Put Your Heart In Your Mouth by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, (Campbell-McBride 2016) is written with the intent to wake the reader up to the real risks to cardiovascular health and provides solid steps one can take to protect their heart, circulatory system, and health as a whole. She provides dozens of references proving the fact that saturated fat and cholesterol do not cause heart disease. They are rather at the scene of heart disease symptoms as protectors, not the villains. The very first quote in the introduction of this book sets up the tone of the book, but especially the first section; debunking the Diet-Heart Hypothesis created and sensationalized foremostly by Dr. Ancel Keys in 1958.

The quote states: “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents… but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” Max Planck (1949), German physicist, Nobel Prize winner

The author uses her authority as an experienced practitioner as well as cites ample research to debunk the Diet-Heart Hypothesis and decades of political agendas that have made our society (and world) sicker and far worse off than before this study was introduced to the public. After making her case against the way patients are treated for heart disease and prevention via wrong dietary priorities and medication, she puts together a plan for correcting these errors and putting the opportunity for health and healing in the hands of the individual. This empowerment is what we need to put forth in our lives and that of our loved ones to finally turn this false agenda around, in favor of true health and vitality!

This book had a lot of reinforcing information that I’ve learned in other sources but also had plenty of great nuggets all to itself. I’ve pulled three of those nuggets that happen to relate to my own real-life situations. Perhaps you see or know someone in your own life through these revelations.

1. My mother has been afraid of salt for as long as I can remember. The section of this book that talks about the industrial applications of pure sodium chloride and how the leftovers are “table salt” was a light bulb moment for me. Continuing this discussion uncovered all of the factors of high sodium chloride devoid of the other trace minerals as being the cause of my mother’s complaints and fears: high blood pressure, poor circulation, and most especially, swelling (tissue edema) as she always had chronically swollen legs and feet. I’m looking forward to sharing this with her and getting her used to adding mineral salt with all of those trace minerals back into her diet after decades of feast and famine of devoid, problematic sodium chloride.

2. The connection between blood sugar regulation and cardiovascular risk is something I had previously never put together before. I knew that magnesium can be depleted by excess sugar consumption, dealing with stressors, etc. However, this book brings full circle for me the actual impact that just one molecule of sugar requires 56 molecules of magnesium, along with many other nutrients to metabolize. 56:1, wow! And, since magnesium is required for over 300 processes in the body it’s no wonder we are all so deficient. What was really interesting to me is that natural sugar cane and sugar beets already come with the proper ratio of sugar to magnesium.

However, as smart as we humans like to believe we are, our processing strips away everything from the cane and the beet and just extracts the sugar for consumption. Since the processed foods in the Standard American Diet have an insane ratio of sugar to magnesium, those sugar molecules will pull magnesium from our bones, muscles, and all the rest of our tissues to meet the need for sugar. Magnesium is an incredibly important part of our well-being as it protects our heart health and prevents atherosclerosis. It also helps with muscle relaxation, sleep, nerve tension, stress and so much more, but this is a subject for another time.

3. The heaviest thing I learned in this book was all about atherosclerosis, how it starts, and how fat and cholesterol are wrongly vilified as the cause of the plaque in arteries rather than bystanders (or troops lost in battle) caught in the fire. The way Dr. Campbell-McBride writes about this was very visual to me and brought home many core concepts of our immune system as well. Inflammation is the first sign of damage happening to our vessels. (And much of this inflammation is caused by excess glucose and/or insulin in our bloodstream creating havoc). We are always trying to stop inflammation from happening and when we do that, we are in essence preventing our bodies from handling the attack on our blood vessels in the first place. But our body keeps trying to repair itself. This is where fatty acids and cholesterol come in. They are at the scene of the crime to save us, not as the reason we have the problem in the first place! This is a little glimpse at how our amazing beautiful bodies were made to keep us alive and well, despite everything we do to harm our system.

Most of this book aligns really well with the teachings of the Nutritional Therapy Association and our Foundations. In fact, it cites many of the same resources we have already learned about as we’ve studied each of the foundations individually. By reading the rest of my review, you will find that I enjoyed this book immensely. I spent a lot of time highlighting and underlining points that I plan to come back to. The information in the book and the studies cited will be reference material for me in working with clients and for producing content on my blog and on social media. I’m also certain that I will be recommending this book to my future clients that have cardiovascular concerns and are afraid of saturated fats, cholesterol, and red meat as a source of information to them. I really like that it has recommendations and recipes to get the reader on track to make a change rather than just thinking about it. The author’s writing style uses plain basic language that is easy for someone not in the health field to understand.