What’s The True Cause of Heart Attacks, and Why Don’t Cardiologists Know It?
Heart disease is the number one killer in America and has been for many decades. Over 600,000 Americans die each year from heart disease, mostly heart attacks and congestive heart failure.
So, what is causing this? We know it is not saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet (more on this later), and we know statin drugs to lower cholesterol don’t work to stop heart attacks, nor do stents and bypass surgery (more on this later). So, what is the root cause of this #1 killer in America?
First, I need to lay out a few facts….
Fact #1:
Heart attacks are a relatively new thing, with the first one in America happening in 1912. Sir Willian Osler, who helped to establish John Hopkins Medical School and is considered the founder of modern medicine, practiced medicine in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He never saw a single heart attack in his career. When John Herrick published the first case of heart attack, nobody was really interested at all….he would’ve had very few “likes” or “re-tweets” if Facebook and Twitter were around in those days!
Fact #2:
Since the time Ancel Keys turned the nation’s focus to saturated fat using a fraudulent study (see my previous newsletter article on our blog page here: https://veritasmedical.com/veritas-healthy-community-newsletter-volume-72-week-2-march-2023/), and the government published the low-fat dietary guidelines and then the use of cholesterol lowering statin drugs became wide-spread, heart disease rates have increased, not decreased.
Fact #3:
Historically speaking, many ancestral groups consumed large amounts of saturated fat but did not have heart disease. This includes the South Pacific Islanders who consumed lots of saturated fat from coconut oil, natives in Alaska who consumed lots of saturated fat from seal and whale meat, and many other tribes and people groups who consumed large amounts of full fat dairy products like butter and cream as well as animal fats like tallow (see Dr. Westin A. Price’s book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”).
Fact #4:
Here are just a few of the recent studies that have shown saturated fat and cholesterol are not the cause of heart disease:
- March of 2022, JAMA, a review study that looked at 21 randomized controlled trials regarding statins and heart disease and death outcomes found a 1.3% reduction in heart attacks and 0.8% reduction in death rates https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35997723/
- August 2022, Journal of American College of Cardiology, a review study found “no beneficial effects from reducing saturated fatty acids on cardiovascular disease and total mortality” https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.05.077
- British Medical Journal, April 2016, found that “available evidence from randomized controlled trials shows that replacing saturated fats in the diet with linoleic acid (ie, vegetable oils) effectively lowers serum cholesterol but does not support the hypothesis that this translates to a lower risk of death from coronary heart disease or all causes” https://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i1246
Now that we have pretty well established that the theory that saturated fat and cholesterol don’t cause heart disease and statins are not beneficial in reducing heart attacks and death, lets move on to some other theories (remember, pretty much all medical advice and treatments are based on theories….see my other newsletter article for more on that: https://veritasmedical.com/veritas-healthy-community-newsletter-volume-72-week-2-march-2023/).
I’m just going to bullet point some main ideas and link to some supporting “You’re The Cure” podcasts with more details. You can also search the guest’s name in the search bar of the podcast archive page on our website if you don’t have access to Apple iTunes: https://veritasmedical.com/podcast/.
- The modern epidemic of chronic, inflammation-based diseases, including the #1 killer in America, heart disease, is rooted in “the big 3” ingredients in modern food: vegetable seed oils, processed grain, and processed sugar. See the April 24, 2023 podcast with Dr. Chris Knobbe: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-ben-edwards-youre-the-cure/id1266700954?i=1000610447631
- The heart muscle cells must be fueled properly with saturated fat and the vitamins and minerals that come with saturated fat. The water lining the blood vessel wall must be H3O2 (ie, “structured water”) with a negative charge to repel any potentially damaging particles from scraping the inner wall of the blood vessels. Chronic stress leads to a sympathetic dominant fight or flight signaling to the heart muscle cell carburetors (mitochondria), causing them to rev at a high RPM, creating very inefficient miles per gallon (ATP) and lots of exhaust (free radicals), eventually leading to lactic acid build up, heart muscle cell spasm, and disruption of the integrity of the coronary artery walls. See the interview with Dr. Tom Cowan, author of “Human Heart, Cosmic Heart” from September 18, 2017: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-ben-edwards-youre-the-cure/id1266700954?i=1000574543207
- Inflammation damages the inner lining of blood vessel walls. See the podcast with Dr. Mark DeBrincat from May 8th, 2023, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-ben-edwards-youre-the-cure/id1266700954?i=1000612193309
- The damage to the inner lining of the blood vessel wall initiates the blood clotting system in the body to try and patch up the damaged, inflamed wall. See the podcast with Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, author of “The Clot Thickens”, from May 1, 2023: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-ben-edwards-youre-the-cure/id1266700954?i=1000611342722
Let me break down and summarize my thoughts from a 4 Pillars perspective on the root cause of heart attacks, supported by the podcasts above:
- Nutrition: The heart muscle cells need high quantities of fat soluble vitamins (A & D in particular) that are found in animal-based saturated fats as well as sufficient quantities of minerals (especially magniesum and copper found in organ meats), naturally mineralized water, and nutrient dense plants grown in properly mineralized soil (ie, fresh picked, regenerative, bio-dynamically grown local produce). This is exactly the type of food our ancestors consumed prior to the advent of heart attacks.
- Hydration: The blood vessels need to be filled with water that has a charge, creating an “exclusion zone” along the wall, which keeps inflammation inducing particles away from the wall. Structured water, which has a charge, and is naturally found in nature (but can also be partially mimicked with modern vortexing and remineralizing devices) can be consumed, but also the cells have the ability to produce this water themselves effortlessly if they are supported with the nutrition mentioned above and by not de-structuring that water with stress, lack of movement, and lack of exposure to nature, animals, sunshine, movement and most importantly, a state of true contentment, true fulfillment and true peace.
- Movement: A variety of natural movements not only keeps the heart muscle “tuned up” with efficient carburetor output but also helps to structure the water inside the body, hydrate the cells via the fascia (see the hydration video on the 4 pillar video series here for more on the fascia watering the cells: https://veritasmedical.com/dr-ben-edwards-5-part-video-series/), and keeps the potential blood vessel wall damaging toxins flowing to and through the waste removal system in the body, the lymphatic vessels.
- Peace: This is probably the most important resiliency builder of all. A body and a cell that is being instructed by the auto-pilot (autonomic) nervous system to function in a fight or flight state of high RPM, low energy output and high exhaust mode month after month, and year after year is a set-up for heart attacks.
There is so much more to say that I could write a book on this subject! And, that is without even touching on the fact that all the information laid about above has not been taught to our medical students over the past 40 years, even to this very day! I also did not explore the fact that multiple published studies have shown that, unless you are currently in the middle of having a heart attack right this minute, stents and bypass surgery DO NOT PREVENT FUTURE HEART ATTACKS!
So, if statins, stents, and bypasses don’t reduce heart attacks and death but continue to be the treatment of choice my American cardiologists and primary care doctors, we should expect to continue to see heart disease sit atop the list of killers of Americans. It is no wonder that Americans continue to suffer and die from heart disease with no end in sight. Until we uncouple the pharmaceutical and surgery based approached to “healthcare” and start addressing root causes, we’ll continue to spend more money for the worst outcomes.
So, keep moving down the path to true health and reject standard American ways. In the modern world, it is difficult to eat and live in a non-standard American way, but it can be done! We are here to teach, support, and encourage you along your journey to a heart-attack free future!
Dr. Ben
