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Heart disease is a major cause of death worldwide and can be prevented through dietary changes. The main issue is the consumption of foods that increase bad cholesterol. Fast food and restaurant meals contribute to a significant portion of daily calorie intake. There are different types of fats, with saturated and trans fats being harmful and found in processed foods. Good fats are found in nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Cholesterol buildup in the arteries can lead to heart disease, and processed foods with added sugars also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Economic factors and lack of healthy options contribute to unhealthy food choices. It is important to be mindful of what we eat to prevent heart disease. Welcome back to the Heal Through Meals podcast, where we explore the relationship between what we eat and our health. Today, we'll be focusing in on heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, but many cases can be prevented through dietary changes. In this podcast, we'll hear from my good friend, Matthew Berger. Say hello, Matthew. Hey, hey, hey. We're going to discuss the latest research, kind of go through some of the myths around heart disease as well as diet, and give you some tips for incorporating some healthy foods into your daily life. Happy to be joining you wherever you are, whether it be in the gym, on a walk, or just on your way to work. So first, I feel like it's very important to just define what heart disease is, and I feel like the CDC has the best definition of it. They say that coronary heart disease is caused by the buildup of plaque in the wall of arteries that supply blood to the heart, and the plaque is made up of cholesterol. So the first issue with most people's diets is it's filled with foods that cause a buildup of a lot of this bad cholesterol. There are two types of cholesterol, and the CDC also has a nice little definition for those. So LDL is called the bad cholesterol, and it's really what we need to be looking out for in our diets that causes this increased risk for heart disease. And then there's also HDL, which is this good cholesterol that's really needed in a lot of our body's processes. So my first source, Jeremiah Stamler, kind of talks about a lot of the foods that people eat that cause an increase in this LDL. He says many foods include dairy products, beef, and pork. And for me, I was kind of stuck home, especially living in Wisconsin, I don't know what you meant, but I really like my beef and cheese. What about you? Yeah, I'm definitely a big into those meats and I guess maybe those fatty products that he's trying to call me out on, you know? All right, anyways, there was a study during about a 10-year time period where people cut back on these types of foods, and they saw a decrease in all types of heart risk, diseases, and other issues by 20%. I think that's very significant. Another issue, especially with today's culture, is a lot of this fast food and eating out at restaurants, I find it very hard, especially here on campus, that I can't really all too well choose what they're serving, so I have to get a lot of my meals from this fast food or takeout food. But according to a study performed by researcher Kaya Duffy, she says that 30 to 42% of the average person's daily calories comes from faster restaurant food. I kind of want your input on that, Matt. Do you think that's low, or does that seem about right? I guess I'm kind of going through my day right now. I think that's even low, I think that's a low percentage. That's what I was thinking, I saw that and I felt like that was lower than I thought it'd be. I mean, to my opinion, I guess being here, the food provided here all seems like it's that, those fried options, that's something that I could order at a fast food restaurant, whether it's even a sub, a bagel, chicken tenders, a cheeseburger, even a pasta or something, you know, just something of that fatty content. And when I think about it, it does seem like that 40% is low, even. And I feel like this study was performed in 2008, and I just feel like, even since then, I feel like people are more, you know, going to more fast foods, especially with things like DoorDash, Grubhub, like, there's just more access to this, you know, sit at home, get these types of foods that, you know, have a real bad risk of increasing your heart disease. She also talks about how 50% of a person's daily energy is coming from this fast food. And I feel like that's very substantial because you're getting the energy that you put in. Like, if you put in crap food that's been processed full of these bad cholesterols, you're going to get bad energy out. And if half of your energy is coming from fast food, you know, I feel like it'd be very hard to function. I don't know about you, but especially with me, I like to watch what I eat. I kind of like, I really want to gain muscle, you know, lose fat like everyone does. And I feel like there's this common myth that like, oh, fats are bad. Like, people read the nutrition label, they see high fats, and they just stay away. Well, the truth is, there's multiple types of fats, and only two of them are bad, while the other two are actually very healthy for you. The two harmful fats, however, are saturated fats and trans fats. And those are often found, you know, processed foods, fried foods, you know, all the ones that like I really enjoy, I can't lie. However, the other ones, polyamino unsaturated fats, those are, you know, healthy fats that your body needs, and they're often found in things like nuts, fruits, vegetables. And it's like it's a lot of those foods that people tend to avoid