On September 19, 2013 at 2:00PM EDT I invite you to join me for a free online webinar—The Great Cholesterol Myth—Debunked!  One of the biggest myths I’ll be debunking in my webinar is that sugar—not cholesterol—is the real villain when it comes to heart disease. Plus, I’ll explain why saturated fat isn’t the enemy. 

 

But does this mean you have free license to eat beef every day, and that you should never eat sugar again? The answers aren’t quite that black and white. So, today I’m going to answer some of the most frequent food questions I receive, and give you the opportunity to test your “food IQ.”

 

A: While saturated fats are heart healthy, it’s still important to eat a balanced diet so I recommend limiting beef to once or twice a week. You just want to make sure you’re choosing grass-fed beef, which is usually raised organically—so it’s not filled with antibiotics, steroids, hormones, or inflammatory omega-6 fats. 

 

A: The hands-down winner is coconut oil. Coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA)—not the long-chain fatty acids found in most oils—so it's heart healthy. In fact those MCFAs have an effect similar to omega-3 fatty acids, so they make blood platelets less sticky. As for vegetable oil, avoid it. That’s because vegetable oil is damaged in cooking, making it vulnerable to harmful oxidation.

 

A: Eggs are perfectly fine to eat. I eat four to six DHA-fortified, cage-free eggs per week. Eggs contain magnesium and sulfur, plus the egg white is full of protein. But there’s one thing I should mention if you’re eating a lot of conventionally produced eggs. Men who eat more than six eggs a week have a higher rate of prostate problems. So when it comes to eggs, go with the cage-free and DHA-fortified variety.

 

A: I prefer organic butter. Just make sure you scrape off any dark areas that develop as the butter is exposed to air, because it means that portion of the butter has oxidized. 

 

A: Sugar is inflammatory, so you want to avoid it as much as possible. But if you have a sweet tooth, I’ll tell you what I do. I love dark chocolate—60 or 70 percent cacao. It satisfies my sweet tooth. Plus, the polyphenols in the dark chocolate can protect your heart. Would I eat chocolate at every meal? Of course not. But having it a small amount a few times a week is perfectly okay.

 

 

Now it’s your turn: How did you do? Were there any surprises in this quiz?