Office Hours: Cholesterol and Heart Disease — What I’ve Changed My Mind About

Mark Hyman

Feb 2, 2026

Episode description

For decades, we’ve been told that high cholesterol is the main driver of heart disease—and that lowering LDL should be the primary goal. But as science has evolved, so has my thinking. In today’s Office Hours, I explain why cholesterol alone doesn’t tell the full story, what most doctors still aren’t testing, and what’s really driving heart disease for the majority of people.

Today we discuss:

• Why many people have heart attacks despite “normal” LDL cholesterol

• The difference between cholesterol levels and cholesterol particles

• How inflammation and insulin resistance fuel heart disease

• Why sugar and refined starches are more dangerous than fat

• The most important labs to assess real cardiovascular risk

• What ApoB, lipoprotein(a), and triglyceride-to-HDL ratio reveal about your health

• How metabolic dysfunction—not cholesterol alone—drives plaque buildup

Heart disease is far more complex than a single lab value. When you understand the role of metabolic health, inflammation, and the right biomarkers, you can take meaningful steps to protect your heart and long-term health.

Visit ⁠functionhealth.com⁠ for 160+ lab tests at just $365 a year.

Helpful Resources:

Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Metabolic Health

https://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detox Have a question you’d love answered on Office Hours? Submit it here 👉https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNF2y4lFWEOMLlzVNlFDpJ4xl7oOpH9NlImMoHr5mHggL_Ww/viewform?usp=header

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Calculate triglyceride to HDL ratio for heart attack risk assessment

A simple yet powerful predictor of heart attack risk is your triglyceride to HDL ratio, which should ideally be 1:1 or lower.

#heart

#risk

Address inflammation to combat heart disease

Heart disease is primarily an inflammatory disease, and cholesterol is often just a bystander that gets deposited into already inflamed arteries.

#heart

#inflammation

Prioritize fasting insulin test for health and longevity

Fasting insulin is one of the most important tests for understanding your health and longevity, yet it is checked in less than 1% of doctor visits.

#insulin

#longevity

Get tested for genetic risk of heart disease from Lp(a)

20% of the population has a genetic elevation in Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), a strong independent risk factor for heart disease that most people don't get tested for.

#genetics

#heart

Prioritize reducing sugar to prevent heart attacks

For most people, the primary driver of heart attacks is not dietary fat but sugar and refined starches, which cause metabolic dysfunction and inflammation.

#heart

#sugar

Image arteries to detect plaque presence

A calcium score is an important imaging test to see if you actually have plaque in your arteries, as blood tests are only surrogate markers and don't show the disease itself.

#artery

#plaque

Recognize TOFI condition to address hidden health risks

You can be a normal weight but still have high visceral belly fat and insulin resistance, a condition called TOFI (thin on the outside, fat on the inside), which carries the same heart disease risk as obesity.