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This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

For most of us, the cholesterol number on a blood test has become the scorecard for heart health. If it comes back in the normal range, we relax and assume our heart is safe for another year. That feels sensible, and it is good that so many people take their tests seriously, but there is a fact that should make all of us look a little closer.

Roughly half of the people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels.

That figure comes up again and again in The Untold Story of Heart Disease, a 9-part docuseries in which filmmaker Matt Carter interviewed over 40 cardiologists, doctors, nutrition experts and heart disease survivors. If cholesterol were the whole story, you would expect the people with normal numbers to be well protected. Yet a huge share of heart attacks happen to exactly those people, which tells us there is more going on inside the arteries than one number can show.

The number we were all taught to watch

For decades the message from food labels, advertising and public advice has been simple: cut the fat, bring your cholesterol down and your heart will thank you. Millions of people followed that advice faithfully. They swapped butter for spreads, bought low-fat yoghurts and chose breakfast cereals with a heart on the box.

Heart disease is still the leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States, one person dies from it every 36 seconds, and it accounts for about 1 in 4 deaths. It earned the name "the silent killer" because so many people have no warning before something serious happens. If the old advice had been enough, those figures would look very different by now.

What the experts in the series say about cholesterol

What struck me most in the series is how many respected experts question the way cholesterol is usually discussed. Not all of them agree that high cholesterol is simply bad. Several argue that cholesterol has important jobs to do in the body, and that what matters most is how it is behaving and what is happening around it.

The second episode, "Cholesterol: The Surprising Story Never Told", goes deep into this. The third, "Statin Crazy: Friend or Foe", looks at cholesterol-lowering drugs. If you take a statin, please keep taking it as prescribed and bring any questions to your doctor, because the series is there to help you learn and ask better questions, and decisions about medication belong with the person who knows your medical history.

Small dense LDL and large fluffy LDL

Many people have heard of LDL as the "bad" cholesterol. The experts in the series explain that LDL comes in different forms. Some particles are small and dense, while others are large and fluffy, and they argue that these behave very differently inside your blood vessels.

This is one reason two people with the same LDL number can carry very different levels of risk. A standard result does not always tell you which kind you have, and the series encourages viewers to talk with their doctor about more modern testing. Heart Disease Code even includes a Cardiovascular Testing Guide to help you prepare for that conversation.

Where low-fat foods come into it

When fat was taken out of so many foods, something had to replace it to keep them tasting good. Very often that was wheat, sugar and other grains. Bread, breakfast cereals and snack bars became the backbone of the "healthy" diet.

The experts in the series argue that these low-fat products may be part of the problem rather than the solution. The first episode, "The Big Fat Cover Up", tells the story of how fat came to be blamed in the first place. The site also points to a 2010 study of about 350,000 people that concluded saturated fat does not increase heart disease risk. You may find that idea hard to accept at first, which is exactly why it is worth hearing the full argument from the people who have studied it.

What this means for you today

If your cholesterol is normal, that is good news and worth celebrating. It just should not be the only thing you look at. The other signs of higher risk that the series highlights include high blood pressure, extra weight around the middle, type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides, gum disease, inflammatory conditions and poor sleep. If any of those apply to you, they deserve the same attention you give your cholesterol result.

A good next step is to write down your questions and book time with your doctor. Ask what your numbers mean together, rather than one at a time, and ask whether any further tests would make sense for you. Going in prepared makes that conversation far more useful.

Learning the fuller story of your heart

If you would like to understand all of this properly, Heart Disease Code is one of the most complete places to start. It brings together the Heart Disease Code ebook, which lays out 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally, and the full 9-part docuseries with about 10 hours of interviews. You also get bonuses including a Heart Healthy Cookbook with over 50 easy recipes, The Top 50 Foods for a Healthy Heart, a Supplementation Guide and the Testing Guide mentioned above.

