3 Heart Experts Reveal What Really Prevents Heart Disease

The Dr. Hyman Show

Dr. Mark Hyman

Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Medicine

4.5 • 9.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2026

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As part of our summer series, we're revisiting some of the most important conversations we've had on the topics that matter most to our health. And few are more important than heart disease. Heart disease remains the number one cause of death worldwide. Yet despite decades of research, millions of prescriptions, and billions of dollars spent on treatment, many people are still confused about what actually causes it—and what we can do to prevent it. For years, the conversation around heart disease has focused almost entirely on cholesterol. But what if that's only part of the story? In this special compilation episode, you'll hear from Dr. Cindy Geyer of The UltraWellness Center, Dr. Eric Topol, and Dr. Aseem Malhotra as they explore a different perspective on heart disease—one that goes beyond cholesterol and looks at the deeper drivers of cardiovascular risk, including inflammation, insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction, lifestyle, and early detection. You'll hear why many experts now believe heart disease often begins decades before symptoms appear, why traditional testing can miss important warning signs, and how emerging science is giving us new tools to identify risk earlier than ever before. Most importantly, you'll hear a message that is both practical and hopeful: that many of the factors driving heart disease are within our control, and that prevention remains one of the most powerful tools we have. Let's dive in. View Show Notes From This Episode Sign up for Dr. Hyman’s Brainshaping Academy to learn how to nourish the biological systems that support your mental, emotional, and cognitive health https://drhyman.com/products/brainshaping?utm_source=dr_hyman_show&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=may_27&utm_content=link Get Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hyman https://drhyman.com/pages/picks?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Sign Up for Dr. Hyman’s Weekly Longevity Journal https://drhyman.com/pages/longevity?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Health https://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detox Join the Hyman Hive for Expert Support and Real Results https://drhyman.com/pages/hyman-hive This episode is brought to you by BON CHARGE, BIOptimizers, Rho, Made In, Seatopia, and Cozy Earth. Explore red light products at boncharge.com/hyman and enjoy 15% off with code HYMAN. Go to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN to save 15% off your order, plus get a free gift. Explore science-backed products at rhonutrition.com and use code HYMAN for 20% off the entire site. Upgrade your cookware at madeincookware.com and save 10% off your first order with code HYMAN-HIVE. Find a cleaner source of seafood. Check out seatopia.fish/hyman and receive free shipping on your first order. Head to cozyearth.com to save 20% and upgrade all of your daily essentials today. (0:00) The persistence of heart disease and the low-fat diet hypothesis (0:32) Preventing heart disease through diet, lifestyle, and simple behaviors (2:19) Revisiting key conversations on heart disease (3:44) Beyond cholesterol: deeper drivers and risk factors (7:18) Typical workup, treatments, and advances in cholesterol testing (17:48) Metabolic health, hormonal, and inflammatory factors in heart disease (29:37) Advances in cardiovascular diagnostics and AI (31:31) Impact of lifestyle and new pharmacological treatments (36:55) Statins, side effects, and lipoprotein fractionation (40:13) The role of AI, new diagnostics, and Dr. Topol's journey (43:19) Rethinking treatment: diet, industry influence, and the low-fat craze (45:28) Saturated fat, cholesterol, and revisiting the evidence (48:00) Cholesterol in heart disease risk and systematic drug review (52:31) Insulin resistance, cholesterol’s role, and mortality (58:31) Challenges in changing medical dogma (1:00:31) Closing remarks and call to action

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why are we still seeing so many people with heart disease?
0:03.0	Yeah, it's still the number one killer around the world, not just here.
0:06.0	And it's still the number killer in women who, you know, they think that it's breast cancer.
0:10.0	No, no, it's, this is it.
0:12.0	I concluded that one of the root causes, Marr, was this flawed hypothesis that we should have low-fat diets to prevent heart disease.
0:20.0	Cardiovascular disease is an inflammatory
0:22.3	process that it's not just about cholesterol, but there's ongoing inflammation. Rionic stress, loneliness,
0:29.0	isolation, bad sleep, those things are huge in heart disease. But we know that 80% of cases of heart
0:35.9	disease and diabetes may actually be preventable with diet and lifestyle.
0:40.7	Most of us are walking around in a state of chronic stimulation. Your cortisol is
0:44.9	elevated. Your nervous system is stuck in go mode. And we wonder why we can't sleep or focus.
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0:54.4	PMF wrap from Buncharge.
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1:02.5	frequencies into the body that mimic what you naturally absorb spending time on the earth.
1:07.2	Combined with red and near-infred light, it's one of the few recovery tools that works while
1:11.7	you're absolutely doing nothing. I throw it on for 30 minutes while I'm reading or winding down,
1:17.0	and I notice I sleep better on the nights I use it. It's lightweight, it's low EMF, it's free shipping,
1:23.1	HSA and FSA eligible. And honestly, one of the simplest things I've added to my evening routine.
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1:35.4	slash hymen and you'll get 15% off. Summer is supposed to be the season where we feel more
1:40.8	energized, travel, and schedule changes in longer days can actually
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