101 Causes of Heart Disease: Hint: Cholesterol Isn't One of Them! - Paperback

by Justin Smith (Author)

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in both men and women. For decades, our health authorities have told us that heart disease is caused by fat and cholesterol clogging up the coronary arteries, and immense resources have been directed at lowering cholesterol levels. Clinical guidelines have been introduced that are designed to capture those people deemed eligible for cholesterol-lowering medications - the latest clinical guidelines suggest that more than 1 billion people worldwide are eligible for statins. However, the cholesterol guidelines have been heavily criticised. Increasingly, doctors and researchers have been questioning the role cholesterol plays in heart disease. We now know that people with heart disease do not have high cholesterol, and even the strongest supporters of the cholesterol hypothesis now admit that no ideal level of cholesterol can be identified. Large scale studies have shown that statins are not generating the benefits that were predicted and some of the suggested risk factors for heart disease have been associated with better survival after a heart attack. A complete re-evaluation of the real causes of heart disease is long overdue. 101 Causes of Heart Disease goes way beyond the cholesterol idea, and for the first time presents an integrated alternative model for the real causes of heart disease. The validity of each of the suggested risk factors for heart disease is examined. The book also provides a detailed discussion of nutritional alternatives that are up to 6 times more effective than statins, and other interventions that have been shown to be up to 11 times more effective than statins, but are currently ignored by health authorities. A heart disease prevention plan is included that anyone can use, and all of the statements made in the book are supported by references to the relevant medical literature.

Author Biography

For 4 years, Justin Smith was based at the BBC in London as a personal trainer, sports massage therapist and nutrition coach. Prior to this, he was a personal trainer within the corporate fitness industry, and for 6 years he was a competitive cyclist. In 2007, Justin set out to write a book about common nutritional myths. At that time, he was already aware of the issues surrounding cholesterol and planned to devote one chapter of his book to this subject. However, after looking into the subject in more detail, he was shocked to find just how much evidence, contrary to the cholesterol hypothesis existed. The natural progression was to base his whole book on this subject. Justin's first book $29 Billion Reasons to Lie About Cholesterol was published in 2009, and the following year, he started the preliminary work on the documentary film STATIN NATION. STATIN NATION was released at the end of 2012 and was very well received. This led to the production of the follow up documentary film STATIN NATION II, which was released in March 2015. The book 101 Causes of Heart Disease is the culmination of this work. It is based on nine years of research and in depth interviews with 18 of the world's leading experts within this field. Before his career as a health practitioner, Justin obtained a degree in engineering. Justin has also completed the Guardian Masterclass in Investigative Journalism.