Life Threatening Information
It is NOT every day that you get significant
information that can threaten and change your life. I recently experienced that
remarkable event. I am writing about it for these reasons:
1.
Retention.
I retain information much better if I process it, and I process information
best when I write.
2.
Motivation.
I want this information to change my behavior in a significant way. Writing it down gives me added incentive to make this change.
3.
Sharing.
I found this information to be VERY important to my life and well being, and I
am hopeful I can find a way to share it with those I love. Because of the nature of this information the sharing is not
always accepted with an open mind – bear with me and you will see what I mean!
The
challenge is to how share this in a way that will be persuasive for myself and anyone else. To that
end, the information is here in two forms: a short summary, and a detailed
account. Please read at least the first two pages. If you got this far and read no further, at least look at this short summary of the key book that documents how to reverse heart disease:
Short Summary
1.
I Have a Life
Threatening Illness. On 7/9/2018, I discovered that I have a life
threatening illness – heart disease – and I have had this illness for a couple
of decades. I had 3 arteries with serious blockage: 80%, 95%, 99%, and two more
with bad blockage – 40%. If I did nothing, this would kill me in fairly short
order. To that point in life, I have never had a symptom of any problem with my heart.
I think my exercise routine saved me from more serious problems.
2.
Surgical
Intervention. On 8/15/2018 I had a surgical intervention. Three stents were
placed in the worst arteries. That bought me some time. But those wondrous
little metal gadgets are not a cure – they are temporary relief, at best. And
they were not without serious cost – financial and risk related.
3.
Cure for
This Illness. On 9/7/2018, I discovered that a cure exists for this
illness. It is a cure, not a
palliative, not a “it won’t get any worse.” It is a cure. I decided at that
point to undertake this cure. Since 9/11/2018 I have been following that regime.
4.
The Cure
is NOT Complicated. It is a simple plant based diet with a few rules.
a.
Eat no animal products – NONE. No meat, no fish, no eggs, no dairy, no cheese.
b.
Use no
oil, no olive oil, no canola. NONE.
This is the toughest rule.
c.
No coconut, no avocado.
d.
Eat only plant based food: fruits and vegetables,
green leafy are best.
e.
Eat only whole grains – whole wheat, brown rice,
oatmeal, flax, etc. No white flour, no refined sugar, not high glucose, etc.
f.
Eat soy products with caution, low fat, “light”
tofu.
g.
Eat no nuts – another tough one that needs some
explanation.
h. Eat NO processed food - you can tell what they are by the labels. Whole Food.
i. Eat as much as you want within these rules.
5.
The Cure
is NOT Easy. This diet is simple, but difficult to follow. Our world
has very little supportive framework for a plant based diet. The bias in
marketing and food products is somewhat healthier than in the past, but meat,
eggs, milk and processed foods are the norm. Eating out or eating with friends
is the most problematic part.
6.
The Cure
is Worth It. Some friends have shared that they wonder if life is worth
living with all of these dietary restrictions. To me, life is worth living – and I would pay any price to continue it versus
dying – especially if that price is not expensive in dollars, and promises to
improve the quality of life in every other way, by eliminating some or all of
these illnesses:
a.
Heart
Disease. I have it, and I want to get rid of it.
b.
Cancer.
I may or may not actually have it, but I want to prevent it as much as is
possible.
c.
Alzheimer’s.
Same comment – I may be on that path already, and although there does not seem
to be a way to cure it, I think this
diet will further defer the onset.
d.
Kidney
Stones. I have them in spades, and I am hopeful
this will help that problem. The evidence is weaker on this one, but I have
hope, and it costs me very little added effort.
(Update 2021 - I stopped making kidney stones for 2 years on this diet - and then started cheating with peanut butter and some nuts - and the stones began to appear again.)
8.
This diet
is founded on solid scientific research. The very best
information about this diet is in a couple of books. You can buy them at Amazon for about $10
each, used. I got digital copies from the library for free – and you can too.
Think of the return on that investment!
The China Study cited above is an extraordinary collection of population and diet research. If you find the book a bit much - click
here to get a PDF summary of the whole study.
Or, try these videos. They are a tad long, but hey, adding 10 or 20 years to your life is worth a few minutes, right?
- How Not To Die, This is Dr. Greger giving, a synopsis of the book. At least watch a few minutes. He shows how this diet counters the major things that kill us.