It costs $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from its normal price of $99.95, and you can watch, read or print it on any device. It also comes with a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee, so you can explore it at your own pace. You can see everything included in Heart Disease Code here.

Your cholesterol number is one useful piece of information. The more you learn about the rest of the picture, the better the questions you can bring to your doctor and the more confident you can feel about the choices you make every day. Start learning what your heart really needs today.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

When Matt Carter was 8 years old, he was watching a hockey game with a friend's family when his friend's dad collapsed with a massive heart attack. The man was a husband and a father of three, and he was sitting with the people he loved most when it happened.

A moment like that stays with a child. Matt promised himself that it would never happen to him.

Years later, that promise led him to spend 3 years flying to different countries to interview over 40 cardiologists, doctors, nutrition experts and heart disease survivors. The result is The Untold Story of Heart Disease, a 9-part docuseries that sits at the centre of Heart Disease Code.

A family history he could not ignore

Heart disease was never a distant subject for Matt. It had killed and crippled many of his loved ones, and the family history went back a long way. He grew up knowing that the odds were not in his favour.

He did what most of us are told to do. He ate whole grains, he exercised, and he took his medications every day. By his own account he believed he was living a healthy life. Yet up to about five years ago his health was a mess. He was overweight and dealing with brain fog, frequent headaches, high blood pressure, acid reflux and joint pain.

That gap between what he was doing and how he felt is something many people will recognise. You follow the advice, you make the sensible choices, and still your body seems to be telling you that something is wrong.

When it came close to home

The turning point came when his mom started taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. Heart disease was no longer only part of the family's past; it was knocking on the door of someone he loved right now. Matt is married with children of his own, and the thought of his family going through what he had seen others go through was more than he could sit with.

He is a documentary filmmaker, so he did what he knows best. He decided to go and ask the people who had spent their careers studying the heart.

Six months became three years

Matt thought the film would take about six months. It took three years. Each expert pointed him to someone else worth hearing, so he kept travelling to find the people who could explain what was really happening inside our arteries.

The list of people featured in the series is impressive. It includes Dr Mark Hyman and cardiologists such as Dr Stephen Sinatra, Dr Jack Wolfson, Dr William Davis, Dr Mimi Guarneri and Dr Peter Langsjoen. Dr Mark Houston speaks on high blood pressure. Journalist Nina Teicholz, Dr Cate Shanahan, Dr Jonny Bowden, J.J. Virgin and neuroscientist Dr Susan Peirce Thompson are there too, along with many others.

Some of what they told him challenged everything he had been taught. Roughly half of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels, for example, and not all of the experts agree that high cholesterol is simply bad. Others explained how low-fat foods made with wheat, sugar and grains may be part of the problem.

From one man's search to something you can use

Matt could have kept what he learned for his own family. Instead he turned it into Heart Disease Code, a guide built around what the site calls "The Real 9 Steps to Fight and Prevent Heart Disease Naturally".

The heart of it is the docuseries itself, about 10 hours across 9 episodes. They cover the story of how fat came to be demonised, the cholesterol debate, statins, the true cause of heart disease, harmful foods and toxins, blood sugar and diabetes, food addiction, high blood pressure and the power of nutrition. Alongside the films there is the Heart Disease Code ebook, which sets out the 9 steps in a form you can read at your own pace.

The bonuses reflect the practical side of what Matt learned. There is a Heart Healthy Cookbook with over 50 easy recipes from an in-house chef, The Top 50 Foods for a Healthy Heart ebook, a Heart Health Supplementation Guide that explains which supplements are worth it and why overdosing can be dangerous, and a Testing Guide covering modern tests to discuss with your doctor. You also get 9 companion guides with episode recaps, notes, exercises and quick quizzes, plus a bonus episode on the gut-heart connection.

Why his story matters to you

Most of us will never have the chance to sit down with 40 heart experts. Matt did that work so the rest of us can learn from it on a laptop or phone, in our own home, whenever we have the time.

