#301 - What Actually Moves the Needle on Cardiovascular Risk | Dr. Kevin Maki & Mike Haney

High cholesterol. Elevated ApoB. A positive CAC score. Now what?

Most people quickly find themselves trapped between two extremes: simplistic advice to “cut saturated fat” and online influencers insisting cholesterol doesn’t matter at all.
In this episode of A Whole New Level, Mike Haney sits down with clinical research scientist Dr. Kevin Maki to cut through the confusion.

Drawing on more than 35 years of cardiovascular research, Maki explains why heart disease risk is about much more than LDL cholesterol alone. He breaks down the roles of inflammation, blood sugar, family history, kidney function, and lipoproteins, while also making a clear case for something many people resist: LDL and ApoB still matter. A lot.

The evidence increasingly suggests that when it comes to atherosclerosis, lower for longer is better. That has important implications for diet, statins, and how early we should intervene.

Mike and Dr. Maki also tackle saturated fat, seed oils, red meat, industry-funded research, and how to separate evidence from online nutrition debates.

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🎙️ About the Guest:

Dr. Kevin Maki is founder and Chief Science Officer of Midwest Biomedical Research and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at Indiana University. A former president of the National Lipid Association, he has spent more than three decades designing and leading clinical trials focused on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, nutrition, and lipid management.

His research has included studies on cholesterol-lowering therapies, dietary patterns, red meat, seed oils, inflammation, and cardiometabolic risk reduction.

📍What Dr. Kevin Maki & Mike Haney discussed:

• 0:00 — Dr. Maki’s background in clinical research
• 4:30 — How industry-funded nutrition research actually works
• 15:00 — The Framingham Heart Study and the “Big Four” risk factors
• 20:00 — FLASH-GLICK: the ten factors that drive cardiovascular risk
• 26:00 — Why inflammation may be the next frontier in prevention
• 33:00 — LDL, ApoB, and the “lower for longer” principle
• 42:00 — Particle size, ApoB, and what advanced lipid testing adds
• 47:00 — Why everyone should know their Lp(a)
• 51:00 — Saturated fat, seed oils, and the “compared to what?” problem
• 62:00 — What the red meat evidence actually shows
• 72:00 — Statins, lifestyle, and LDL treatment goals
• 82:00 — Why earlier LDL lowering may provide the biggest benefit

🔗 Helpful Links:

• Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/l8QzuuTYxLI

• Beef Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11621491/

• Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Lowering and Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Primary Prevention Trials: A Meta-Analysis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1933287426000395

• PREDIMED Trial (Mediterranean Diet & Primary Prevention): https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa1200303

• CORDIOPREV Trial: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35525255/

• The Framingham Heart Study: A Historical Perspective: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)61752-3/abstract

• Midwest Biomedical Research: https://midwestbiomedicalresearch.com/

• National Lipid Association: https://www.lipid.org/

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👋 Who we are:

Levels helps you understand your metabolic health with personalized data, expert guidance, and tools that connect your daily choices to measurable changes in your body. Our goal is to help you make better decisions about food, exercise, sleep, and long-term health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.