This one is similar but a lot more fun:
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/uprooting-the-leading-causes-of-death/
- Dr. McDougal - Why Doctors do not recommend vegan diet. Scary - but gets your attention.
- Esselstyn Ted Talk. Short - but to the point.
The first author, Dr. Esselstyn, is a general surgeon,
who has treated many patients who have successfully reduced and resolved late
stages of heart disease by following a plant based diet. The second author, T. Colin Campbell, describes several of his studies about the impact of diet on many diseases,
including heart disease. The second book also contains a great deal of
information about similar studies. It also attempts to explain why the general
public and most physicians and scientists appear to be opposed to this
conclusion. The third book, by Dr. Michael Greger, is a remarkable collection of highly detailed research. It is amazing how much is known about diet and various plants and ingredients. If you want very detailed information, start with this one.
This article cited here is a more extensive evaluation, published in a medical journal. You might find that more persuasive. It is a PDF which will download when you click on it:
http://dresselstyn.com/JFP_06307_Article1.pdf.
9.
The
research is bit complicated and is often contradicted and criticized in
the media.
Dr. Campbell explains this at length, but the simple story is that between
the food industry and big pharma, it is very difficult for scientific
researchers to step outside of the prevailing view that meat and dairy are
healthy foods. The food industry has also funded studies and publicity
campaigns that obfuscates the basics of this research. The
best research addresses the full human being and our complete diet, while
studies focused on small groups and individual nutrients have many flaws. Another
major factor is that most physicians seem to believe that no one will actually
undertake a diet that is this difficult, so it is wiser to counsel a middle
path of moderation.
Get the
books and read them. Or, read on here a bit for a personalized insight into
this.
For my personal bottom line, as of February 2022, my cardiac stress test results are NORMAL. YOU can do this too!
Long Details
I Have a Life Threatening Illness.
At this
point in my life, I have done everything I can think of to avoid heart disease.
My mother died at 51 of a heart attack, and my father died at 69 from the same
problem. My paternal grandfather died young – I think from a heart attack.
Cancer, kidney stones and old age accounted for the other three grandparents. Both of my brothers have had heart disease.
In 1979 at
the age of 40, I started a pretty decent exercise program. I have had back
problems since 1972, so I had been lifting weights of some form every other day
to try to strengthen my back. I had also played racquetball for a few years,
but I had never done real aerobic exercise. So I started running – slowly! I
remember that first day. I got up at 6:00 am – I always exercise at 6:00 am –
laced up my sneakers and went out the door to run around the block. Our
block was a circle about a quarter of a mile. I got less than 2 blocks away, and I could
not breathe. I had to sit on the curb until I recovered. I walked the rest of
the way around. The next time, I went half the distance around, etc. My running can
only be described as a “slow jog.” One of my neighbors also ran, and he would always
go by me like I was standing still.
I finally got
up to 5K, about 3 miles, which I did in about 30 minutes. Not speedy, but not
bad. I ran every other day, through the park, rain or snow, wind or hail, without
fail. I ran when we were vacationing, on business trips – I always ran. On the
off days, I would lift weights for about 20 minutes. After about 15 years, or
age 55 or so, my left knee started bothering me, so I tried to switch to
swimming. I found that a lot of work, and very boring. In the winter in MN,
getting up at 6:00 am, driving to a pool and swimming for half an hour is tough to do. So I took up the bicycle – outdoors on nice days, and in the basement
on a stationary bike for winter and inclement weather. I biked at least 30
minutes, every other day, or about 100 minutes per week, on average. I never actually enjoyed the indoor biking, but I would read a good novel, or listen to an
interesting podcast. I think that exercise kept my weight, blood pressure, and
cholesterol within normal bounds. I have never had a negative reading on any of
those measures.
On
5/26/2018, over the Memorial Day weekend, we were at the lake with my son and
family. I was laboring up the 5% grade from the lake carrying some stuff. I was
panting when I got to the top – it’s called “labored breathing,” I had been
having that problem for a few years walking up that grade, so I thought nothing
of it. I am “getting old.” My son, a physician, happened to be walking with me,
and he asked me if that happened often. I said, no – just coming up this hill.
He suggested that I get a stress test. What’s a stress test?