If heart disease runs in your family, if you have been told your blood pressure or cholesterol is out of range, or if you simply want to understand your heart better, his series gives you a strong foundation. Use what you learn to have a better conversation with your doctor, especially before changing anything about your treatment.

Heart Disease Code is $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from its normal $99.95, with instant online access and a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. You can watch Matt's series and get the full guide here.

A promise made by an 8-year-old boy turned into one of the most thorough looks at heart disease you can watch at home. If that boy's search speaks to you, take a look at Heart Disease Code today.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

Fred Pauser was the kind of person doctors like to see. He avoided fat, he ate plenty of whole grains, and he was very active. If you had asked him about his heart, he would probably have told you he was doing everything right, and by mainstream advice he was.

Then one morning he woke up with a stabbing pain in his chest and could hardly breathe.

There had been no warning signs at all. When he saw his doctor, the words he heard were blunt: "You're a ticking time bomb." The main arteries to his heart were almost completely blocked.

A family pattern he hoped to escape

For Fred, this was more frightening than it might be for some. Members of his family had died of heart disease. He had seen what it could do, and he had built his life around trying to avoid the same fate. He had followed the guidance faithfully, and still his arteries had been closing quietly for years.

That is the hardest part of his story for many readers. It is one thing to hear that heart disease affects people who smoke, never exercise and eat badly. It is another to hear that someone who was careful, active and conscientious could be so close to disaster without knowing it. Heart disease is called the silent killer for good reason.

What Fred did next

Fred did not sit back and wait. He started researching, determined to understand why the advice he had trusted had not protected him and what he could do now.

What he put together was a specific protocol. It included certain supplements, some crucial food swaps and other lifestyle changes. Interestingly, he did not follow a low-fat diet, which was the opposite of what he had done for years. His approach used food swaps, botanicals, specific supplements and sunlight.

Over time, the changes in Fred were striking. He dropped 20 pounds and was back to weight training. He had more energy. His cholesterol was normal, he no longer needed heart surgery, and his doctor told him he was no longer at high risk.

Results vary from person to person, and it was Fred's own doctor who confirmed his progress, so your doctor is the right person to start any changes of your own with.

Why Fred's experience matters

Fred's story is valuable because it raises a question many careful people never think to ask. If you are already doing what you were told, how do you know it is working for your heart?

The answer usually starts with better information and better conversations with your doctor. That might mean asking about your full risk picture and not only your cholesterol number, since roughly half of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol. It might mean looking again at foods you assumed were healthy, such as products made with wheat, sugar and grains that were sold as low-fat choices. It might also mean asking whether more modern tests would give you a clearer view of what is happening in your arteries.

If you take medication for your heart, blood pressure or cholesterol, please do not change it based on any story you read, including this one. Talk to your doctor first. If your health improves, your doctor is the right person to consider whether your treatment should change.

And if you ever experience chest pain, trouble breathing or other warning signs, call your local emergency number straight away.

Where Fred's story is told in full

Fred is one of the more than 40 contributors in The Untold Story of Heart Disease, a 9-part docuseries made by filmmaker Matt Carter. Matt spent 3 years travelling to different countries to interview cardiologists, doctors, nutrition experts and survivors like Fred, after heart disease had taken and harmed many people in his own family.

The series is the centrepiece of Heart Disease Code. Along with about 10 hours of interviews, you get the Heart Disease Code ebook with its 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally. The bonuses include a Heart Health Supplementation Guide that covers which supplements are worth it and warns that overdosing can be dangerous, along with a Heart Healthy Cookbook with over 50 easy recipes, The Top 50 Foods for a Healthy Heart and a Testing Guide with modern tests to discuss with your doctor.

Heart Disease Code is $19.95 as a one-time payment, reduced from its normal price of $99.95, and it is backed by a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. You can hear Fred's story and the rest of the series here.

