No.1 Heart Surgeon: Cardio Is A Waste Of Time For Weight Loss! Philip Ovadia | E240

Cardiovascular exercise alone is not effective for weight loss because:

1. It is difficult to burn enough calories through cardio to lose weight. Dr. Philip Avidia, a renowned heart surgeon, says that processed foods and sugar are highly addictive, and most adults eat unhealthy diets. Simply doing more cardio exercise does not offset the effects of a poor diet.

2. Short-term success with cardio and calorie reduction is not sustainable. Dr. Avidia tried this approach many times but would regain the weight. The root causes of obesity and health issues are diet and metabolic health, not lack of exercise. Focusing only on calories and cardio does not address these root causes.

3. The assumption that exercise alone leads to weight loss is flawed. The human body is not meant to become ill and require pharmaceutical or surgical interventions. But the current medical system operates on this assumption. The root causes of many health issues are societal and self-imposed, not genetic. But the medical system often blames genetics.

4. Metabolic health is defined as the body properly utilizing inputs like food. The three options for food are: immediate energy, tissue building/rebuilding, or storage for later. The system breaks down when too much energy is stored and never used. This leads to many health problems.

5. The keys to health and overcoming obesity are metabolic health and a proper diet. Exercise is secondary. Processed foods, sugar, and the standard Western diet lead to obesity by disrupting metabolism and energy utilization in the body. Fixing diet and metabolic health is key. Exercise alone is not enough.

In summary, while cardio exercise provides some benefits, it should not be relied upon as the primary solution for weight loss or health. The root causes of weight gain and health issues are diet and metabolic factors. Sustainable success requires addressing these root causes through nutrition and lifestyle changes, not just exercise alone. Exercise is complementary, but diet and metabolic health come first.

• The interviewee is a heart surgeon who has been practicing for 20 years.

• The most emotionally challenging day of his career was when a 38-year-old woman died on his operating table after 10 hours of surgery. He had to tell her young children that their mother had passed away. This tragic experience highlighted for him that changes needed to be made to prevent such heart disease.

• The woman’s heart condition, an aortic dissection, was caused by untreated high blood pressure. The doctor believes her condition was 100% preventable if she had received proper nutrition advice and treatment. She was metabolically unhealthy, obese, and had high blood pressure.

• Heart disease, the leading cause of death, is increasingly affecting younger people. The doctor now often operates on people in their 40s and occasionally 30s, and worries 20-year-olds may soon need heart surgery. A third of children are obese, and metabolic disease is on the rise in teens and even younger kids.

• Though the doctor became a heart surgeon to perform life-saving operations, he recognizes most heart disease is preventable and surgeries shouldn’t be needed. His mission is to help people avoid needing surgery in the first place.

• Heart disease has become extremely common, but it wasn’t always this way. Only in the past 70 years has there been a sharp rise in heart disease rates. The doctor asks why heart disease is now so prevalent when it used to be rare. He believes the answer lies in the increase of processed and packaged foods, especially sugar, in the mid-20th century.

• Heart disease refers to atherosclerosis, in which the blood vessels supplying oxygen to the heart muscle become blocked. The heart needs constant oxygen to work, so blockages can be deadly. The buildup of plaque causes the blockages.

• In summary, according to the doctor, the rise in heart disease is largely due to poor diet and nutrition. By recommending dietary changes and tackling risk factors like high blood pressure and weight, much of the disease burden could be prevented.

• The most common cause of heart disease is when the arteries that supply oxygen to the heart muscle get blocked. This is known as coronary artery disease. Plaque builds up inside the arteries, narrowing them and reducing blood flow. This can lead to a heart attack.

• Early research blamed cholesterol and dietary fat as the causes of plaque buildup and heart disease. But reducing cholesterol and fat intake has not eliminated heart disease. Sugar and metabolic health may play a larger role.

• There are five markers of metabolic health: waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Most Americans - 88% - are not metabolically healthy based on these markers. Even thin people can be “skinny fat” - thin on the outside but with unhealthy fat around internal organs. This may be worse than being overweight.

• The diet most likely to support metabolic health is one high in whole, real foods like plants, meat, fish, and eggs. Processed foods should be eliminated. Within this framework, many diets can work, including keto, Paleo, Mediterranean, and vegan. The key is avoiding processed foods and eating nutritious whole foods.

• To determine your own metabolic health, get tested for the five key markers. Make healthy changes to your diet and exercise to improve any unhealthy measures. The most important step is eliminating processed foods and eating more whole foods.

That covers the key highlights from the discussion on heart disease, metabolic health, causes and prevention, and the role of diet. Please let me know if you would like me to clarify or expand on any part of the summary.