About a week
later, on 6/5/1028, at the end of my regular annual checkup, I mentioned to my
physician that my son noticed my labored breathing while climbing the hill, and
he suggested that I might get a stress test. My doctor thought that couldn’t hurt, and
he scheduled the test.
The test was a simple walk on a treadmill on an incline, hooked up to an
electrocardiogram, an injection of some dye or something, and a sonogram of the heart after all of this. I had no problem doing the stress test,
and I figured I am home free. Later that evening, my physician called. I
berated him for being in the office that late, and he apologized, and said he
had a patient that required more than the normal time. He said he had the
results of my stress test. They were “not terrible,” but “not great.” He had
ordered two prescriptions which I should pick up and start taking immediately.
One was a beta blocker, which would expand my blood vessels a bit, and the
other was nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin? What is that for? I said. He replied,
that is for when you have a heart
attack. WHEN? That got my attention.
Long and
short of it, I visited with a cardiologist who scheduled a more complicated heart
test: a CT coronary angiogram. Based on the results of that, he scheduled a
stent procedure. On 8/15/2018, at the age of 79, I had three stents placed in
my coronary arteries. The exam showed that I had arteries blocked at 99%, 95%,
80%, and two at 40%. The surgeon and my cardiologist consulted during the
procedure, because normally, with that many blocks, a bypass procedure is preferred. They decided to go ahead with the stents, since I was not diabetic,
and none of the serious blocks were at the sharp corners. Stent
procedures have more risk for patients than bypass procedures because of the
potential for knocking loose a bit of plaque, and causing a stroke or heart
attack. Stents also tend to block up again, while bypasses stay open longer. I have thanked him many times for that decision.
I have
serious heart disease, but I did not have a heart attack. I think my exercise
routine created sufficient peripheral blood flow around those blocked arteries
to keep me symptom free. I have been building up plaque in there for decades!
Future Prospects
My
cardiologist put me on a blood thinner for the stents – that was to last about a
year. He also put me on a beta blocker to increase the arterial size, and a
statin – to reduce my cholesterol. My cholesterol has NEVER been a problem in
the past, but lowering it further should not do any harm. It is my plan to stop all of these medications as soon as my doctors agree. 2022.06 - I am only on a low dose aspirin. 2024 I have stopped the aspirin - no need for it and it is somewhat risky.
I did a
little research on how to prevent this from reoccurring. My cardiologist was
very clear – adopt the Mediterranean diet. That study is quite well known: eat less red meat, more fruits and vegetables, good oils like olive oil and canola, and some red
wine on occasion. It is interesting to me in retrospect that this famous diet
is one that deals with the whole person, the whole diet, and a long term study
of effects. It does not identify the mechanism that provides improved health
outcomes. That is also a frequent criticism of the diet I finally adopted.
In the
course of this research I interviewed two friends who had similar heart
problems, and both had adopted a very different diet plan – a “plant based diet”.
Both of them adopted a full vegan diet, but one opted for a more severe
program, based on the studies documented in two books. As I looked at the data,
it appeared to me that simply eating less red meat was not really going to
improve things. People with my advanced state of heart disease tend to have
another attack in a few years, since they have done very little to solve the
problem. It appeared that a true, plant-based diet could actually remove the
plaque from my arteries.
My most
serious problem is my hereditary propensity for this disease. A few of us a
blessed in that we can eat meat and other fatty foods and not experience any
problem. That is clearly not the case for me, and for most of our population.
Diet Sources
This book is
a fascinating insight into how the author came to understand the impact of diet
on many diseases. I highly recommend it. The first part is a narrative of the
author’s experiences in the Philippines with cancer and diet, and then how the
China study came to be. In summary, this study of the Chinese diet accumulated
thousands of data elements that clearly indicate that diseases such as cancer,
heart disease and diabetes are very closely tied to diet. The book also cites
many other studies, including those of Dr. Esselstyn – which see below. The
latter half of the book is an examination of the food and drug industry, and
some attempt to explain why these basic facts of the impact of what we eat on
our health are so poorly regarded in our society.
This book
sets out the detailed research of Dr. Esselstyn that persuaded him that a plant
based diet can actually reverse heart disease. I have summarized the most
important parts of the book here so that I do not forget what I learned from it. There is an excellent summary here as well:
http://www.dresselstyn.com/site/books/prevent-reverse/about-the-book/
Dr.
