Day 1: Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The Misunderstood - Doctor Warrick Bishop | Heart Attacks Are Preventable!

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Day 1: Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The Misunderstood

Host:

Doctor Warrick

Sep 26, 2025

Played 707 times

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Cholesterol

Welcome to the Younger Longer 14-Day Cholesterol Challenge. My name is Dr. Warrick Bishop. I'm a preventative cardiologist and I'm super excited that you're looking to look after your cholesterol. It is one of the most important and really one of the simplest things you can look after to look after your heart for the rest of your life.

During this 14-Day Challenge, I'm going to share with you a whole lot of stuff. Every day, a video, some resources, a challenge or a task for you to complete and a fun fact. Stay tuned, your cholesterol is super important. Let me explain to you how, what you're going to do about it and how you're going to look after yourself for the years ahead!

Why Listen?

Get practical tips and science-backed advice you can apply immediately.
Learn from real-world examples and medical expertise.
Gain daily challenges to help you stay engaged and track progress.
Take charge of your heart health in a simple, effective, and engaging way.

Takeaways:

What is cholesterol and why does your body need it?
LDL, HDL, and the real story behind "good" and "bad" cholesterol
Busting the myth: Cholesterol in food vs. cholesterol in your blood
Fun Fact: Your liver makes about 75% of the cholesterol in your body!
Daily Task: Write down 3 things you've heard about cholesterol and note if they may be myths.
Resource: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/hdl-good-ldl-bad-cholesterol-and-triglycerides?utm

Transcript:

Are You at Risk of a Sudden Heart Attack? How Healthy is Your Heart? Really?

Heart disease is the #1 killer in the Western World. In Australia, someone dies every 28 minutes from heart disease. That’s 51 people a day. In the US, someone has a heart attack every 40 SECONDS! Fortunately, many heart attacks are preventable. However, regular exercise and eating healthy are no guarantee you won’t succumb to this silent killer.

94% of Australians have at least One Risk Factor for heart disease.
59% of Australians have been Touched by heart disease.
Yet only 3% of Australians have had a Full Heart-Health Assessment in the past 12 months.

Do the free heart check today at www.virtualheartcheck.com.au

Join the Healthy Heart Network and become part of our growing community!

Do You Want to Improve Your Heart’s Health and Reduce Your Risk of Suffering a Heart Attack? Join The Healthy Heart Network For Only $5 Lifetime Access (Valued at over $55)!

The Healthy Heart Network is designed to help members:

understand the present state of their heart’s health
recognise their current level of risk of suffering a heart attack
Learn the positive steps they can take to improve their situation

Visit https://healthyheartnetwork.com/ and click on the JOIN THE FAMILY BUTTON

Transcript English

**Episode Title: "Day 1: Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The Misunderstood"** **Speaker 1:** Welcome to day one! There are some really important things I need to get across in just a short period of time. First of all, cholesterol is not the enemy. The body needs cholesterol. Every cell in our body has cholesterol in the cell membrane. It makes it move and function well like a cell that we need. We need cholesterol for the sex hormones that the body produces. We need cholesterol for vitamin D synthesis. We also need cholesterol to help the body carry fat-soluble vitamins around within the body. So, we need cholesterol. Now, it's really important you understand that cholesterol is not cholesterol is not cholesterol. You need to understand that there is cholesterol that is the molecule that resides in cells and the body uses, but there's also cholesterol that moves around in the body. That's the cholesterol we tend to be most interested in. That cholesterol moves around in particles that you may have heard of: high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). These particles carrying cholesterol end up defining whether that cholesterol misbehaves or helps out. It's a complex interplay. It's also really important to understand that 75% of the body's total cholesterol is made in the liver. Now, really interestingly, every cell in the body can make its own cholesterol for its own needs. Well, what's a fun fact? This isn't a fun fact, I'm afraid, but the majority of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels. So, using cholesterol of its own to try and predict heart attacks doesn't work very well. Your task is to try and identify three myths or three things you've heard about when it comes to cholesterol and figure out if they're myths or facts by the end of this 14-day challenge. I'm also going to ask you to listen to the accompanying podcast. For now, I hope you live as well as possible for as long as possible. Until next time, we're going to be talking about all sorts of things, including coronary artery calcium scoring and atherosclerotic plaque. Take care and bye for now.