The Filmmaker Who Spent 3 Years Asking 40 Experts About Heart Disease 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 ({{AFFILIATE_LINK}}). 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 ({{AFFILIATE_LINK}}).