Foods for Heart Health With Dr Elizabeth Klodas of Step One Foods
In this conversation, Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a preventive cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods, discusses the critical role of nutrition in managing heart disease and the challenges faced in integrating dietary changes into medical practice. She shares her journey from traditional medicine to creating a food company aimed at reducing reliance on medications through nutrition. The discussion highlights the importance of randomized controlled trials in validating the effectiveness of food-based interventions, the impact of pharmaceuticals on healthcare, and the need for a shift in consumer perceptions towards whole food ingredients. Dr. Klodas emphasizes the potential for a healthier future where cardiologists are less needed due to preventive measures and lifestyle changes.
Takeaways:
Nutrition is often overlooked in favor of pharmaceuticals in healthcare.
Patients are rarely asked about their diet by healthcare providers.
Changing dietary habits can lead to significant health improvements.
Pharmaceuticals are easier to prescribe than dietary changes.
There is a lack of nutrition education in medical training.
Step One Foods aims to fill nutritional gaps in patients' diets.
Randomized controlled trials can validate the effectiveness of food products.
Consumer perceptions of health foods can be influenced by marketing.
The food industry often prioritizes cost over nutrition.
A better world would mean fewer cardiologists needed due to preventive health measures.
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Chapters
03:00 - Introduction to Preventive Cardiology and Nutrition
05:58 - The Shift from Nutrition to Medication in Healthcare
08:45 - The Role of Pharmaceuticals in Patient Care
11:41 - The Challenges of Nutrition Education in Medicine
14:41 - The Complexity of Food and Nutrition Science
17:59 -Step One Foods: A New Approach to Nutrition
20:57 - The Impact of Randomized Controlled Trials on Nutrition
23:59 - The Importance of Ingredient Quality in Food Products
26:49 - Pushback from the Medical and Food Industries
29:52 - The Insurance Industry's Role in Healthcare Costs
32:52 - Step One Foods: Product Overview and Benefits
38:43 - Introduction to Whole Foods and Health Claims
40:56 - The Importance of Real Ingredients
42:56 - Navigating Organic Ingredients and Supply Chain Challenges
44:59 - Stepwise Approach to Health and Nutrition
48:58 - Challenges in Scaling Food Production
51:49 - Milestones and Industry Changes
56:55 - Advice for Aspiring Food Entrepreneurs
59:50 - Personal Indulgences and Food Preferences
01:03:00 - Innovative Thinkers in Nutrition
01:05:50 - Vision for a Healthier World
Sound Bites
“There is very little to no nutrition education for physicians. As I look back on this I consider this educational malpractice.”
“All the medical evidence of what we should be doing is very heavily pharma biased, because guidelines are based on randomized control clinical trials.”
“So there's loads of reasons why nutrition is not used in clinical care the way it should be. None of that is an excuse though, because it works and it's so vital.”
“What if I asked you to like eat this food twice a day and I otherwise left you alone? What started happening is people calling and saying, hey, my cholesterol dropped 39 points. Then I'm like, okay, we're gonna subject our products to a randomized control trial. Let’s see. Let's prove it. Does this actually work?”
“If I reduce, LDL, the bad cholesterol across the US population by an average of 9%, I will finally dethrone heart disease as our number one killer.”
“In that trial, we replicated what people were calling in with our highest LDL reduction was close to 40 % in 30 days. That's a medication level cholesterol reduction. And we did that with food, without turning people's lives upside down.”
“It's not just the nutrient of interest that's important. It's the delivery vehicle. You can stuff a bunch of fiber into a Twinkie. But in the end, you're still eating a Twinkie, right? Food and nutrition is complex.”
“At Step One Foods I take the complexity out for people. I take whole food ingredients, each and every single one that has data behind it in terms health benefits, and put them in my foods.”
“We are probably the most overfed and undernourished society in the history of our species.”
“If you truly believe in your mission, you have to ignore all the no’s.”
