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#569: The History of Fat, Cholesterol & Heart Disease

Sigma Nutrition Radio

Release Date: 07/08/2025

#588: Menstrual Cycle “Syncing”: Do the Claims Hold Up to Evidence? – Expert Panel show art #588: Menstrual Cycle “Syncing”: Do the Claims Hold Up to Evidence? – Expert Panel

Sigma Nutrition Radio

How much do hormonal fluctuations really influence performance and recovery? Should women be adjusting their training and nutrition based on the menstrual cycle? And do female athletes need different protein strategies or recovery protocols than men? These are questions that have fuelled countless online claims, from rigid “cycle syncing” programmes to supposedly gender-specific nutrition rules. But how much of that is actually grounded in evidence? In this episode, the conversation tackles those debates head-on, exploring what we truly know about female physiology, adaptation, and...

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Sigma Nutrition Radio

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Sigma Nutrition Radio

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info_outline SNP46: Reviewing Six Key Insights from the Year’s Conversations show art SNP46: Reviewing Six Key Insights from the Year’s Conversations

Sigma Nutrition Radio

This is a Premium-exclusive episode of the podcast. To listen to the full episode you need to be subscribed to . Each year, the conversations on Sigma Nutrition Radio aim to examine the ideas that shape how we understand nutrition, health, and human behavior. This episode brings together the key insights from those discussions, revisiting the most important themes, emerging evidence, and shifts in understanding from the past year. Across topics such as dietary guidelines, ultra-processed foods, sleep, metabolism, environmental exposures, and the psychology of eating, this review...

info_outline #585: Why We Think Poorly: Reason, Emotion, and Evidence-Based Reasoning show art #585: Why We Think Poorly: Reason, Emotion, and Evidence-Based Reasoning

Sigma Nutrition Radio

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info_outline #584: EAT-Lancet: Does the Planetary Health Diet Improve Human Health? show art #584: EAT-Lancet: Does the Planetary Health Diet Improve Human Health?

Sigma Nutrition Radio

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info_outline #583: Ultra-Processed Foods & Fixing the Food Environment – Kevin Hall, PhD show art #583: Ultra-Processed Foods & Fixing the Food Environment – Kevin Hall, PhD

Sigma Nutrition Radio

Ultra-processed foods have become central to the way we eat and to many of the challenges we face in public health nutrition. They dominate supermarket shelves, shape population diets, and often appear as the prime suspect in rising obesity and metabolic disease rates. But beyond the label itself, what exactly makes these foods problematic? Is it their nutrient composition, their texture and palatability, the rate at which we consume them, or the broader environments that make them so accessible and appealing? The debate around ultra-processed foods sits at the intersection of metabolic...

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Sigma Nutrition Radio

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info_outline #582: GLP-1 Agonists: Side Effects, Management and Diet – Dr. Spencer Nadolsky show art #582: GLP-1 Agonists: Side Effects, Management and Diet – Dr. Spencer Nadolsky

Sigma Nutrition Radio

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info_outline #581: What Is Successful Public Nutrition Policy? And Why Is It So Hard to Achieve? – Emily Callahan, RD, MPH show art #581: What Is Successful Public Nutrition Policy? And Why Is It So Hard to Achieve? – Emily Callahan, RD, MPH

Sigma Nutrition Radio

Public nutrition policy plays a critical role in shaping population health through laws, guidelines, and programs that influence what people eat. In this episode, Emily Callahan, an expert in nutrition policy, talks about why public nutrition policies often fall short and what “success” looks like. They discuss how evidence-based nutrition interventions can stall due to political or practical barriers, and explore examples ranging from federal food assistance programs to sodium reduction initiatives. Crucially, they address how to evaluate if a policy has worked and highlight emerging...

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The idea that saturated fat might be harmful to our health has sparked controversy for decades. In recent years, counter-narratives have surged: suggesting that concerns over saturated fat were overblown, that LDL cholesterol doesn’t matter, or that the original diet-heart hypothesis has been debunked. These claims have become especially popular in online wellness spaces and certain dietary communities, often wrapped in compelling but misleading rhetoric.

So what does the best available evidence actually say? And how should we think about saturated fat, LDL cholesterol, and cardiovascular risk in the current day?

In this wide-ranging interview, originally recorded for the Chasing Clarity podcast, Alan and Danny explore the scientific consensus around saturated fat’s impact on blood lipids, why LDL and apoB are central to atherosclerotic disease, and how dietary patterns can meaningfully reduce risk.

Importantly, they also address some of the most persistent myths and half-truths that fuel confusion, from flawed interpretations of the Seven Countries Study to misrepresentations of newer meta-analyses.

Timestamps

  • [03:41] How do we know saturated fat impacts LDL-C?
  • [05:28] Metabolic ward studies and key findings
  • [11:13] The Keys equation and subsequent research
  • [17:17] Epidemiology and long-term studies
  • [31:48] The Seven Countries Study
  • [44:25] Understanding the impact of saturated fat on blood lipids
  • [47:23] Historical and research perspectives on saturated fat
  • [50:43] Practical dietary strategies for improving blood lipids
  • [53:48] The Portfolio Diet and other dietary interventions
  • [58:07] The role of pharmacology in managing blood lipids
  • [01:00:58] Addressing misconceptions and common claims
  • [01:13:57] Key ideas segment (premium-only)

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