Day 05: Dietary Fats - Friend or Foe? - Doctor Warrick Bishop | Heart Attacks Are Preventable!

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Day 05: Dietary Fats - Friend or Foe?

Host:

Doctor Warrick

Sep 30, 2025

Played 301 times

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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:

Saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats explained Mention chol in diet here
Why fat doesn’t automatically mean danger
The Mediterranean diet and lipid health
Fun Fact: Extra virgin olive oil has been shown to lower LDL oxidation.
Daily Task: Replace one processed snack today with a handful of nuts or avocado.
Resources: https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/?utm

Transcript:

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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.

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Transcript English

**Episode Title: "Day 05: Dietary Fats - Friend or Foe?"** **Host:** Hi, here we are at day five, and we're talking about the foods we eat and their impact on cholesterol. In particular, I want to discuss eating cholesterol and what effect that has on your body's cholesterol when we measure it in the blood. I also want to talk to you about what can push your cholesterol levels up or down. First of all, if your cholesterol is on the higher side, should you be eating eggs? Should you be eating prawns? Should you be eating liver? All these things are pretty high in cholesterol. Well, it turns out that one of the most significant guides to your cholesterol level is from your parents and your genetics. We all have a, if you like, a regulator—a thermostat in our bodies—that controls our cholesterol level. Now, that's not a surprise. The body controls all sorts of things; temperature is a great example. If we get cold, our body senses that and starts us shivering. That all happens automatically. If we get hot, our body senses that and we start to perspire. Again, we don't think about that; we don't make that happen. That happens automatically. That process of keeping your temperature at an equilibrium is called homeostasis. Well, the body does that for cholesterol as well. If your cholesterol is at a certain level and you eat more, the body makes less cholesterol, and things stay the same—and vice versa. So, eating cholesterol doesn't have a huge impact on your blood's cholesterol level. But what does have an impact is eating saturated fat. Saturated fat is the fat from animal products, most commonly. So, if you eat saturated fat, that actually changes some of the receptors in that process and tricks the body into making more cholesterol. Consumption of saturated fat, and in particular trans fats, will raise your cholesterol levels. Remember though, your cholesterol levels are set by your parents, so thank them. Saturated fats will push those cholesterol levels up, and trans fats are just a disaster. Eating cholesterol won't have a huge impact. What am I going to ask you to do as a task for today? Try and avoid those processed foods with those trans fats in them. And what I would also like to do is ask you to lock in with today's podcast. There'll be more detail on that. For now, I'm going to sign off. I do hope you live as well as possible for as long as possible, and stay tuned because we're going to talk soon.