.