Forget saturated fat — THIS is your heart’s real enemy

Sleep problems are deadly. They make you fat. They rocket your blood sugar and raise your diabetes risk. They send  your inflammation levels soaring. They erode your memory. And they more than double your risk of stroke and cancer.

And today, I’ve got another bullet to add to that list: Sleep loss also damages your heart — and faster than you may think, too.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki recently analyzed three different data sets to reach this conclusion. Data taken from two different population studies showed that people suffering from sleep deprivation have higher levels of inflammation and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) — otherwise known as “good cholesterol.”

And the team’s own experimental study — which mimicked a week of sleep restriction in a controlled laboratory environment — reflected those same changes. Suggesting that the heart damage caused by sleep deprivation sets in practically overnight.

Match that up with a low-fat, high-carb diet — like the kind the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, and the rest of the mainstream “experts” still recommend — and you’ve got some serious trouble brewing.

So is it any wonder that heart disease is the leading cause of death in this country?

I’ve been saying for years that dietary cholesterol has little impact on your body’s cholesterol levels. And it’s the last of your worries where your heart health is concerned.

This study shines a spotlight on one place where should be shifting our focus instead. So now maybe, just maybe, we can stop blaming eggs for the world’s heart attacks… and start treating quality sleep like the public health priority it is.


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