For years, we’ve been told that lowering cholesterol is the key to heart health. But what if the entire foundation of that advice was wrong? A long-buried study from the 1960s—the Minnesota Coronary Experiment— suggests exactly that.
This wasn’t some small observational study. It was a five-year clinical trial, conducted in six state mental hospitals and a nursing home, involving 9,423 participants. The setup was simple: one group ate food prepared with seed oils, the other consumed food made with saturated fats. The results? Disastrous for the seed oil group.
As expected, the seed oil group saw their cholesterol levels drop. But here’s the part that changed everything—those same people died younger than the ones eating saturated fat. The data showed that for every 30 mg/dL reduction in cholesterol, the risk of death increased by 22%.
See also ‘Godfather of AI’ predicts it will take over the world The researchers didn’t like what they found. So they sat on the results. The study wasn’t published until 1989—15 years after it ended. And by then, the anti-saturated fat, pro-seed oil narrative was already locked in place.
Now, consider this: 39 million Americans are taking cholesterol-lowering medications. How many of them are actually shortening their lifespan instead of improving it?
This study should have changed everything. Instead, it was buried.
💯 Cary Kelly 💯 @CaryKelly11 The Minnesota Coronary Experiment was a 5-year study and stands out as the most rigorous clinical trial ever to compare the effects of seed oils vs saturated fats, due to its exceptional controls.
It was carried out in 6 state mental hospitals and 1 nursing home in Minnesota and involved 9,423 participants (1968-1973).
One group ate food cooked/prepared with seed oil and one group ate food cooked/prepared with saturated fat.
The seed oil group lowered their cholesterol as predicted but here's the kicker, that group died much younger than the saturated fat group:
For every 30 mg/dL reduction in serum cholesterol, the risk of death increased by 22%.
The researchers were so disappointed with the results that the study wasn't published until 15 years later!
Every doctor should know about this study.
Poster Comment:
Dr Horse has eaten 4 soft boiled eggs a day for more than 40 years. MY BP is 125/65. And I do not care about my cholesterol level. I never eat fried food. Never eat anything from a microwave. Hint: The lecithin in the 4 egg yolks solubulizes the cholesterol.