Fred thought he was safe until the morning he found out otherwise. You can learn from his experience long before you ever have a morning like his. Take a look at Heart Disease Code and start learning what your heart needs.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States one person dies from it every 36 seconds, and it is behind about 1 in 4 deaths. Part of what makes it so dangerous is that it often builds quietly for years before anything feels wrong, which is why it is called the silent killer.

The good news is that your body often gives clues long before a crisis. The list below comes from Heart Disease Code, a guide and docuseries built on interviews with over 40 cardiologists, doctors and nutrition experts. None of these signs means you will develop heart disease, and having none of them does not mean you are completely safe. If any of them apply to you, please book an appointment with your doctor and talk it through.

If you ever have chest pain, trouble breathing or sudden weakness, call your local emergency number immediately.

1. High blood pressure

High blood pressure puts extra strain on your heart and blood vessels every single day. Many people have it without knowing, because it rarely causes obvious symptoms. A quick check at a pharmacy or your doctor's surgery is one of the easiest ways to learn more about your heart.

2. Extra weight around your middle

Weight carried around the abdomen is often treated as a more important warning sign than weight elsewhere on the body. If your waistline has crept up over the years, it is worth mentioning to your doctor even if your overall weight seems reasonable.

3. Type 2 diabetes

Blood sugar and heart health are closely connected. People living with type 2 diabetes are widely recognised as having a higher risk of heart problems, so keeping in regular contact with your care team matters a great deal.

4. Unusually high cholesterol

Cholesterol gets more attention than any other number, and very high readings deserve to be taken seriously. At the same time, the experts in the Heart Disease Code series point out that roughly half of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol, so it is one sign among several and should not be your only measure.

5. Inflammatory conditions

Ongoing inflammation in the body is a recurring theme in the series, and inflammatory conditions appear on the list of signs for that reason. If you live with one, ask your doctor how it might affect your heart and what you can do to support your health.

6. Gum disease

It surprises many people to see gum disease on a heart list. Your mouth is part of the same body, and doctors have long taken an interest in how gum health and heart health may be connected. Regular dental check-ups are a sensible habit for your heart as well as your teeth.

7. Erectile dysfunction

For men, erectile dysfunction can be related to poor blood flow. Because the same blood vessels serve the whole body, it can sometimes be an early hint that circulation elsewhere deserves a closer look. It can feel awkward to raise, but your doctor will have heard it many times before.

8. High triglycerides

Triglycerides are a type of fat in your blood, and they are usually measured in a standard blood test alongside cholesterol. High readings are worth discussing, particularly if you eat a lot of sugar and refined grains.

9. Sleep problems

Poor sleep affects far more than your energy the next day. If you snore heavily, wake often or never feel rested, mention it to your doctor, because sleep problems are on the list of signs linked to higher heart risk.

What to do if some of these apply to you

Seeing two or three of these signs in your own life can feel worrying, and it is completely natural to want answers fast. The most useful step you can take is to see your doctor, explain which signs apply to you and ask what checks would make sense. Write your questions down beforehand so nothing gets forgotten in the appointment.

If you already take medication for any of these conditions, keep taking it as prescribed. Learning more about your heart should help you work with your doctor, and any change to your treatment needs to be their call.

Beyond that, learning how heart disease develops gives you a real advantage. Once you understand the role of blood sugar, blood pressure, food choices, sleep and inflammation, everyday decisions become much easier to make.

A guide that explains the causes behind these signs

Heart Disease Code was created by documentary filmmaker Matt Carter, who saw heart disease kill and cripple many of his loved ones. He spent 3 years interviewing over 40 experts and survivors for The Untold Story of Heart Disease, a 9-part docuseries of about 10 hours. Episodes include "High Blood Pressure Decoded & Tools for Thriving" and "The Blood Sugar Tragedy: Overcoming Diabetes & Hope for Change", which speak directly to several signs on this list.

You also get the Heart Disease Code ebook with 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally, plus bonuses including a Heart Healthy Cookbook, a Supplementation Guide and a Cardiovascular Testing Guide that explains modern tests to discuss with your doctor. See everything inside Heart Disease Code here.

