She has argued that high-blood cholesterol and high saturated fat consumption do not cause or increase risk of cardiovascular disease and that cholesterol-reducing drugs such as statins are ineffective.
[1][2][3][4] Demasi became nationally prominent for television stories[5] that resulted in controversy, contributing to early rumours of the axing of Catalyst followed by an announcement of its planned restructuring and possible redeployment of staff.
[7] In 2003, Demasi co-authored a paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, on the "Effects of hypoxia on monocyte inflammatory mediator production" which was based on her PhD dissertation for the University of Adelaide.
[11] Demasi advocates low-carbohydrate diets and has spoken at events such as Low Carb Sydney in which she delivered a presentation "Statin Wars" in 2018.
[17][18] Demasi produced and presented two controversial episodes on the science program Catalyst, called "The Heart of the Matter", in October 2013, which questioned the link between cholesterol, cholesterol-reducing medication and ill-health.
[1][19] A large number of individuals and professional organisations within the medical community responded to the show negatively, stating that its claims were misleading and ignored the scientific consensus.
[24] The National Heart Foundation responded, saying that Demasi had not presented the research,[25] ignored and misinterpreted the information provided and selectively edited quotes to invert their meaning.