A bit of background on the Dr. who wrote the article...
Although there are some decent articles on the website, overall I've never been a fan of the Quackwatch website and Dr. Stephen Barret. He doesn't refute the information that Dr Lundell presents but I guess Barrett got his intended effect--guilt by association. If you don't like a message, if you can dredge up some dirt and make the messenger look bad, people will often uncritically reject the message.
Besides, I actually took the time to read the official report (anyone can read it online) that led to his license being pulled. I'm not a physician nor a surgeon but it seemed like a judgement call at best.
Sure Lundell is making money, but so is Barrett. Funny, for being such a vocal "consumer advocate," I don't think he ever criticizes harmful and ineffective pharmaceuticals. Hmmm, I wonder why that is? Be critical thinkers, people.
But back to Lundell's message, inflammation is certainly where our current understanding of the origin of heart disease has taken us. Yes, it's still a theory, but so is the idea that high cholesterol is the cause of heart disease. To many, the Cholesterol-Heart Disease Theory has mostly been debunked, and yet millions and millions of us (and probably many of the ETSers reading this) take cholesterol-reducing drugs every day. And every year, the "experts" seem to keep lowering the cut-off point that is consider "high" and where we need to go on some drug.
While folks may point to research that shows statins can reduce the risk of heart attacks in select groups, it's not proven that it is a reduction in cholesterol that is the cause (plenty of folks with "normal" cholesterol have heart attacks, too). In fact, statins seem to have an anti-inflammatory effect, too, and many think
that is the real benefit of statins (and statins have downsides, too).
If you've heard of things like homocysteine, C-reactive protein, or lipoprotein(a) then you've heard about the research into the inflammatory origin of heart disease and how elevated levels of those markers are typically better predictors of heart disease risk than things like cholesterol or blood pressure.
The carb and sugar angle in heart disease is getting increased attention lately. Many of us have seen the recent news by Dr. Lustig of UCSF that sugar should be regulated because of how harmful the massive amounts we typically consume are, so Lundell isn't just making this stuff up out of thin air.
Don't get me wrong, there is snake oil out there, but also a lot of really good information that is mostly true but threatens certain vested interests. That's why we need to be awake and aware people who try to see through marketing, propaganda, and disinformation. I don't know what's in Lundell's book, but I doubt Barrett read it either. I mean, here you have a retired psychiatrist trying to debunk a heart surgeon's message about cardiac health?