• The speaker is pro-animal products and believes animal products are essential for human health. He thinks meat and animal proteins should make up a large part of the human diet.

• He believes vegan and plant-based diets are not optimal for human health and that it is difficult for humans to get all necessary nutrients from plants alone. Humans evolved eating meat, and our bodies are designed to get nutrients from meat.

• In his medical practice, he has seen that vegan diets can initially improve health but that it is hard for people to maintain good health on vegan diets long-term without careful planning and supplementation. He believes the optimal human diet should not require supplementation.

• He lays out seven principles for achieving optimal metabolic health. The first is to reframe health as a system, not a goal. This means focusing on developing sustainable habits rather than short-term weight loss goals.

• One of the principles is exercise, but he believes people should focus more on overall activity and building muscle rather than just doing cardio exercise. Research shows cardio is not reliably effective for fat loss. Muscle is metabolically active and better supports metabolic health.

• His overall philosophy is that people should focus on becoming metabolically healthy in a sustainable way, whether through a carnivore diet, vegan diet, or something in between. The most important measure of success is maintaining metabolic health long-term.

• The author does not want people to focus on cardio for weight loss. While cardio has benefits, it is not effective for weight loss. Studies show that cardio does not help most people lose weight long-term.

• There are two reasons why cardio does not help with weight loss:

1. For most people, cardio increases hunger and leads to eating more, offsetting any calories burned during exercise.

2. The body adjusts and burns fewer calories during the rest of the day to compensate for calories burned during cardio.

• Weightlifting and resistance exercise are better than cardio for weight loss and metabolic health. Weightlifting builds muscle, which burns more calories throughout the day and helps maintain an active metabolism as we age.

• Sleep is important for metabolic health. Lack of sleep can indicate poor metabolic health, and poor metabolic health can hurt sleep quality and lead to issues like sleep apnea. Improving metabolic health by eating right, reducing weight, and exercising can help improve sleep.

• The author is critical of the healthcare system and doctors for their role in societal ill health and obesity. As a profession, doctors need to do better at promoting health and prevention.

• The author defines “Big Food” as the processed food industry. The processed food industry produces unhealthy food primarily for profit, not for health. Their goal is to sell more food, not produce healthy food. Processed foods provide cheap calories but lack nutrients, leaving people hungry and malnourished.

• One of the “Twelve Deadliest Food Lies” is that food companies want us to be healthy. In reality, the health of consumers is not a concern or priority for the processed food industry. Their goal is to increase profits by selling more food.

That covers the key highlights and main takeaways from the author’s perspective on why cardio is not effective for weight loss, the importance of metabolic health and muscle, problems with the healthcare system and Big Food, and food lies perpetuated by the processed food industry. Let me know if you would like me to explain or expand on any part of the summary.

• Processed foods lack nutrients and leave us hungry, leading to overeating. Ancestrally, humans didn’t eat as frequently as today. Our bodies need time to burn stored energy.

• Fasting and limiting meals can help improve metabolic health. The advice for improving health depends on the individual and their situation. As health improves, the desire to stay healthy increases.

• Many people don’t change their habits even when given advice. This is often because people don’t believe they can be healthy or they see unhealthiness as the norm. The mission is to give people hope and show them they can be healthy.

• Psychological and chemical forces, like food addiction, especially to sugar, stop people from eating healthy. Reducing sugar intake can decrease cravings over time.

• When asked a difficult question from a conversation card about never telling anyone something before, the response was: “I am not sure that I can solve the problem that I’m trying to solve. I’m not sure that I can complete the mission that I now know I was put here to fulfill. Our problem around health might be too big for me to solve, but I’m not going to stop trying.” While concerned, the belief is people can stay off the operating table.

• The interviewer believes we have gone too far down the unhealthy path and worries society won’t be sustainable in 50 years if we don’t change.

• The interviewer asked Philippa if she has had psychological support to deal with the trauma of her job. Philippa says she hasn’t, but focuses on the positives of saving and improving lives. Though losing patients is hard.

• The interviewer agrees Philippa is having a positive impact. The interviewer is also on a journey to live a fuller, higher quality life, not just longer. Health is the foundation for living well.

• The interviewer asked Philippa what advice she got early in her career that she followed but now wishes she hadn’t. Philippa said the advice to “stay in her lane” as a heart surgeon. She now realizes she needs to treat the whole patient, not just their heart disease. She needs to work upstream to address root causes and prevent future issues.

• The interviewer believes in 50 years we’ll be in a much better place re: metabolic health thanks to people like Philippa educating and sharing information. The interviewer enjoyed Philippa’s book and their conversation.