LONDON – Cardiovascular diseases, primarily driven by heart attacks and strokes, remain the world’s leading cause of death, claiming nearly 20 million lives annually as populations age and risk factors like obesity and high BP surge, and a known heart surgeon, who performed more than 3,000 operations, issued a warning about common food items that are silently affecting heart health.
US-based surgeon Philip Ovadia, said the real danger is not just junk foods like Pizza, burgers, or beverages, but a wide range of highly processed Carbs loaded edibles that many people consume daily without hesitation. He claims that in the operating room, he regularly sees the consequences of poor diets inside patients’ arteries, including two major types of plaque, and inflammation that can suddenly rupture and cause heart attacks, and a hard, calcified buildup that slowly narrows and restricts blood flow over time.
Dr Ovadia is of view that the root problem behind these conditions is insulin resistance driven by chronic consumption of refined Carbs. In his view, this leads to repeated blood sugar spikes, ongoing inflammation, increased visceral fat, and ultimately the type of arterial damage seen in cardiovascular patients.
Foods Linked to Poor Heart Health
He specifically warns against long list of common foods, including White bread, breakfast cereals, pasta, fruit juice, and instant oatmeal, and even many packaged products. He said these items are often far more processed than people realize and can behave similarly in the body.
He also cautions that foods often perceived as healthy choices, such as low-fat granola, whole wheat bread, and rice cakes, may still contain refined carbohydrates that rapidly raise blood sugar and insulin levels. Over time, he claims, this repeated metabolic stress creates the conditions that contribute to dangerous plaque buildup in arteries.
Instead, Dr Ovadia urges a return to “real food,” recommending minimally processed options such as vegetables, natural sources of protein, and fats in their whole, unprocessed form.
