#012 Dr. Ronald Krauss on LDL Cholesterol, Particle Size, Heart Disease & Atherogenic Dyslipidemia

Dr. Ronald Krauss

Dr. Ronald Krauss, M.D. is the director of atherosclerosis research at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Adjunct Professor at UCSF and UC Berkeley. Dr. Krauss is really one of the pioneering scientists that changed the way we all think about cholesterol and saturated fat. He developed an assay that allows the quantification of low density lipoprotein particle size and concentration (known to the wider world as LDL cholesterol) based on a technique which determines the size of the particle based on physics...meaning the speed at which it flies through the air.

In this episode, we discuss...

• (00:00) Introduction
• (03:58) An overview of lipoproteins – HDL, LDL, and VLDL 
• (09:32) Cholesterol is a “passenger” on a train  
• (12:09) LDL vs HDL - why one is dangerous and the other isn’t
• (17:42) Raising HDL doesn’t reduce heart disease risk the same way as lowering LDL 
• (19:13) Leaky gut and inflammation increase VLDL production to protect the body
• (30:38) The misconception that dietary cholesterol significantly raises blood cholesterol
• (40:56) Saturated fats vs carbohydrates in raising cholesterol and CVD risk
• (53:08) Statins are a reliable, but imperfect, therapy for lowering CVD risk
• (01:08:20) Measuring cholesterol particle size refines risk assessment and informs medication use

If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full show notes here.

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