Inflammation: The Hidden Fire Burning Your Heart
Why inflammation—not cholesterol—is the true cause of heart disease and how to fight it.
Inflammation is often misunderstood as a simple redness or swelling after injury. But chronic inflammation is a silent, persistent fire that slowly damages your arteries and leads to heart disease.
The delicate lining of your arteries, the endothelium, is the battlefield where this inflammation begins. Oxidized LDL cholesterol acts like rust on metal, triggering immune cells to attack and causing damage that accumulates into plaques.
Unlike acute inflammation which heals wounds, chronic inflammation is harmful and driven by factors like poor diet, smoking, stress, and high sugar intake.
Understanding this shifts the focus from cholesterol numbers to managing inflammation through diet, supplements, exercise, and emotional health.
By calming this hidden fire, you protect your arteries and reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Sources: The Great Cholesterol Myth, Healthy Directions 1 , 3
Want to explore more insights from this book?
Read the full book summary