Improving cholesterol and blood pressure with diet | A Masterclass

The Proof with Simon Hill

Simon Hill

Self-improvement, Education, Health & Fitness, Nutrition

4.9 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 120 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cardiovascular disease is the world's leading killer, and yet the prevention conversation has become noisier and more confused than ever. In this Masterclass I bring together the evidence-first material I think is most useful for understanding cholesterol, blood pressure, and long-term heart health. You will hear from Dr Walter Willett at Harvard, cardiology dietitian Michelle Routhenstein, and nephrologist Dr Raymond Townsend, alongside my own deep dives on plaque regression, the Portfolio Diet, and six landmark trials. What we cover: Legumes as the most underrated longevity food The Portfolio Diet and a 30% LDL reduction without statins What six trials tell us about diet, plaque progression, and regression Dr Walter Willett on saturated fat, seed oils, and dairy Sodium, potassium, and the DASH diet for blood pressure Why diet, exercise, and medications work best together The earlier you start, the more leverage you have. This Masterclass is meant to give you a clearer map of what actually works. If this episode was useful, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you might think. Most Underrated Foods for Long-Term Health (00:00) Can You Actually Reverse Artery Plaque? (03:07) How to Lower ApoB Without Statins (07:19) The Portfolio Diet: Cut LDL by 30% (09:11) 6 Trials That Changed Heart Disease Science (16:30) Michelle Routhenstein: Why Doctors Skip ApoB Testing (20:07) Best Food Swaps to Lower ApoB (27:04) RFK Jr, Seed Oils, and the Saturated Fat Debate (35:48) Full-Fat vs. Low-Fat Dairy and Your Heart (38:27) Blood Pressure: Why the Sodium-Potassium Ratio Matters (43:08) Walter Willett: The True Mediterranean Diet (45:19) Are Seed Oils Inflammatory? The Science (50:50) Should You Cook with Olive Oil or Not (57:44) Full-Fat vs. Low-Fat Dairy: 2025 Research (01:03:00) Dairy vs. Soy Milk: Health and Planet (01:09:32) Plant Protein vs. Animal Protein: The Data (01:14:52) Raymond Townsend: Top Levers for Lowering Blood Pressure (01:16:38) Best Exercise Type for Blood Pressure (01:20:13) How Sodium Raises Blood Pressure Over Time (01:24:48) Potassium vs. Sodium: Why the Ratio Is Everything (01:30:40) Should You Watch Salt with Normal Blood Pressure (01:43:51) Why the DASH Diet Works as Well as a Drug (01:48:31) Want to support the show? The best way to support the show is to use the products and services offered by our sponsors. To check them out and enjoy great savings, visit theproof.com/friends. You can also support the show by leaving a review on the Apple Podcast app and sharing your favourite episodes with friends and family. This episode is brought to you by: 38TERA Consider 38TERA's DMN prebiotic supplement a daily multivitamin for your gut. Formulated by yours truly and gastroenterologist Dr Will Bulsiewicz. Use code THEPROOF for a discount at checkout. 38Tera ships to the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Eight Sleep Upgrade your sleep with the Pod 5 Ultra by Eight Sleep. Clinically validated to deliver up to 1 extra hour of quality sleep per night through temperature control and biometric tracking. Use code THEPROOF for $350 off at eightsleep.com/theproof. Try it risk-free for 30 days, with worldwide shipping. Eight Sleep ships to the U.S. (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and territories), Canada, Mexico, most of the EU, the U.K., Australia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland. Momentous My go-to supplement brand for protein and creatine is Momentous. Use code THEPROOF for up to 35% off your first order at livemomentous.com. Momentous ships to many countries worldwide depending on local import regulations. SwimClub SwimClub is a science-backed supplement designed to support male fertility, sperm health, and reproductive wellness. Head to swimclub.co to get 25% off your first order with code THEPROOF. HomeServe Help protect your home systems – and your wallet – with HomeServe against covered repairs. Plans start at just $4.99 a month. Go to HomeServe.com to find the plan that’s right for you. HomeServe is not available everywhere. Most plans range between $4.99 to $11.99 a month your first year. Terms apply on covered repairs. WHOOP Whoop, the most advanced fitness and health wearable available. Your personalised fitness and health coach to recover faster, sleep better, and train smarter. Claim your first month free on join.whoop.com/simon. Simon Hill, MSc, BSc (Hons) Creator of theproof.com Host of The Proof with Simon Hill Author of The Proof is in the Plants Subscribe & Connect: YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram: @simonhill Twitter: @theproof Facebook: The Proof with Simon Hill Nourish your gut with my Plant-Based Ferments Guide and download my Two-Week Meal Plan.

Transcript

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0:00.0	There is no shortage of nutrition content online right now. Ced oils are out, saturated fat is back, carbs are the enemy, and depending on who you follow online or talk to, the latest US dietary guidelines are either a long overdue correction or a step backwards. And with this, it can be genuinely difficult to know what
0:23.4	to do at the grocery store on a Tuesday afternoon. So in today's masterclass, I wanted to step back
0:30.0	from all of this noise and pull together what we actually know, drawing on conversations from
0:35.5	across the back catalogue with some of the most respected names
0:38.8	in cardiovascular nutrition. You'll hear from Dr. Walter Willett at Harvard on saturated fat,
0:45.0	seed oils and dairy, cardiology dietitian Michelle Ruthenstein on the most practical food swaps
0:50.3	to lower APA B and blood pressure, and nephrologist Dr. Raymond Townsend on the sodium
0:56.6	potassium balance that quietly drives so much of our cardiovascular disease risk. I've also pulled
1:02.4	in segments on the portfolio diet, whether or not diet can reverse heart disease, and the foods
1:07.5	that I think are most underrated for long-term heart health.
1:11.1	And if you want to go deeper on any of these threads after listening,
1:14.8	I'd highly recommend episodes 266 and 393 with Dr. Walter Willett.
1:21.2	With that, let's get into it.
1:27.1	The The first question submitted was, what are the most underrated foods for long-term health?
1:40.7	What are the most underrated foods for long-term health?
1:44.1	I'm going to keep this one simple
1:45.6	and focus on a food group, legumes, which includes tofu, tempay, lentils, beans, chickpeas, etc. The
1:55.3	reason that I choose legumes is that eating more legumes, particularly in exchange for fatty cuts
2:00.7	of meat and or ultra-processed
2:02.4	foods, means two things. More fiber and more plant protein. Two nutrients that scientists who study
2:10.1	populations all across the world have found to be consistently associated with lower risk of
2:15.7	death and disease. Currently, about 70 to 85% of total protein intake
	...

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