Which Diet Works Even Better the Longer You Do It?
The most well-published community-based lifestyle intervention in the medical literature is also one of the most effective. CHIP, the Complete Health Improvement Program—now known as […]
cholesterol
The “Optimal Diet” Is Put to the Test
The CHIP program (now called Pivio) has attempted to take the pioneering lifestyle medicine work of Pritikin and Ornish and spread it out into the […]
Verve starts trials of cholesterol drug in test of base editing technique
Verve Therapeutics has started dosing patients in a phase 1b trial of its in vivo gene-editing drug for high cholesterol, designed to permanently switch off […]
Grind Your Chia Seeds
The secret to unlocking the benefits of chia seeds may be grinding them up. When recently reviewing the literature on the health-promoting properties and therapeutic […]
Randomized Controlled Trials of Beans
Do legumes—beans, chickpeas, split peas, and lentils—work only to prevent disease, or can they help treat and reverse it as well? Legumes—all kinds of beans, […]
An Apple a Day May Keep the Pharmacist Away
Which would save more lives: eating an apple a day or taking statin drugs? Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? That’s […]
Sources of Oxidized Cholesterol
Chicken, fish, and egg powder in processed foods present greater risk from cholesterol oxidation byproducts, but there are things you can do to reduce exposure. […]
Oxidized Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s Disease
Oxidized cholesterol can be a hundred times more toxic than regular cholesterol, raising additional concerns about foods such as ghee, canned tuna, processed meat, and […]
Sunflower Seeds May Aggravate Acne
Should we be concerned about the pimples, cadmium, and “colonic crunch” associated with the consumption of sunflower seeds? A recent observational study on acne reported […]
Dinosaur Kale and Red Cabbage Put to the Test
Dinosaur kale and red cabbage are put to the test. LDL cholesterol is bad, but oxidized LDL may be even worse. What role might our […]
Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease with Diet
What evidence is there that our meat-sweet diets play a cause-and-effect role in dementia? What is behind the dramatic increase in dementia in Japan over […]
Do Any Benefits of Alcohol Outweigh the Risks?
What would happen if you effectively randomized people at birth to drink more or less alcohol their whole lives? Would they get more or less […]
Is It Better to Drink a Little Alcohol Than None at All?
Even if alcohol causes cancer and there is no “French paradox,” what about the famous J-shaped curve, where excessive drinking is bad, but light drinkers […]
Is Aloe Effective for Blood Pressure, Inflammatory Bowel, Wound Healing, and Burns?
I discuss the risks and benefits of aloe vera. “Aloe vera is one of the most popular home remedies in use today, yet most physicians […]
Novartis bags elusive US approval for cholesterol drug inclisiran
At its second attempt, Novartis has won FDA approval for its cholesterol lowering drug inclisiran, which can reduce levels with just two injections a year. […]
Dining by Traffic Light: Green Is for Go, Red Is for Stop
In this article, I explain my traffic light system for ranking the relative healthfulness of Green Light vs. Yellow Light vs. Red Light foods. Whenever […]
Could safety scupper Ionis, Pfizer’s cholesterol drug vupanorsen?
Ionis has reported phase 2b trial data for its Pfizer-partnered antisense drug vupanorsen for cholesterol lowering that showed it met its main efficacy targets, but […]
Merck’s oral PCSK9 drug matches injectables in early trials
Injectable antibodies targeting PCSK9 have failed to take off as expected in the cholesterol-lowering market, but Merck & Co hopes to do much better with […]
NICE backs NHS use of Novartis’ cholesterol drug Leqvio
Novartis’ cholesterol-lowering drug Leqvio will be made available on the NHS in England and Wales, and could help to prevent up to 30,000 deaths, according […]
What Do Avocados Do to Your Cholesterol?
Can guacamole lower your cholesterol as well as other whole–food fat sources like nuts, or is that just spin by the avocado industry? “Avocados are the richest known fruit source of phytosterols,” the […]
Novartis eyes New Year verdict from FDA on delayed Leqvio
Novartis has revealed that the FDA has accepted its resubmission for cholesterol-lowering drug Leqvio – rejected unexpectedly by the US regulator last year – and […]
Novartis tries to rescue stalled inclisiran filing with FDA
Novartis has tried to get its marketing application for high cholesterol therapy inclisiran in the US back on track, after the FDA rejected it last […]
Amla (dried Indian gooseberry) vs. Lipitor for Lowering Cholesterol
Extracts of amla (Indian gooseberry) were pitted head-to-head against cholesterol-lowering statin drugs and the blood thinners aspirin and Plavix. Indian gooseberries, otherwise known as amla, […]
The Most Antioxidant-Packed Whole Food
Are the apparently amazing benefits of amla—dried Indian gooseberries—too good to be true? In reference to amla, also known as the Indian gooseberry, it’s been […]
Are Avocados Associated with Greater Risk or Reduced Risk of Cancer?