Esselstyn is a general surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. He was doing general
research on the causes of breast cancer, and found some interesting information
that seemed to point to diet as a critical factor. He found several countries
where women have much lower rates of breast cancer than anywhere else. One
country was Kenya. He began researching the effects of diet on cancer, and then
heart disease. He also had a good friend, an MD, who was in the late stages of serious heart disease. He recommended this diet to him. The diet relieved his angina pain symptoms in a month, and in 3 years, all evidence of his heart disease had vanished.
For the next step, he asked other doctors the Cleveland clinic to refer to him their patients that had been
treated for coronary artery disease, and were considered incurable. This article describes that:
A Way to Reverse CAD? Journal of Family Medicine, July 2014, Vol. 63, #7.
This study is more recent and much larger than the one described in the book.
This is my brief summary of that article.
From the Harvard Heart Letter October 2014:
In 2014 Dr. Esselstyn published a study in The Journal of Family Practice
about his experience with a plant based diet with people with severe
cardiovascular disease. The study, which included 198 people with documented
cardiovascular disease, found that 177 were able to stick to the diet for an
average of almost four years. During that time, only one person had an event (a
stroke) that was deemed a recurrence of the disease. In contrast, 13 of the 21
people who didn't stick to the diet experienced a cardiovascular event.
All of these
patients were referred by cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic because they
were not able to do any more for them. All of them were on medications to
reduce their cholesterol. Some of the patients on the diet experienced relief
of angina pain after just 3 weeks. The following is from the introduction to the
book - it is a long quote so I would not forget - and so you might understand the
message.
---------------------------
The
following quote is the introduction to the 2007 book verbatim. It is a concise summary of the very first study. Remember, this was 1985!
THIS BOOK
HAS ITS ORIGINS in the dramatic experiences of twenty-three men and one woman
who came to me in despair and without hope some twenty years ago. At the time,
I was a surgeon at the renowned Cleveland Clinic. Year in and year out, the
clinic is widely recognized as the number one heart center in the world. And
indeed, there is no way to exaggerate the remarkable innovations and feats of
surgical wonder that my colleagues have been able to introduce into the world
of medicine.
But a
surgeon has only so many tools to use against a lethal disease, and in the case
of the patients to whom this book is dedicated, the clinic’s physicians had
found themselves in the position of having to say that there was nothing more
they could do.
This is
always the hardest moment both for the patient and the physician—the time when,
in effect, a death sentence has been rendered. And that was the position the
majority of these patients found themselves in back in 1985. They were, it must
be acknowledged, a sorry lot by the time they arrived in my office—sorry in
terms of both their physical health and their spirits.
Most
demoralizing for those who had been the beneficiaries of the clinic’s surgical
interventions was the recognition that so much that had been done to save
them—repeated open heart surgery, angioplasties aplenty, stents, and a host of
medications—seemed no longer to have any useful effect. Almost all the men had
lost their sexual potency. Most had chest pains, the terrifying condition known
as angina. For some, it was so agonizing that they couldn’t lie down and had to
sleep sitting up. Only a few could take long walks, and some couldn’t even
cross a room without excruciating pain. The fact is that some were walking dead
men.
It was, no doubt,
because they had completely run out of options that they agreed to the
demanding conditions I set for entry into the trial cure that I had come to
believe in.
What they
had to give up, I explained, would not be easy for any American accustomed to a
diet flush with deep-fried fast foods, thick steaks, and rich dairy products.
But if they were prepared to join me in a diet not unlike the one followed by
two-thirds of the world’s population, I held out the likelihood that we could
overturn the death sentences that had been delivered to them by their
physicians. In the process, we could demonstrate that the leading killer of
Americans, heart disease, was a paper tiger that could be defeated—and without
the use of a surgeon’s knife.
By now, most
everyone is generally aware that what you eat has something to do with whether
or not you will develop heart disease. Back when my study began, this wasn’t at
all established. But also out of a personal sense of threat—everyone in my
family had died early—I had begun looking for some alternative fate and had
come up with the idea of low-fat, plant-based nutrition. On the West Coast,
unbeknownst to me, Dean Cornish had started down the same path with several
earlier published studies showing the benefits of lifestyle change. There we
were, on opposite sides of the continent, not knowing nor having heard of each
other at the time.
