Don't get tricked by these 3 heart-health myths (2024)

FAQs

What is the magic bullet against heart disease? ›

Get at least 2.5 hours of physical activity every week (that's only 30 minutes 5 days a week – you can do that!) Eat a healthy diet (try a Mediterranean or DASH plan) Maintain a healthy weight (to calculate your BMI, go here) Watch less than 7 hours of TV per week.

Myth: Coconut oil is a heart-healthy cooking alternative.

The reality: Coconut oil has been shown to raise cholesterol levels — the good and the bad kinds — more than other plant-based oils like olive or canola. And in truth, medium-chain triglycerides make up only a small amount of the fatty acids in coconut oil.

In a meta-analysis of 7 trials, MCT oil increased triglycerides but did not affect total cholesterol, LDL-C, or HDL-C. In subgroup analyses, it increased total cholesterol and LDL-C compared to unsaturated fatty acids and slightly lowered LDL-C compared to LCTs. This Study Summary was published on October 3, 2021.

Very little research examines coconut milk specifically, but one study suggests that it may benefit people with normal or high cholesterol levels. An eight-week study in 60 men found that coconut milk porridge lowered “bad” LDL cholesterol more than soy milk porridge.

Lifestyle factors such as a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, and not smoking are well-known remedies for improving heart health.

People with broken heart syndrome may have sudden chest pain or think they're having a heart attack. Broken heart syndrome affects just part of the heart. It briefly interrupts the way the heart pumps blood. The rest of the heart continues to work as usual.

One large egg has about 186 mg of cholesterol — all of which is found in the yolk. If your diet contains little other cholesterol, according to some studies, eating up to an egg a day might be an OK choice. If you like eggs but don't want the cholesterol, use only the egg whites.

Fortunately for everyone who loves peanut butter, almond butter, and other nut butters, these creamy treats are fairly healthy. And as long as they don't contain hydrogenated fat, nut butters — including peanut butter — won't cause problems for your cholesterol levels.

Unsaturated fats, the type found in avocados, are considered healthy types of fat. And avocados have no cholesterol whatsoever. Both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats can help lower blood cholesterol levels, making avocados a heart-healthy food.

“MCT oil would be safe in small doses for most generally healthy individuals,” DiMarino says. “I would not recommend it to someone who is living with fatty liver or heart disease because MCTs are still fats.” He suggests talking with a healthcare provider before adding MCT to your diet.

Is avocado oil a MCT? ›

In contrast, the fatty acids in MCTs have a medium length, containing 6–12 carbon atoms ( 3 ). It's this difference in fatty acid chain length that makes MCTs unique. In contrast, most dietary sources of fat, such as fish, avocado, nuts, seeds, and olive oil, are comprised of long-chain triglycerides (LCTs).

Brazil nuts, cashews and macadamia nuts are higher in saturated fat. Too much of this can contribute to raised cholesterol levels, so only eat them occasionally. Chestnuts are an exception – they're lower in all types of fats and higher in starchy carbohydrate than other nuts.

Ice cream can be high in saturated fat and refined sugar. Regularly consuming large quantities of this dessert can potentially increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is known as “bad” cholesterol, levels in the blood.

The first magic bullet was fired at syphilis on this day in 1909. Although specific diseases responded better to some drugs than to others, before the early 1900s development of Salvarsan, an arsenic-based drug to treat syphilis, drugs weren't developed to target a specific disease.

Magic bullet: Or, sometimes, silver bullet. 1. The perfect drug to cure a disease with no danger of side effects. The term magic bullet was first used in this sense by the German scientist Paul Ehrlich to describe antibody and, later, the drug salvarsan that he created to treat syphilis.

The magic bullet theory is the belief that an originator's media message may convince an audience by directly inserting an idea. This means that the originator makes the presumption that they will be able to affect their audience by directly injecting a message into the audience's brain.