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Reversing atherosclerosis with diet | Simon Hill, Msc

February 10, 2026·54 min·4 clips

Simon Hill shares his own coronary CT angiogram results and asks if diet can actually reverse plaque buildup in arteries.

Can diet reverse atherosclerosis? He starts with the worry many listeners may know: arterial plaque showing up even after eating well and staying active. His own scan makes the question feel less abstract. This is not a promise of reversal. It is a close read of what the trials can show, and where they stop short. The episode revisits older and newer evidence. He notes that his last deep dive was in 2019, before more high-quality trial data had been published. Definitions do a lot of work here. Atherosclerosis is treated as something doctors can measure, so he spends time on the tools used to assess plaque and track change over time. The cholesterol section gets especially careful. In older UK trial context from the early 1990s, total cholesterol was reported instead of LDL cholesterol or ApoB because those markers were not commonly measured or reported in clinical trials there. He does not overplay that gap. Since diet and cholestyramine mainly lower LDL, he argues the total cholesterol drop was probably driven mostly by LDL reduction. The cholestyramine group fell to around 215 milligrams per deciliter in total cholesterol, which matters as part of the evidence trail, not as a headline by itself. He keeps the bigger question in view. Lower cholesterol is useful, but the point is whether plaque and future risk move in the right direction. Supplements come up in the opening question, but the supplied transcript lands more firmly on diet, exercise, and medication when needed. The closing note is practical. Lifestyle is not treated as a substitute for medication when medication is needed. It can sit alongside it. Trials like Scrip and Disco CT become examples of that combined approach. His read is that the benefits did not simply add together in those trials; they multiplied. The takeaway stays measured: plaque can be addressed, but the sturdier bet is combining risk-lowering tools instead of putting everything on one intervention.

As heard by us

An evidence-first look at whether diet, supplements, and medication can change atherosclerosis.

Hill treats the question as a matter of evidence, not wishful thinking: can diet or supplements change atherosclerosis, how would that show up on a scan, and which trials can actually answer it?

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Why you'd press play

You want a sober read on plaque, diet, and what a scan can show.

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