nowadays. I know you mentioned cholesterol earlier. So what is cholesterol, and, I mean, how does that apply to my heart and my blood pressure, heart disease, and kind of that aspect of it? It's kind of like cholesterol itself is like this little placky substance. HDL, you know, is the good cholesterol, really needed. It helps carry like other nutrients and is really needed for like your body to function well. However, LDL is this like really thicker type of cholesterol, and this is what causes like buildup in the major blood vessels around your heart. And it's when this LDL, you know, builds up so bad that it blocks off blood flow to the heart is when you see things like stroke, heart attacks, the things you really don't want to see. I know it's easy to, you know, talk about how all of like these foods you should be avoiding, you know, fast food is bad, but the truth of it is it's really an economic problem. Like these foods that are not, you know, not as good for us are just being brought down to such like a cheap price that, you know, it's a lot easier for families and people to afford and then, you know, more easily access. And I think that's the true problem. I don't, I feel like people don't necessarily choose that they want to, you know, sit and eat fast food for every meal when that's the only thing you can afford is really kind of the issue. Where do you see that play into your life? I mean, in your dietary actions, in your decisions, whether it's cost or expense. Like when you go to the, or you or your parents or whatever, you go to the grocery store, do you notice that you or your parents would buy a cheaper unhealthy option? Or I mean, how does that apply to you? Well, you know, usually when my parents shop, we usually get like the off brand, like no name because it's cheaper. But then often like with that issue is often it's still just as processed as like the name brand. But also I find that like fresh fruits and vegetables, like really getting them fresh, like they're way more expensive. Like it's way, it's also way harder to access. Things in stores have been packaged and processed with like all sorts of things. That's another thing is like the process of actually, you know, like processing like a food, packaging it. Like what they do is they like take out key components of like the food and replace it with things that are like addictive or make it easier for it to last longer on shelves. And that's kind of what makes like processed foods, you know, really harmful for the body. It's because it's, you know, manipulated and replaced with things that like the body isn't naturally meant to like digest. But anyways, I completely avoided your question. I would say like, I don't know, at work, like during my lunches, I find it way easier to just buy something there than it is to like make a meal beforehand, pack it, like pack it. And I don't know, it's really frustrating because at work, they like, there's no healthy options. Like you look in there, it's pre-packaged sandwiches, chips, like candy bars. And it's like, it's really frustrating if you want to make those healthy choices because they're just not available. I definitely agree. I guess for me at work, it's like a vending machine, you know. Yep. Oh, nice. That's $1.50, $2.00. Cool, I'll get that. But I guess that fat intake does, I mean, it's even the slow intake, it just slowly builds up to where it does affect your heart. I think you're right. I think it is very overlooked in the dietary aspect of things. But what I also think is very overlooked is the fact that like eating these types of foods that not only have like a bad effect on your heart, but also have bad effects generally to your body. According to a GMAN, issues that cause coronary heart disease also have a very strong correlation with the cause of type 2 diabetes. The reason for this is many of these highly processed foods and, you know, the foods that people generally like to enjoy have a lot of added sugars to them to make them, one, more addictive. And two, kind of just to taste better, which is really a really strong issue. Because one, it's like not only horrible for your heart, but it's also this general health and there needs to be a change. Do you have any final questions with us today, Matthew? I do not. I mean, my knowledge on heart disease is kind of minimal. I mean, there's heart disease in my family. It's something that we kind of battle just genetically and stuff like that. And I guess trying to avoid it based on your, you know, obviously food recommendations and just knowing what you're eating and knowing what you're interacting with is really important. And so I guess my knowledge has grown, so I don't have much else to ask. I mean, I appreciate you adding the, you know, heart disease runs kind of in your family because it's the same thing for me, which caused me to kind of be more conscious of what I'm eating. And I'm hoping I can get people to be more conscious about what they're eating, especially with the heart disease being like the number one cause of death in the world. Anyways, kind of just to summarize what we talked about here today, heart disease is the cause of buildup of bad cholesterol around the arteries of your heart. There are two different types of cholesterol, you know, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, LDL being the bad. Also, to not avoid all types of fats because, you know, there are good fats, but then there's also these very harmful fats. And kind of just some tips to leave you guys with today, trying to avoid these highly processed foods and get your fruits and vegetables in. Anyways, thank you for joining me on the Heal Through Meals podcast. Thank you for having me.