It is $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from $99.95, with instant access on any device and a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. If even one sign on this list sounded familiar, it is a very good time to learn more. Get Heart Disease Code and start understanding your heart today.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

Walk down the bread aisle of almost any supermarket and you will see the same promises printed on the packaging. Whole grain, high fibre, good for your heart. For years, swapping white bread for brown has been one of the first changes people make when they decide to look after themselves, and it comes from a genuine wish to do the right thing.

So it can come as a real surprise to hear a cardiologist question whether those grains are as kind to the heart as we have been told.

A cardiologist with a different view

Dr William Davis is a cardiologist and bestselling author, and he is one of the more than 40 experts featured in The Untold Story of Heart Disease, a 9-part docuseries by filmmaker Matt Carter. In the series, Dr Davis explains how wholegrains can set off a cascade inside the blood vessels.

That is a bold position, and it runs against much of the advice you will find on food labels. It is well worth hearing him explain it in his own words in the series, because he walks you through his reasoning step by step, and it gives you something concrete to discuss with your own doctor.

How bread became a "heart healthy" food

To understand why this debate exists at all, it helps to look back at how our diets changed. For decades, fat was treated as the main enemy of the heart. The first episode of the series, "The Big Fat Cover Up", tells the story of how fat came to be demonised.

As people cut fat, food makers needed to fill the gap. Wheat, sugar and other grains often took its place, and products such as bread, breakfast cereals and snack bars became the foundation of what many people thought of as a healthy diet. The experts in the series argue that these low-fat products may be part of the problem.

Two people who trusted their whole grains

Fred Pauser, one of the survivors featured in the series, did everything mainstream advice suggested. He avoided fat, ate lots of whole grains and was very active. One morning he woke with stabbing chest pain and could hardly breathe, and his doctor told him the main arteries to his heart were almost completely blocked. In the changes he made afterwards, he did not follow a low-fat diet. He used food swaps, botanicals, specific supplements and sunlight, alongside other lifestyle changes. He went on to drop 20 pounds, his cholesterol was normal and his doctor said he was no longer at high risk. Your results may differ from Fred's, but his story is worth hearing in full.

Matt Carter himself ate wholegrains, exercised and took his medications daily, believing he was living healthily. Even so, he was overweight and struggling with brain fog, headaches, high blood pressure, acid reflux and joint pain.

What you can do with this information

None of this means you need to empty your cupboards tonight. A sensible first step is simply to pay more attention to what you are eating and how you feel afterwards.

Start by reading the ingredients on the bread, cereals and snack bars you buy. Many people are surprised by how much added sugar turns up in foods sold as healthy. Notice whether certain foods leave you hungry again soon after eating, or whether you find them hard to stop eating once you start. Food addiction is the subject of its own episode in the series, and bread is one of the foods discussed in it.

If you are managing diabetes, heart disease or any other condition, talk to your doctor or a qualified dietitian before making big changes to your diet. They know your history and can help you make changes safely, especially if you take medication that depends on what and how much you eat.

Hear the whole argument for yourself

The question of whole grains is only one part of a much bigger story. Heart Disease Code brings together the full 9-part docuseries, about 10 hours of interviews with experts including Dr Davis, Dr Mark Hyman, Dr Stephen Sinatra and journalist Nina Teicholz, along with the Heart Disease Code ebook and its 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally.

The bonuses make it practical. The Heart Healthy Cookbook has over 50 easy recipes from an in-house chef, and The Top 50 Foods for a Healthy Heart ebook helps you see which foods to put on your plate in place of the ones you are rethinking. You can see the full Heart Disease Code package here.

It costs $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from $99.95, and comes with a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. If you have always trusted the healthy-looking loaf in your trolley, this is a fascinating way to find out what one cardiologist and many other experts think about it. Watch The Untold Story of Heart Disease and decide for yourself.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

Most people who struggle with their weight are working hard at it. They plan meals, join the gym, buy the healthy options and promise themselves that tomorrow will be different. Then a long day ends, the cravings arrive, and the biscuit tin or the bread bin wins again.