Almost all
of those who came to me, who had been told there was little hope, today—twenty
years later—are alive, their arterial diseases receded. They stand as living
proof of what is possible for you and anyone else who chooses to do what is
necessary to become heart-attack-proof. And they gave me the invaluable gift of
confidence as I went on to counsel and treat hundreds of additional patients.
This book is
dedicated to those original patients—to the adventure we had together,
pioneering this experiment in the treatment of coronary heart disease, and to
the way they picked up their lives and found, in the course of pursuing an
alternative diet and lifestyle, a resumption of the joy of living. It offers a
simple, basic hopeful way for you to navigate your way into a long and
rewarding life. Let me tell you the story of my patients, of our research, and
of what we have learned.
(Esselstyn
Jr. M.D., Caldwell B.. Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary,
Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle
Edition.)
------------------------
Criticisms of the Diet
The major
criticism of the study is that it did not randomly assign individuals to the
control group. The ones who completed the study were clearly very committed,
and the ones who dropped out, clearly not.
Another
criticism is that there is no way to identify the operative factors that
actually work to reduce heart disease. Dr. Esselstyn says that it is better to
study the whole diet and the whole human being, than trying to control for all
of the components. He is convinced from other research that it is the reduction
in fatty acids that provides the most benefit.
Mechanism
The fatty
oil acids damage the endothelium, the lining of the arteries. It becomes
inflamed, damaged, and plaque builds up around the damaged parts. Reducing the
intake of the fatty acids to a very small amount allows the body’s repair
mechanism to remove the plaque and restore the lining. If a “normal” amount of
fatty acids continues to enter the bloodstream, or even a diminished amount, as
with the Mediterranean diet, the body does not have sufficient resources to
actually remove any plaque. But if the volume of fatty acids is small enough,
it is able to remove plaque and prevent new plaque from forming.
From the Esselstyn Book:
Brachial Artery Diameter and Fats – P 40
Dr. Robert
Vogel, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, has
conducted some astonishing studies that demonstrate, among other things, what a
toxic effect a single meal can have on the endothelium. Dr. Vogel used
ultrasound to measure the diameters of the brachial arteries of a group of
students. Then he inflated blood pressure cuffs on the students’ arms, stopping
blood flow to their forearms for five minutes. After deflating the cuffs, he
used the ultrasound to see how fast the arteries sprang back to their normal
condition.
One group of
students then ate a fast-food breakfast that contained 900 calories and 50
grams of fat. A second group ate 900-calorie breakfasts containing no fat at
all. After they ate, Dr. Vogel again constricted their brachial arteries for
five minutes and watched to see the result. It was dramatic. Among those who
consumed no fat, there was simply no problem: their arteries bounced back to
normal just as they had in the pre-breakfast test. But the arteries of those who
had eaten the fat-laden fast food took far longer to respond.
Why? The
answer lies in the effect of fat on the endothelium’s ability to produce nitric
oxide. Dr. Vogel closely monitored endothelial function of subjects and found
that two hours after eating a fatty meal there was a significant drop. It took
nearly six hours for endothelial function to get back to normal.
If a single
meal can have such an impact on vascular health, imagine the damage done by
three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year—for decades.
Nitric Oxide p 42
Nitric
oxide is absolutely essential to vascular health—a finding
that won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1998. It relaxes blood vessels,
selectively boosting blood flow to the organs that need it. It prevents white
blood cells and platelets from becoming sticky, and thus starting the buildup
of vascular plaque. It keeps the smooth muscle cells of arteries from growing
into plaques. It may even help to diminish vascular plaques once they are in
place. To understand how plant-based nutrition facilitates nitric oxide
production, you need to have a sense of the biochemistry at play. The essential
building block for nitric oxide production is a substance called L-arginine, an
amino acid that is in rich supply in a variety of plant foods, especially
legumes, beans, soy, and nuts. Figure 6 shows, schematically, how L-arginine
fits neatly into the enzymatic action of nitric oxide synthase, which then
produces nitric oxide from the arginine and oxygen.
