ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
"Knife Down" is what a surgeon says in the OR when she puts her scalpel down so no one gets hurt — and it’s the mission here: put the knife down, long before anyone needs to use it.
Knife Down is a podcast about how to actually invest in your health so you can live longer, stronger, and with less time in doctors’ offices. The core focus is the world’s leading cause of death—cardiovascular disease—and what to do about it before it shows up as a catastrophe.
Hosted by a vascular surgeon on a mission to put herself out of business, the show translates cutting-edge science on prevention, metabolic health, and longevity into real-world strategies you can use in clinic or at your kitchen table. Expect evidence, nuance, and zero wellness hype—plus the occasional dark joke about the state of modern medicine.
Hosts:
Update frequency:
every 3 days
Average audio length:
32 minutes
Guest interviews
Video podcast
English
United States
59 episodes
since March 1, 2026
episodic
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
Dave Feldman came into my studio and we went through Simon Hill's critique of the KETO-CTA data one clip at a time — high LDL, "rapid plaque progression," the retracted paper, the new preprint. We disagree, and we do it honestly.At the center is the new KETO-CTA preprint: 100 lean ma…
PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
In this comment-response episode, I break down what I eat in a typical day as a vascular surgeon focused on cardiometabolic prevention. I also discuss the reliability of CIMT testing, why I plan to repeat my own scan, and what first drew me to preventive health.More on CIMT—and a conversation with …
My CIMT results came back—and one number moved in the wrong direction. In this video, I walk through my own carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) scan, explain arterial age, plaque burden, IMT progression, and measurement variability, and talk about what a “worse” CIMT result actually means.If you’…
In this video, Dr. Lily Johnston addresses viewer questions about lipid panels, heart disease risk, and diagnostic testing. Key topics include:Coronary Calcium Scans vs. CCTA/CIMT: Why calcium scores may not be sufficient for younger patients and the benefits of soft plaque detection.Exercise and L…
Can a simple 5g scoop of creatine do more than just build muscle? In today’s video, I’m reacting to Thomas DeLauer’s insights on how creatine might “spare” your body’s methylation cycle—and then diving deep into the actual clinical data to see if it really lowers homocysteine.As a vascular surgeon,…
What do you do when your "bad cholesterol" (LDL) flags high, but your other metabolic markers look great? In this video, I’m sharing my personal lab results to explain why standard lipid panels only tell part of the story.We’ll dive deep into the world of lipoproteins, exploring why ApoB …
After I walked through my own labs last week, you had sharp follow-ups — Vascepa versus a mixed omega-3, why my lab screenshots had no reference ranges, which lab company I actually use — so the first half is me answering them. Then I count down my real top 10 tests for catching cardiovascular dise…
How to read your blood test results — from a vascular surgeon using her own bloodwork. I go line by line through the complete blood count (CBC), fasting glucose and insulin, kidney and liver panels, thyroid, inflammation (hs-CRP), ferritin, and a lipid panel that's getting its own video. This …
Dr. Abs pulled bloodwork from 50 of his carnivore patients — cholesterol up, triglycerides down, A1C and CRP better across the board. It's a genuinely good data set. It's also the best-case scenario, not the average one.I'm reacting to walk through what those numbers actually mean, w…
Chapters: 00:00 The Replication Crisis & Messy Science 02:11 Why the KETO-CTA Study Was Retracted 03:25 Mediterranean Keto vs. Standard Keto 06:14 Cholesterol Balance: Absorption vs. Production 10:50 The Million-Dollar Question: What Causes Plaque? 13:07 Small Studies & Statistical Manipula…
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lily Johnston, MD MPH, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
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