If that sounds familiar, you are in very good company, and it says nothing bad about your character. One of the most helpful ideas in The Untold Story of Heart Disease is that some foods can affect the brain in a way that makes willpower an unfair fight.

What a neuroscientist says about bread and sugar

Dr Susan Peirce Thompson is a neuroscientist and the creator of Bright Line Eating. She is one of the more than 40 experts featured in the 9-part docuseries made by filmmaker Matt Carter. In the series she explains how two very common foods, bread and sugar, create addiction in the brain that drives overeating.

That idea changes how you look at a lot of struggles. When someone finds they cannot stop at one slice of toast or one biscuit, it is easy to call it weakness. Dr Thompson's explanation gives a different way to understand what is happening, and a far more compassionate one.

The seventh episode of the series, "The Powerful Effect of Food Addiction", is devoted to this subject.

Why cravings matter for your heart

Carrying extra weight, particularly around the abdomen, is one of the signs of higher heart disease risk listed in Heart Disease Code. So are type 2 diabetes and high triglycerides. All of these can be affected by what we eat and how much of it we eat.

That means cravings are about more than a waistline. If certain foods keep pulling you back to overeat, they may also be nudging your blood sugar, your weight and your heart in the wrong direction over many years. Episode 6, "The Blood Sugar Tragedy: Overcoming Diabetes & Hope for Change", explores the blood sugar side of the story in depth.

Why the gym alone often struggles to keep up

Exercise is wonderful for your heart, your mood and your sleep, and it is well worth doing. Even so, the series looks at the topic of exercise versus food addiction, because many people discover that no amount of time on a treadmill keeps up with eating patterns driven by cravings.

Matt Carter knows this first-hand. Before making the series, he exercised, ate wholegrains and took his medications daily, and he still found himself overweight and struggling with brain fog, headaches, high blood pressure, acid reflux and joint pain. Like so many people, he was putting in the effort without getting the results he expected.

Gentle first steps you can take

Understanding food addiction does not mean you have to overhaul your life overnight. A few gentle steps can help you see your own patterns more clearly.

Start by noticing which foods are hardest for you to stop eating once you begin. For many people, bread and sugary snacks top that list. Keep a simple note for a week of when cravings strike and what you were doing or feeling at the time. Patterns often appear quickly, such as late evenings, stressful days or skipped meals.

It also helps to have satisfying alternatives ready. If you know what you will eat in place of the foods that pull at you, it is far easier to make a different choice when a craving arrives. A good cookbook with simple recipes makes a big difference here.

If you are living with diabetes or take medication that is affected by what you eat, speak to your doctor before changing your diet, so they can help you do it safely.

Where to learn more

Heart Disease Code brings together everything Matt Carter learned over 3 years of interviewing cardiologists, doctors, nutrition experts and heart disease survivors. It includes the full 9-part docuseries with about 10 hours of interviews, featuring Dr Thompson alongside experts such as Dr Mark Hyman, J.J. Virgin and Dr Alan Christianson.

You also get the Heart Disease Code ebook with 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally, a Heart Healthy Cookbook with over 50 easy recipes, The Top 50 Foods for a Healthy Heart and 9 companion guides with recaps, notes, exercises and quick quizzes for each episode. Those exercises are especially useful if you want to turn what you learn about cravings into everyday habits. Take a look at everything inside Heart Disease Code here.

The whole package is $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from $99.95, with instant access on any device and a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. If cravings have been winning for years, finding out why they are so strong is the best place to begin. Watch the food addiction episode and the rest of the series today.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

For many people, a heart check means one thing: a cholesterol test. You give a blood sample, a few numbers come back, and if they are in the normal range you go home reassured. Getting tested at all is a very good habit, and plenty of people never do it.

