Heart Disease

Are you struggling with high cholesterol or signs of poor heart health?

Are you currently taking statins for high cholesterol or have a family history of heart attacks?

Are you also carrying annoying weight around your midsection that just doesn’t budge, no matter what you do?

Perhaps you are looking for support from a functional cardiologist?

Well, you're in the right place!

For years, red meat and fat, high cholesterol, and a family history of heart attacks were the primary culprits for heart health issues.

While all of these can be factors, new scientific research has shown that there are even more important and concerning factors (never previously considered) that play a big part in how healthy your heart is.

The real culprit, according to recent studies, is a diet high in inflammatory foods – such as fast foods and highly processed foods loaded with sugar and refined carbohydrates. Other factors contribute as well... like regular alcohol consumption (busting the “red wine is good for you” myth), stealth infections, exposures to environmental toxins along with a general lack of exercise, and high levels of stress.

When it comes to heart health, it’s no longer just about having “good” cholesterol numbers – there are so many other areas that must be assessed. In fact, 77% of heart attacks happen to people with normal cholesterol levels!

A standard lipid panel only predicts about 50% of those that will go on to have a heart attack or stroke, suggesting that 50% of those with normal cholesterol levels are at risk. Measuring both systemic inflammation and inflammation within artery walls can help identify this “hidden risk.”

Unfortunately, many people don’t receive the correct testing and guidance and experience a heart attack or a stroke as their first sign of the underlying cardiovascular disease.

It is estimated that 90% of cardiovascular disease is preventable, but what most people and conventionally-trained doctors don’t know is that in order to prevent heart disease, you have to follow a whole-body approach.

What we have found is that so many areas of our health and lifestyle directly impact heart health, including how high your current levels of inflammation are, your blood sugar levels, if you are eating an inflammatory diet, if exercise takes a “back seat” in your life, what your toxic load is currently and if you have unresolved stealth infections.

At The Real Gut Doctor, we know that your risk of heart attack and stroke can be drastically lowered without medication – by addressing lifestyle factors informed by the appropriate advanced lab testing to understand exactly what your true risks are.

Some of this testing includes advanced lipid testing which shows the number of atherogenic (dangerous) particles and the size of these particles. Other tests for specific vitamins, fatty acids, and metabolites, as well as genetic markers, provide valuable information that will influence your healing protocol.

With in-depth functional medicine and advanced lipid testing, we can catch the beginning stages of cardiovascular disease and also zero in on other issues that can impact the health of your whole body.

So, how do you know if you are at risk or what your level of risk is? Here are some of the risks factors that you should consider, but testing is required to show all the factors:

• Obesity
• Sedentary lifestyle
• A diet high in processed sugars and processed fats
• Family history/ genetics
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• High cholesterol/lipids
• Abnormal homocysteine levels
• High fibrinogen levels
• Abnormal Lp(a) levels (how cholesterol, fats, and proteins are transported in your blood)
• High inflammation levels

If you have been experiencing symptoms that may be connected with cardiovascular disorders and are looking for answers, schedule a free discovery to consult with our team today!