P. 42 However, as you can also see in
Figure 6, there is a competitor for nitric oxide synthase: asymmetric dimethyl
arginine, or ADMA, which is manufactured by our bodies in the course of normal
protein metabolism. When we have too much ADMA, then L-arginine is edged out
for a position in nitric oxide synthase, and the production of nitric oxide
fails. There is another delicate enzyme with a formidable name—dimethyl
arginine dimethyl amino hydrolase, or DDAH—that destroys ADMA, in order to
favor production of nitric oxide. But the usual cardiovascular risk factors
(high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high homocysteine, insulin resistance,
hypertension, and tobacco use) all impair the ability of that delicate enzyme
to destroy ADMA.
Esselstyn
Jr. M.D., Caldwell B..
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary,
Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure (p. 39). Penguin Publishing Group.
Kindle Edition.
OIL and NUTS
ALL oils are
excluded, because oils are simply highly concentrated fats.
ALL nuts are
excluded for patients with actual heart disease, because they contain high
levels of fats, and the diet works much better to remove plaque when the fatty
acid level is lowest.
For more confirmation on the impact of nuts, watch this video below, and look at this research. IF you have a clean set of arteries, there is NO question but that nuts will reduce your arterial elasticity - it makes arteries worse. The studies done that show beneficial results from nuts were done on folks with lousy arteries and diet already. So . . . NO NUTS. See:
https://youtu.be/zkC0-sXruM8
This is a clear demonstration of the impact of a small bit of nuts on the health of your arteries, especially if you are already on a plant based diet - it uses the Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) test.
Mediterranean Diet
The best
evidence on how diet affects people with heart disease comes from the Lyon Diet
Heart Study, which found that a Mediterranean-style diet cut heart attacks and
deaths by 70% compared with a traditional American Heart Association diet. The
Mediterranean-style diet emphasized fish, poultry, vegetables, beans, olive
oil, and nuts and included only minimal amounts of meat, butter, and cream.
But That Can't Work
When I bring
up this strict plant based diet, everyone, including my cardiologist say things like: that will
never work; be more moderate - do the Mediterranean Diet - it’s been proven to
work. Or NOT! Here is at least one critical evaluation of that diet as compared
to this one:
There were
some modest benefits to the Mediterranean diet - but not much. And there was certainly no
reversal of the disease. Dr. Esselstyn's diet cannot be directly compared, but
it is a much more successful path by the numbers, even if it is very difficult
to maintain.
For some
scary facts on how early this problem starts, watch the video on this page.
Heart disease starts in childhood!
Bottom Line - Carl’s Conclusion
I have a
serious heart condition. I have been accumulating plaque from fatty acid for
decades. The Mediterranean diet seems to work to reduce heart disease
for a healthy population over a long time. But there is no evidence that the
diet will arrest the progress of the disease in anyone with a serious heart
condition. And there is not even a claim that it can reverse the process to
improve the disease.
I believe
that my odds of dying from this disease in the near term are quite high, unless
I undertake this type of diet.
The diet is difficult, but not impossible. It requires a considerable amount of attention and work, but the return of 5 or more years of healthy life is clearly worth any investment. Eating is fun. Eating fat food is particularly enjoyable, but it consumes a very small part of any given day, and a very small part of life. I am perfectly willing to forego that pleasure to prolong my life - especially a healthy life. I am also hopeful that I will be able to benefit from the many people who have already set out on this path, and have developed wonderful recipes that make eating quite enjoyable again. I have no illusion that I am ever going to enjoy a piece of apple pie again, or a chocolate sundae, but I am quite sure I can live with that. (There is actually a chocolate offering by the Nekter Juice Bar people, but don't overdo it!)
The larger problem is how to manage while eating out with friends, or traveling. Salads are good but you have to pay attention to avoid the dressing with oil and the cheese that is liberally sprinkled about on the greens. I have found some salad dressings with no oil, which I bring along in a small container to help flavor the greens. Fruit is generally available, and is always safe. Bread is also a problem, but most places now offer whole wheat options. There may be some egg in the bread, but one slice is a small exposure.
Cholesterol goals - Esselstyn's cholesterol goals are below 150. The normal standard is less than 199. At the start of this my cholesterol was 166 and had been as high as 197. On 2018.08.15 it was at 109, with statis and before the diet!
My diet started in earnest 9/11/2018. I plan to update this regularly.
2024 My latest reading is 129! YAY.
STATINS are dangerous.
