Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

Trans Fats Were Responsible for an Estimated 20,000 Extra Heart Attacks Every Year #shorts

16 Jul 2026 · 2 min

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1:37

In this short video, Dr. Aaron Hartman explains that before the 2015 ban, trans‑fat consumption was responsible for an estimated 20,000 additional heart attacks each year in the United States. He points out that these fats were once recommended by the American Heart Association and widely incorporated into products like margarine, illustrating a major public‑health misstep. Dr. Hartman then broadens the discussion to other potential "medical blind spots," citing hormone replacement therapy, the distinction between healthy and unhealthy fats, routine antibiotic use in children, and the controversy over fluoride in drinking water. He argues that educating the public about such blind spots can dramatically shorten the decades‑long lag between scientific evidence and policy change, ultimately reducing medical errors—which he notes are the third leading cause of death in the country. The video’s purpose is to raise awareness, encourage critical evaluation of current medical recommendations, and promote faster adoption of evidence‑based practices to protect public health.

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20,000 heart attacks every year because of this one thing, which was banned in 2015. What am I talking about? Trans fats. A study came out in 2016 showing that before the ban, which was, you know, a year before, trans fats— consumption was responsible for an excess of an extra 20,000 heart attacks a year. Yet these were recommended by the American Heart Association. Margarine— these were routinely put in our health, our food system. We were told for years that didn't matter. That was actually bad for us. We'll remove it and do these. Just got that plain wrong. And the question is, are there other examples of things like this, whether it's hormone replacement therapy, whether it's healthy fats, whether it's antibiotic usage in children, whether it's— and quite the question, are there other things out there? Are there gray zones right now that we kind of haven't touched on? Is fluoride good or bad in drinking water? That's interesting. Are there other blind spots we're not talking about right now that need to be discussed? In order to speed this process up. And that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this is to educate people about these blind spots. 'Cause we can speed this process up. Maybe it won't take us 40 years to figure out trans fats are bad. Maybe it won't take us, you know, half a century to realize good fat's good and bad fat's bad. Or, you know, quarter of a century to realize hormone replacement therapy is actually good for women. Being educated, sharing this information, I think can help speed this process up. 'Cause the reality is we're all gonna get stuff wrong. The, the goal, the goal is to be educated, to minimize your risk. For these medical blind spots to keep you healthy. Because ultimately, if that is true, then these medical errors, the third most common cause of death in our country, blind spots are a major part of that, and avoiding them could literally save your life.