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VAT Trap
VAT Trap episodes
- What Your Glucose Curve Is Trying to Tell You: Why Continuous Glucose Monitoring Matters Long Before Diabetes
At Surrey Cardiovascular Clinic, we have seen a pattern: some people whose blood sugar (HbA₁c) is technically “normal” are quietly drifting towards diabetes. Their blood tests look fine — but their day-to-day glucose readings tell another story.
Full blog
15 min - What Keto and Atkins Diets Do
Multiple studies show that low-carb, high-fat diets tend to shift LDL particles toward larger, more buoyant LDL (pattern A).
These particles are considered less atherogenic than small, dense LDL (pattern B), typical of insulin resistance.Therefore, while LDL-C concentration may rise, LDL particle number (apoB) or non-HDL cholesterol may not rise proportionally — and inflammation markers (hs-CRP, TG/HDL ratio) often fall.
Read full blog13 min - MASLD/MASH -metabolic dysfunction -associated steatotic liver disease: What You Need to Know
MASLD is a silent but important marker of metabolic health and another consequence of raised Visceral Adipose Tissue (VAT). Although often discovered by chance, it carries significant implications for both liver and cardiovascular wellbeing. Through caloric restriction, physical activity, improved nutrition, and early intervention, MASLD can usually be stabilised or reversed — protecting not just the liver, but the heart as well.
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13 min - The Hidden Culprit Behind Heart Disease: Small Dense LDL and the Fat You Can’t See
Small dense LDL (sdLDL) is the most harmful form of “bad cholesterol.” It forms when the liver overproduces VLDL — often driven by visceral fat and high insulin levels. Visceral fat sits deep around the organs and feeds directly into the liver, causing early metabolic disruption long before blood tests detect it.
For full blog
18 min - Cholesterol, LDL, and what we learnt from PCSK9 mutations in familial hypercholesterolaemia
In families with inherited high cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolaemia), mutations in the PCSK9 gene have been identified which make this protein overactive. These are known as gain-of-function mutations — they increase PCSK9 activity and push LDL cholesterol to dangerous levels. For over 90% of people with raised LDL who do NOT have a mutation, there are alternative explanations outlined in a related article and for readers that are curious about this PCSK9 take a look at my technical article linked to the VAT Trap book series on LDL Cholesterol. Read blog
19 min - So what does determine your LDL (‘bad’) Cholesterol?
In the first podcast in the series, the discussion revolves around cholesterol and the fact that while your blood LDL cholesterol determines the development of coronary plaque, your levels are more about your genetics than necessarily what you eat. In contrast, what happens to coronary plaque over your lifetime and whether it causes a heart attack is more about 'inflammation', what carbohydrates and UPF's you eat and your lifestyle.
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10 min
About VAT Trap
From the publisher's feed
The VAT Trap book, blog and digital media series reveals how visceral fat — the hidden metabolic organ — drives heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Drawing on 30 years of frontline cardiology and the latest in imaging, app-based tracking, and metabolic science, Dr Ed Leatham translates complex research into clear, actionable steps. Whether you want to avoid heart disease, stabilise your metabolism, or understand GLP-1 therapy, these four concise podcast seasons accompany a four book series that will help you see, track, and reverse the VAT trap.
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Disclosure
Dr Leatham is Director and Founder of the Surrey Cardiovascular Clinic and, since 2019, Co-Founder and Managing Director of HeartScanDirect (https://www.heartscandirect.com/), one of the UK’s leading cardiac CT providers specialising in AI-processed scans and among the few cardiologist-led CT services in the country. Dr Leatham’s own private medical practice is based at the Surrey cardiovascular clinic and therefore has a major financial interest in the Surrey Cardiovascular clinic, the Virtual Cath Lab and Vat-Trap.com. He has no financial relationship with any pharma company or product.
A full disclosure is available at https://www.vat-trap.com/disclosures.