EP295: Bitter Sweets

Welcome to my podcast. I am Doctor Warrick Bishop, and I want to help you to live as well as possible for as long as possible. I’m a practising cardiologist, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the creator of The Healthy Heart Network. I have over 20 years as a specialist cardiologist and a private practice of over 10,000 patients. Dr. Bishop discusses heart health and the importance of controlling blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol. He then reports on two recent studies. The first found that some dark chocolate bars contained potentially harmful levels of heavy metals like lead and cadmium. The second study surprisingly discovered that the artificial sweetener aspartame may increase anxiety-like behaviors in mice and possibly even affect their descendants. This indicates aspartame's effects may not be as harmless as previously thought and more research is needed. Takeaways: Dr. Bishop is a cardiologist and CEO of the Healthy Heart Network who aims to help people live long and healthy lives by understanding risks like blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol. Dark chocolate was found to contain potentially harmful levels of heavy metals like lead and cadmium in a Consumer Reports study, with some bars exceeding guidelines. The study urged chocolate companies to reduce heavy metal levels in dark chocolate by Valentine's Day. Long term exposure to lead and cadmium from chocolate can cause nervous system, immune system, and kidney problems, especially in pregnant women and children. Artificial sweetener aspartame was found to cause anxiety-like behaviors in mice even at doses below FDA limits when consumed. Aspartame consumption also affected gene expression related to anxiety in mice brains. The anxiety effects of aspartame extended to later generations of mice not directly exposed. This suggests aspartame's mental health risks may impact more than just consumers. Dr. Bishop advises reducing chocolate and aspartame intake based on these studies. The Healthy Heart Network offers a membership to help understand heart health risks and steps to reduce heart attack risk. Australia, like the rest of the western world, has a heart problem. Over 9 million people around the world die from heart disease every year. Every 10 minutes, someone in Australia suffers a heart attack. And 21 lives are lost daily because of it. The devastating fact in all of this is…  Almost every one of those cases could have been prevented.  This podcast is for anyone who wants to improve their health literacy and gain information to help them make the best decisions about their risk of heart attack, their cholesterol, blood pressure, risk of diabetes, weight loss and general health. Join me on my personal mission journey to prevent Heart Attack on a global scale. If you like this podcast, I would be honoured by a 5-star review and appreciate if you let your friends and family know about this podcast; you may even save the life of someone you love! Are You at Risk of a Sudden Heart Attack? How Healthy is Your Heart? Really? Heart disease is the #1 killer in the Western World. In Australia, someone dies every 28 minutes from heart disease. That’s 51 people a day. In the US, someone has a heart attack every 40 SECONDS! Fortunately, many heart attacks are preventable. However, regular exercise and eating healthy are no guarantee you won’t succumb to this silent killer. 94% of Australians have at least One Risk Factor for heart disease.  59% of Australians have been Touched by heart disease.  Yet only 3% of Australians have had a Full Heart-Health Assessment in the past 12 months. Do the free heart check today at www.