LDL's role as a transporter is well-established, but its causal link to heart disease remains contested by conflicting research.
Original: Why Are These Carnivores Getting HEART DISEASE?
Evidence on saturated fat and LDL is mixed, with strong support for LDL as a transporter but contradictory findings on its role in disease.
Quick Answer
The carnivore diet does not cause heart disease. The claim that it does is based on anecdotal cases and flawed science, including a doctor's unverified Twitter claims and a woman who had a stroke due to a congenital heart defect and prolonged air travel—not her diet. Multiple large-scale studies and meta-analyses show no causal link between high LDL, saturated fat, or carnivore eating patterns and heart disease. In fact, wild carnivores and humans throughout history thrived on meat-based diets without heart disease.
Claims (12)
1. When scientists combined all the big studies, they found eating butter or meat doesn’t raise your risk of heart disease.
2. Most people hospitalized for heart attacks have LDL levels considered 'safe' by doctors.
3. Heart attacks and strokes both happen when gunk builds up in the blood vessels.
4. Even though people in the past ate more butter and meat, their bad cholesterol was probably higher than ours today—yet they didn’t get heart disease.
5. A scientist hid data from 15 countries to make it look like fat causes heart disease.
6. When scientists looked at ALL the studies, they found no proof that bad cholesterol causes heart disease.
7. Lions and wolves eat only meat and never get clogged arteries.
8. Pet dogs and cats get heart disease only when they eat processed food, not when they eat real meat.
9. You can't get clogged arteries in just 6 months—it takes many years.
10. Humans ate meat for thousands of years—so how could meat suddenly cause heart disease only in the last 100 years?
11. LDL isn't bad cholesterol—it's a delivery truck that brings cholesterol where the body needs it.
12. Before processed foods, people rarely got heart attacks—even when they ate lots of animal fat.
Key Takeaways
- •Problem: People are being told that eating only meat causes heart disease because it raises LDL cholesterol, but this is a myth.
- •Core methods: Analyzing LDL cholesterol levels in heart disease patients, reviewing historical diet trends from 1776 to 1909, examining the Seven Country Study data, comparing wild vs. captive carnivores, and reviewing meta-analyses of saturated fat and heart disease.
- •How methods work: Scientists looked at real patient data and found most heart attack patients had low LDL, proving LDL isn't the cause. Before 1909, people ate meat and butter but had almost no heart disease—only after processed oils and sugar were introduced did heart disease explode. Wild lions and wolves don't get clogged arteries on meat, but dogs and cats fed processed food do. Big studies that combine all research show saturated fat doesn't raise heart disease risk.
- •Expected outcomes: People on carnivore diets do not get more heart disease; many reverse existing plaque. Heart disease is caused by processed foods, not meat or fat.
- •Implementation timeframe: Plaque takes years to form, so a stroke after 6–8 months on carnivore cannot be caused by the diet—other factors like genetics or travel are responsible.
Overview
The problem is the widespread belief that high LDL cholesterol and saturated fat from carnivore diets cause heart disease, fueled by misleading claims from medical influencers and outdated science. The solution is to reject the LDL hypothesis based on empirical evidence: historical dietary patterns, species physiology, large-scale patient data, and meta-analyses all show no causal link between carnivore eating and heart disease. Instead, processed foods and fraudulent research are the true drivers of cardiovascular disease.
Key Terms
How to Apply
- 1.Review your LDL cholesterol levels and understand that high levels alone do not indicate heart disease risk, as shown by studies of 136,905 patients where half had LDL under 100 mg/dL and still had heart disease.
- 2.Eliminate all processed seed oils (like soybean, canola, corn oil) and refined sugars from your diet, as these were introduced in 1909 and correlate with the rise of heart disease.
- 3.Continue eating a carnivore diet rich in whole animal foods (meat, eggs, organ meats, bone broth) without fear of saturated fat, as five major meta-analyses show no link between saturated fat and heart disease.
- 4.If you have a history of blood clots or travel frequently, consult a doctor about compression stockings and genetic heart defects like patent foramen ovale (PFO), as these are real stroke risks unrelated to diet.
- 5.Get a coronary artery calcium scan if you're concerned about plaque buildup—long-term carnivore dieters like Kelly Hogan have shown zero plaque after 15 years on the diet.
By following these steps, you will avoid the false fear of saturated fat and LDL, eliminate the true dietary drivers of heart disease (processed oils and sugar), and maintain or improve cardiovascular health without needing to abandon a meat-based diet. You may reverse existing plaque and avoid unnecessary medications or dietary restrictions based on flawed science.
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Claims (12)
1. When scientists combined all the big studies, they found eating butter or meat doesn’t raise your risk of heart disease.
2. Most people hospitalized for heart attacks have LDL levels considered 'safe' by doctors.
3. Heart attacks and strokes both happen when gunk builds up in the blood vessels.
4. Even though people in the past ate more butter and meat, their bad cholesterol was probably higher than ours today—yet they didn’t get heart disease.
5. A scientist hid data from 15 countries to make it look like fat causes heart disease.
6. When scientists looked at ALL the studies, they found no proof that bad cholesterol causes heart disease.
7. Lions and wolves eat only meat and never get clogged arteries.
8. Pet dogs and cats get heart disease only when they eat processed food, not when they eat real meat.
9. You can't get clogged arteries in just 6 months—it takes many years.
10. Humans ate meat for thousands of years—so how could meat suddenly cause heart disease only in the last 100 years?
11. LDL isn't bad cholesterol—it's a delivery truck that brings cholesterol where the body needs it.
12. Before processed foods, people rarely got heart attacks—even when they ate lots of animal fat.
Related Content
Claims (10)
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) functions as a transport particle that delivers cholesterol and other essential lipids to peripheral tissues via the bloodstream.
A comprehensive meta-analysis of epidemiological evidence concludes that LDL cholesterol does not satisfy the Bradford Hill criteria for causality in the development of cardiovascular disease.
Prior to the widespread consumption of industrial seed oils and refined carbohydrates in the early 20th century, clinical cases of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease were exceptionally rare in human populations consuming diets high in animal fats.
The emergence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of death occurred only in the 20th century, despite consistent human consumption of animal-based diets throughout evolutionary history.
A substantial proportion of patients hospitalized with acute coronary artery disease have LDL cholesterol levels below 100 mg/dL, challenging the assumption that elevated LDL is a necessary precursor to clinical events.