We've all heard the mantra: lower your cholesterol to save your heart. It's drilled into us by doctors, guidelines, and endless ads for statins. But what if that advice isn't just flawed—what if it's deadly? A recent video from Nick Norwitz MD PhD uncovers a forgotten experiment that flips the script on everything we thought we knew about fats and heart health. If you're skeptical of Big Pharma's one-size-fits-all narratives, this is a must-watch. Let's dive in.
The Experiment That Vanished
Back in the late 1960s, researchers launched the Minnesota Coronary Experiment—a massive, gold-standard trial with over 9,000 participants from mental hospitals and nursing homes. The goal? Test if swapping saturated fats (think butter and beef) for vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid could slash cholesterol and prevent heart disease. It was randomized, blinded, and even included autopsies to check artery damage. Sounds rigorous, right?
The intervention cranked up linoleic acid by 288% while slashing saturated fats by half. Cholesterol levels plummeted as predicted—by about 14%. But here's the twist: deaths skyrocketed. The more cholesterol dropped, the higher the mortality risk. Why? No clear answer, but the data was damning.
Shocking Results: Lower Cholesterol, Higher Graves
The video breaks it down cold: the cholesterol-lowering diet didn't reduce heart attacks or strokes. In fact, autopsies showed a trend toward *worse* artery buildup in the intervention group—41% had confirmed heart attacks versus 22% in controls. A meta-analysis of similar trials (over 10,000 people) echoed this: no benefits for heart health or survival, with hints of harm from those vegetable oils.
Even more chilling? The greater the cholesterol drop, the deadlier the outcome—a 22% higher death risk per 30 mg/dL reduction. This wasn't some fringe study; it was buried for 40 years, rediscovered on old tapes, and finally published in 2016. Coincidence? Or inconvenient truth?
Why Was It Hidden—and What About the Criticisms?
Norwitz tackles the excuses head-on. Critics claim the linoleic acid doses were too high, or hidden trans fats skewed results. But as he points out, no guidelines cap linoleic acid, and trans fats would likely *raise* cholesterol—not lower it like observed. High dropouts? Explained by hospital discharges, not bias. The real issue? These findings clashed with the rising lipid hypothesis, so they gathered dust while guidelines pushed the same advice.
It's a classic case of science sidelined by dogma. Nutrition isn't black-and-white; it's messy, especially when billions in drug sales are at stake.
Final Thoughts
This video isn't just a history lesson—it's a wake-up call for humility in medicine. Assuming lower cholesterol always saves lives? That arrogance cost lives in this trial. Watch it yourself and question the narratives we're fed. Embedded below for your convenience: Lowering Cholesterol Killed: A Study Buried for 40 Years.
What do you think—time to rethink those seed oils? Share your take in the comments. Stay skeptical, folks.
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