This is a recent addition. I just stumbled on this research on the actual way statins work, or do not work, and the potential side effects. It is pretty amazing that anyone prescribes them any more, especially if a non medical alternative such as diet has the same or better effect. The article is here:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/06/02/a-statin-nation.aspx
I don't think much of the rest of this website - keto is an dangerous as any other crazy diet.
I found the article a tad confusing, so I did a brief summary:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FQpkw7w9cDTh7kuEvMCxtklOfYZP5_U-/view?usp=sharing
Dairy - Milk, cheese, are killing you
Here's another one that you might find interesting.
https://youtu.be/TJvrlwnEqbs
John McDougall MD discusses what dairy products have going for them. They are not a great source of nutrition.
Other Diseases
There are other studies which indicate that this type of diet can delay or prevent many other diseases which can cause severe
debilitation as one ages: cancer,
Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney stones, gout. The exact
mechanisms for each of these are not yet firmly identified, but there are
sufficient indications to think that this is the case. The following is a summary of a few of those.
Diabetes
This one seems to be pretty well researched and established. See this article in the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology.
A Plant Based Diet for the Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes
Kidney Stones
I happen to be a chronic stone maker, and I had ALL 30 of my stones removed in 2018 before the stent procedure. I will let you know if any new ones develop!
2020.12.15 Update - I get a CAT Scan once a year to count my kidney stones. Since the last removal in 2018 - shortly after my stent procedure - I have NO new stones, and the few in there have NOT GROWN. I have cured my chronic kidney stones. AMEN! That alone is a reason to stay on the diet.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-prevent-kidney-stones-with-diet/
The theory is that some stones are caused by the excess protein from meat. But if you are a chronic stone maker you should also pay attention to oxalate levels. On this diet, the oxalate levels in my urine doubled - which might increase my stones. The problem is that many of the foods I have been emphasizing are high in oxalate. At a minimum, I plan to reduce those that are very high, which narrows my dietary choices somewhat.
Recently, 6/2019, Dr. Michael Greger published a video summarizing a lot of research on kidney stones and oxalate. And the result is that the diet probably has very little to do with the genetic predisposition to form them. AND . . . it is possible that the diet will in fact help.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/oxalates-in-spinach-and-kidney-stones-should-we-be-concerned/
I will be back when I get my yearly scan for stones to let you know how this works out.
MS - Multiple Sclerosis
This article explains why the McDougall research group is investing $750,000 in a study about multiple sclerosis. Worldwide, multiple sclerosis is common in Canada, the United States and northern Europe; and rare in Africa, Japan, and other Asian countries. Why?
https://www.forksoverknives.com/the-multiple-sclerosis-and-diet-saga/#gs.Bq4Esps
This is a description of an MD, Dr. Stancic, and her recovery from a very serious MS:
https://youtu.be/NM_YOiJ0Mks
Alzheimer's
Cited below is a lengthy article excerpted from the book: The
Alzheimer's Solution. The authors are neurologists, and they believe that 90% of Alzheimer's victims can be greatly helped by means of a plant based diet. I have not read the book, but I did scan through some of the significant pages on Amazon. I think they are right, but they are a little bit cavalier about how strictly one must follow the diet to gain the benefits.
https://foodrevolution.org/blog/food-and-health/prevent-reverse-alzheimers/
This one talks about recent research on blood flow in the brain and Alzheimer's. That is a CLEAR connection to the dietary solution.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-02-closer-alzheimer-therapy-brain-blood.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-018-0329-4 - the actual study.
This is from Forbes - basic research on how diet affects mental function:
Forbes:
New Research Suggests That Food Really Does Affect How We Think
And one more:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900047995/qanda-national-aging-expert-talks-about-how-to-avoid-developing-dementia-in-old-age.html
While you are on the Alzheimer's page, you may want to look at this article in the NIH database. It describes three case studies in Japan where patients with advanced Alzheimer's were cured with a regular daily teaspoon of turmeric.
Dr. Greger noted this in his latest book, How No To Age.
This is a description of 3 anecdotal cases where individuals were CURED of dementia with nothing but turmeric. And as he said, what pharmaceutical company is going to spend the funds to do a formal study when the meds can be purchased in the local grocery store for almost nothing. In each of these cases, the subject was elderly, and each of them had quite advanced symptoms of dementia.