Avocado consumption can improve artery function, but what effect might guacamole have on cancer risk? In my last video about avocados, The Effects of Avocados […]
Should You Get an Annual Physical Exam?
What are the risks and benefits of getting a comprehensive annual physical exam and routine blood testing? The model of getting an annual physical exam […]
Should You Get an Annual Health Check-Up?
What are the risks and benefits of getting an annual check-up from your doctor? Physicians and patients have come to expect the annual check-up as […]
Dr. Gundry’s The Plant Paradox Is Wrong
A book purported to expose “hidden dangers” in healthy foods doesn’t even pass the whiff test. I started getting emails about The Plant Paradox, a […]
How to Reduce Your TMAO Levels
Should we be concerned about high-choline plant foods such as broccoli producing the same toxic TMAO that results from eating high-choline animal foods such as […]
What About Coconuts, Coconut Milk, and Coconut Oil MCTs?
Do the medium-chain triglycerides in coconut oil and the fiber in flaked coconut counteract the negative effects on cholesterol and artery function? Studies of populations […]
Coconut Oil and the Boost in HDL “Good” Cholesterol
The effects of coconut oil were compared to butter and tallow. Even if virgin coconut oil and other saturated fats raise LDL “bad” cholesterol, isn’t […]
Arsenic in Rice Milk, Rice Krispies, and Brown Rice Syrup
I recommend people switch away from using rice milk For kids and teens, the amount of arsenic flowing through their bodies was found to be […]
Scotland says no to Daiichi Sankyo’s cholesterol drug Nilemdo
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has rejected Daiichi Sankyo’s new cholesterol-lowering drug Nilemdo for use by NHS Scotland, saying the evidence backing the drug isn’t […]
AstraZeneca sells rights to cholesterol drug Crestor to Grunenthal
AstraZeneca is to sell European rights to its cholesterol drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) to Germany’s Grunenthal. Crestor is a statin and at its peak generated annual […]
The Antioxidant Power of Açaí vs. Apples
There are so many açaí products on the market now, from frozen pulp in smoothie packs to freeze-dried powder and supplements. How is it eaten […]
Kidney Toxins Created by Meat Consumption
As I discuss in my video How to Treat Heart Failure and Kidney Failure with Diet, one way a diet rich in animal-sourced foods like […]
What White Blood Cell Count Should We Shoot for?
At the start of my video What Does a Low White Blood Cell Count Mean?, you can see what it looks like when you take […]
What About the Trans Fat in Animal Fat?
The years of healthy life lost due to our consumption of trans fats are comparable to the impact of conditions like meningitis, cervical cancer, and […]
Novartis’ big bet on inclisiran nears fruition, as CHMP backs drug
Novartis’ near-$10 billion takeover of The Medicines Company last year was focused mainly on one asset – cholesterol-lowering drug inclisiran – and the Swiss pharma […]
What Happens if You Have Red Wine or Avocados with a Meal?
Whole plant sources of sugar and fat can ameliorate some of the postprandial (after meal) inflammation caused by the consumption of refined carbohydrates and meat. […]
What Does Drinking Soy Milk Do to Hormone Levels?
The vast majority of breast cancers start out hormone-dependent, where estradiol, the primary human estrogen, “plays a crucial role in their breast cancer development and […]
High Blood Pressure May Lead to Low Brain Volume
Having hypertension in midlife (ages 40 through 60) is associated with elevated risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s dementia later in life, even more so […]
Pill-Free Ways to improve Your Sex Life
“Sex is important to health,” according to the Harvard Health Letter. “Frequent sexual intercourse is associated with reduced heart attack risk.” But, as I discuss […]
Chia Seeds vs. Flaxseeds
What effect do chia seeds have on weight loss, blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, and inflammation? We’ve been eating chia seeds for more than […]
What Meat and Eggs Do to Our Microbiome
As I’ve explored before, whether young or old, male or female, smoker or non-smoker, with high blood pressure or low blood pressure, high cholesterol or […]
