A cardiologist explains
The 95% problem
A national survey found most Americans, and most doctors, don’t know how quickly food can move cholesterol.
Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACCPreventive cardiologist
Heart disease is the country’s leading cause of death, claiming more than 900,000 lives in 2023 alone. One of the simplest first steps toward prevention is also one of the most overlooked.
What the survey found
Step One Foods commissioned a Harris Poll on diet and cholesterol. 94% of Americans surveyed didn’t know that diet alone can significantly lower cholesterol within 30 days. 95% of the physicians surveyed didn’t know either. I’d call that a blind spot in how medicine approaches heart disease.
Why doctors miss it
Most doctors receive very little nutrition training. Three in four medical schools require no nutrition education, and those that offer it average fewer than 20 hours. The system is built to prescribe, not to prevent.
Keeping up with research is hard, too. As a practicing physician, I know how many new studies arrive every week across hundreds of journals. Missing one study about food is almost expected.
Doctors want better tools
The most encouraging number in the survey: nearly three in four physicians said they wish they had better tools to guide patients toward heart-healthy eating. The interest is there, on both sides of the exam table.
A first step that can be measured
The response to food can be measured the same way the trial measured it, with a blood test. That makes a food-first step something a patient and doctor can evaluate together, with real numbers, before deciding what comes next.
Why I built Step One
For years I told patients to eat more soluble fiber, plant sterols, plant-based omega-3s and antioxidants. Almost no one could get enough of them, day after day, from an ordinary grocery list. So I built the food. Step One Foods puts all four into oatmeal, bars, granola, pancake mix, smoothie mix and more. Two servings a day replace a breakfast and a snack people already eat. No meal plan, no new diet.
Tested in a randomized controlled trial
Step One was tested in a randomized controlled trial conducted with Mayo Clinic and the University of Manitoba.
“I love that my day begins with either oatmeal or pancakes and ‘what to have for breakfast’ is just taken care of.”
Amy, Step One customer
Start with the 30-Day Protocol Pack
A 30-day supply of the two-servings-a-day protocol. Subscribe and save 20%; most people subscribe so they don’t run out partway through the 30 days the trial measured.
Free shipping on orders over $99. The first order is backed by a money-back guarantee.
See the 30-Day Protocol PackQuestions
Is this a supplement?
No. It’s food: oatmeal, bars, pancakes and more, eaten in place of a breakfast and a snack.
How does it taste?
Step One won a 2025 Good Housekeeping Snack Award.
Can someone on cholesterol medication use it?
Yes. Step One is food, designed to work alongside a physician’s plan. Medication changes should only be made with a doctor.
What about allergens?
Each product page lists its allergens. BBQ Puffs are the only nut-free product.
What if it isn’t right for me?
The first order is backed by a money-back guarantee.
Step One Foods is food, not medication. Talk with your doctor before making any change to a prescribed treatment.