Unplugged: How a Heart Attack at 52 Woke Me Up to the Lie of Cholesterol and Statins, and How I Took My Life Back Without a Single Pill

If your doctor has prescribed a statin, told you your cholesterol is too high, or you have felt like a different person since starting cholesterol-lowering medication — this book was written for you. 92 million Americans and hundreds of millions more worldwide are on statins. Heart disease is still the number one killer on the planet. Something is not adding up. This is the book that explains whyI WAS THE FITTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM.AND I WAS DYING.At 52, top-ranked tennis pro Mark Kaplan had a heart attack on the court. He was the picture of health. Or so he thought.In 1989, Arthur Ashe handed him a trophy at the US Open for Division 1 college player of the year. Neither of them knew they shared the same genetic disease. Arthur had a heart attack at 36 on a tennis court. He died at 49. Mark had a heart attack at 52 on a tennis court. He survived. His 16-year-old son carries the same gene. He was tested at 15. Three generations. Same genetics. One book.Doctors told him it was just bad luck and put him on a lifetime of statins and drugs. But Mark knew there had to be a better way.He dug into the science they do not teach in medical school and uncovered the real cause of heart disease, and the truth about cholesterol, statins, and a system built on managing disease, not curing it. Then he did the hard work to heal.This is the story of how he went from a heart attack at 52 to stronger than ever-and how you can too.“Mark Kaplan’s story is not an outlier. It is the rule.”— Dr. Philip Ovadia, MD, Cardiac Surgeon, Author of Stay Off My Operating Table“Every person on a statin should read it.”— Dr. Aseem Malhotra, Cardiologist, Author of A Statin-Free Life“Read this to avoid repetition in your own life.”— Dr. Robert Cywes, MD, PhD, Metabolic Surgeon“Mark Kaplan ate a low-fat diet and avoided red meat — yet still had a heart attack at age 52. Open-minded and tenacious, this former tennis champion discovered that a healthy diet is, in fact, the very opposite of what we have been told for decades. The surprising truth is that butter, meat, and cheese need not be shunned — far from it.”— Nina Teicholz, PhD, Author of The Big Fat Surprise, a NYT bestseller Read more