Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
PCSK9, a protein in the blood, sticks to another protein called CAP1 on immune cells, which turns on a chain reaction that makes the cells more inflamed and sticky, even if cholesterol levels are normal — this can worsen artery plaque.
Mechanistic
People with haemochromatosis — a condition where the body stores too much iron — actually have fewer heart problems than expected, which is surprising and suggests iron might somehow protect the heart.
Descriptive
Special immune cells in the liver (Kupffer cells) grab cholesterol from bad LDL particles and pass it to liver cells — but only when iron levels are right, and they need ABCA1 to do it.
The HFE protein, which helps control iron, also turns down the liver’s ability to remove bad cholesterol from the blood — so when HFE is missing, more cholesterol gets cleared.
When mice that are genetically prone to clogged arteries lose the Hfe gene, they end up with less bad cholesterol and fewer artery blockages.
People with certain inherited changes in the HFE gene tend to have less 'bad' cholesterol in their blood, even though this gene is usually linked to iron overload.
Correlational
When foods are heavily processed and cooked at high heat, harmful compounds form that can stick to liver cells and cause damage, leading to fatty liver.
Chemicals from plastic packaging in processed foods may interfere with your hormones, making your body store more fat in the liver and increasing diabetes risk.
Processed foods may harm the good bacteria in your gut and make your intestinal wall leaky, allowing toxins to reach your liver and cause inflammation.
Eating lots of ultra-processed foods seems to make your body produce more inflammatory chemicals, which can damage your liver over time.
People who eat a lot of heavily processed foods like chips, sugary snacks, and frozen meals are more likely to have fat buildup in their liver, even if they’re not overweight.
When obese mice eat less on a high-fat diet, they lose belly fat and their fat cells shrink just as much as mice eating a low-fat diet — even if the high-fat group still has more inflammation.
When obese mice lose weight by eating less on fatty food, their belly fat stays more inflamed than when they lose weight eating healthy food — even if they weigh the same.
Even when obese mice lose weight by eating less on a high-fat diet, their belly fat stays inflamed — unlike mice that eat a healthy low-fat diet, whose inflammation goes away.
Eating lots of ultra-processed foods is linked to having several chronic diseases at once, feeling weaker, living with less quality of life, and having long-lasting body damage — especially in older people.
People who already have kidney problems or are older are more likely to be harmed by eating ultra-processed foods than healthy younger people.
Foods like white bread, soda, and packaged snacks cause rapid spikes in blood sugar, which can mess up your body’s ability to manage energy and insulin over time.
Eating a lot of highly processed foods like chips, sugary snacks, and frozen meals is linked to a higher chance of developing heart, kidney, and metabolism problems, and even dying sooner.
In this study, eating more whole grains or low-sugar carbs didn’t seem to help lower cholesterol levels, which is surprising because other research says it should.
Eating more fish and nuts lowers bad cholesterol, while eating more bacon and sausages raises it.
People who get their protein from beans, fish, and nuts instead of bacon and burgers are less likely to have high cholesterol or triglycerides.
People who eat more olive oil, nuts, and fish instead of butter and fatty meats have lower chances of having unhealthy cholesterol levels.
People who eat better-quality fats, proteins, and carbs—like more fish, nuts, whole grains, and less processed meat—are less likely to have high cholesterol or triglycerides.
It’s not how many carbs you eat, but what kind—whole grains and fiber are good, sugar and white flour are bad—for your heart and how long you live.