The challenge is that a basic test may tell you less about your heart than you think. Roughly half of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels, which is a strong reason to ask whether there is more you could learn.

What a basic cholesterol test shows

The standard test most people have is a lipid panel. It usually measures your total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides. These are useful numbers, and your doctor will use them alongside things like your blood pressure, your blood sugar, your weight and your family history.

The Cardiovascular Testing Guide that comes with Heart Disease Code goes further. It argues that a simple lipid test on its own is outdated, and it explains the modern tests worth discussing with your doctor. The experts in The Untold Story of Heart Disease explain, for example, that LDL comes as small dense particles and large fluffy particles, and that these behave differently. A standard result does not always tell you which kind you have.

Why one number is not enough

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and is often called the silent killer, because many people feel completely fine until something goes badly wrong. Fred Pauser, one of the survivors featured in the series, was active, avoided fat and ate lots of whole grains. He had no warning signs before he woke one morning with stabbing chest pain, and his doctor found the main arteries to his heart were almost completely blocked.

Stories like Fred's are why so many of the experts in the series encourage people to look at the wider picture. Your risk is shaped by many things at once, and the more of that picture you and your doctor can see, the better your decisions can be.

Questions to bring to your next appointment

You do not need to become an expert in cardiology to have a better conversation with your doctor. Going in with a few clear questions is usually enough to open the door. You might ask:

• Looking at all my results together, how would you describe my overall heart risk?
• Given my family history, are there any further tests that would make sense for me?
• Does my standard cholesterol result tell us anything about the type of LDL particles I have?
• Which modern heart tests would you consider for someone with my health history?
• How often should I be rechecked, and what changes would you like to see?

Write your questions down and take them with you. Appointments can feel rushed, and having a list means you leave with answers rather than a nagging feeling that you forgot something.

Who should be especially keen to ask

Everyone can benefit from understanding their heart better, but some people have extra reason to raise testing with their doctor. That includes anyone with a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, unusually high cholesterol or high triglycerides. It also includes people carrying extra weight around the abdomen and those with inflammatory conditions, gum disease, erectile dysfunction or ongoing sleep problems, all of which appear on the list of higher-risk signs in Heart Disease Code.

Your doctor is the right person to decide which tests suit you. Some tests are more useful for certain people than others, and your doctor can weigh up your history and explain the options available where you live.

Keep your treatment in your doctor's hands

If you already take medication for your heart, blood pressure or cholesterol, please keep taking it as prescribed. Better testing and better understanding are tools to help you work with your doctor. If your results improve over time, your doctor can consider whether your treatment should change.

A guide to help you prepare

The Cardiovascular Testing Guide is one of several bonuses included with Heart Disease Code, created by documentary filmmaker Matt Carter after 3 years of interviewing over 40 cardiologists, doctors, nutrition experts and survivors. Cardiologists featured in the series include Dr Stephen Sinatra, Dr Jack Wolfson, Dr Mimi Guarneri and Dr Peter Langsjoen, and Dr Matthew Budoff is among the other experts interviewed.

Along with the testing guide, you get the Heart Disease Code ebook with 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally, the 9-part docuseries of about 10 hours, a Heart Health Supplementation Guide and a Heart Healthy Cookbook with over 50 easy recipes. You can see the testing guide and everything else included here.

Heart Disease Code is $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from $99.95, with a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. Walking into your next appointment prepared can make it one of the most valuable conversations you have about your health. Get Heart Disease Code and prepare for your next check-up.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It is general information and is not medical advice, so please talk to your doctor about your own health.

The Untold Story of Heart Disease is a 9-part docuseries made by filmmaker Matt Carter. It runs to about 10 hours and features interviews with over 40 cardiologists, doctors, nutrition experts and heart disease survivors, filmed over 3 years in different countries.

Matt made it after heart disease killed and crippled many people in his own family. He expected the project to take six months, and it grew into three years of travel as each interview led him to another. The series is the centrepiece of Heart Disease Code, and this guide walks you through what each episode covers so you can decide where to start.

Episode 1: The Big Fat Cover Up: The Captivating Story of Demonizing Fat

The series opens by going back to the beginning, asking how fat came to be seen as the main enemy of the heart. This episode sets the scene for much of what follows. It looks at how low-fat advice shaped our shopping trolleys, and why the experts in the series argue that foods made with wheat, sugar and grains to replace fat may be part of the problem. It is a great place to start if you have spent years choosing low-fat products.

Episode 2: Cholesterol: The Surprising Story Never Told

Cholesterol is the number most of us watch, and this episode takes a fresh look at it. The experts explain why cholesterol has important jobs in the body, why not all of them agree that high cholesterol is simply bad, and why roughly half of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels. You will also hear about small dense LDL and large fluffy LDL, and why the difference matters.

Episode 3: Statin Crazy: Friend or Foe

This episode looks at cholesterol-lowering drugs, a subject close to Matt's heart because it was his mom starting them that pushed him to make the series. It is designed to help you learn and ask informed questions. If you take a statin, keep taking it as prescribed and discuss anything you learn with your doctor.

Episode 4: The True Cause of Heart Disease: Getting to the Heart of the Matter

With the background in place, episode 4 turns to the question at the centre of the whole series: what actually drives heart disease. It pulls together many of the threads from the earlier episodes and is one of the most important to watch closely.

Episode 5: The Danger of Killer Foods and Toxic Killers

Episode 5 looks at the foods and toxins the experts believe can harm the heart. Topics across the series include fish and vegetable oils that can be unstable, along with other everyday items many people never think twice about. Expect to look at your kitchen cupboards a little differently afterwards.

Episode 6: The Blood Sugar Tragedy: Overcoming Diabetes & Hope for Change

Type 2 diabetes is one of the signs of higher heart disease risk, and this episode explores the link between blood sugar and the heart. As the title suggests, it carries a hopeful message about what people can learn and change. If you live with diabetes, talk to your doctor before changing your diet or medication.

Episode 7: The Powerful Effect of Food Addiction

Many people find this the most personal episode. Neuroscientist Dr Susan Peirce Thompson, creator of Bright Line Eating, explains how bread and sugar create addiction in the brain that drives overeating. The episode also explores why exercise alone often struggles to keep up with cravings, which will strike a chord with anyone who has worked hard at the gym without seeing the change they hoped for.

Episode 8: High Blood Pressure Decoded & Tools for Thriving

High blood pressure is one of the most common signs of heart risk, and it often has no obvious symptoms. Dr Mark Houston, who focuses on hypertension, is among the experts featured in the series. This episode is especially useful for anyone who has been told their blood pressure is high and wants to understand the causes behind it.

Episode 9: The Power of Nutrition for a Disease Free Life

The final episode brings everything together around food. After eight episodes of understanding the problem, it focuses on how nutrition can support a healthy heart for years to come. It leaves you with a positive, practical outlook and a clear sense of where to begin.

The bonus episode on your gut

Heart Disease Code also includes a bonus episode on the gut-heart connection called "Gut Health The Secret Source". It explores a topic many people never link to their heart at all.

Getting the most from the series

Each episode comes with a companion guide that includes a recap, notes, exercises and a quick quiz. These are well worth using, especially if you want to turn ideas into habits. Many viewers find it helpful to watch one episode at a time, work through its guide, and then write down any questions for their doctor.

The series also sits alongside the Heart Disease Code ebook, which sets out 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally. The other bonuses include a Heart Healthy Cookbook with over 50 easy recipes, The Top 50 Foods for a Healthy Heart, a Heart Health Supplementation Guide and a Cardiovascular Testing Guide. You can see the full Heart Disease Code package here.

Everything is available online straight away in a members area, and you can watch, read or print on any device. Heart Disease Code is $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from $99.95, with a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. Start watching The Untold Story of Heart Disease today.