The only medicine used was a teaspoon of turmeric per day - the spice from the grocery store. This is not circumin - that is an extract of turmeric and it appears to have no effect. Each showed almost immediate improvement, and were entirely recovered in a year.
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autoimmune Diseases
This is not a formal medical study, but rather a description of 10 cases where this diet helped people with very serious rheumatoid arthritis. The theory is that every autoimmune disease can be helped in the same way. Read the summary here.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/2014/05/31/ten-cases-of-severe-mostly-rheumatoid-arthritis-cured-by-the-mcdougall-diet/
More detail on the study:
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2014nl/may/tencases.htm
This one is from the China Study team:
https://nutritionstudies.org/autoimmune-disease-genes-infection-environment-gut/
And a video with another study:
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/why-do-plant-based-diets-help-rheumatoid-arthritis/
Fibromyalgia
I know this is starting to sound like a patent medicine universal cure all and panacea, but read this one to see the science behind this stuff.
https://nutritionfacts.org/2013/06/27/plant-based-diets-for-fibromyalgia/
Osteoporosis - calcium loss and bone fragility - cancer - leukemia -
It appears that milk and dairy products are the primary sources of bone loss. It also gives you casein, the most powerful growth substance for cancer, etc. The industry says it is the other way around - but it is not. Here's a really scary video on milk
https://youtu.be/TJvrlwnEqbs
John McDougall MD discusses what dairy products have going for them. They are a great source of nutrition -- for getting fat and growing tumors! Dear lord - why do we give our children this stuff! It's worse than poison.
More Information
If this has
gotten your attention, you should look at the primary website:
There are
several other websites that are similar. Recipes are very helpful here. Two
thirds of the Esselstyn book is actually recipes, and there is an accompanying book with
even more.
For a simple
example, you can make good pancakes, without milk and eggs! Use soy milk,
a banana, and a bit of applesauce. They are great. And maple syrup,
real
maple syrup, is plant based. Amen! If the general public was ever really aware
of this, we might actually see some decent restaurants that specialize in this
diet - wouldn’t that be wonderful.
My Ethical Issue
My big concern here is that I
know people who would benefit from this plant based diet enormously - friends and family with Alzheimer's, diabetes, a serious weight problem, MS, cancer, heart disease. I feel an ethical, personal responsibility to at least make them aware of this alternative "treatment" in some fashion. It is highly unlikely that their doctor will do it. I simply cannot just ignore that that this clear alternative exists, and not somehow try to make them aware of it. If you were faced with a disease which is clearly going to kill or incapacitate you - would you not like to be at least TOLD that there are alternative treatments that generally do work?!
These are not magical, mystical, crazy ideas - these are diet based treatments supported by myriads of medical professionals. They just happen to be contrary to the opinion of the vast majority of the food industry. So - what else is new?
People tell me - that diet is so difficult that no one will even consider it. That may be. It is one hell of a tough diet - but it is NOT impossible. Faced with death and disability, I opted for it - and you could to. Should you not at least have enough information to decide? My good friend Al made me aware of it years ago. I did not think it was crazy, but I did feel that I personally did not need to go
THAT FAR. I was wrong. It took a serious coronary event for me to realize that. What will it take for you?
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Additional Information
As I read more about this diet, Google and the AI world in general keep offering me additional information. I started a supplemental page - but it's just easier and more available to put the additional information here. If you find something useful, compelling, interesting - and you have read this far - send it to me! My email is NOT impossible to figure out.
Thanks.
Professional Research Journal Study
If you are an MD or a science type, you might find this research summary more satisfying.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4315380/
My only criticism of the article is that there is no indication how strictly the participants followed the diet in these studies. When people adhere to it strictly the results show much higher benefits - like 100%.
Kaiser Permanente Literature Survey 2013
This is an excellent 2013 summary of some of the research on diet based therapies, done by one of the largest medical provider in the U.S.:
Kaiser Permanente.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662288/#__sec4title
Dr. Esselstyn, Dr. Ornish and Dr. Campbell are mentioned, and the article cites at least
40 other studies.
The Abstract is worth reading:
The objective of this article is to present to physicians an update on plant-based diets. Concerns about the rising cost of health care are being voiced nationwide, even as unhealthy lifestyles are contributing to the spread of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. For these reasons, physicians looking for cost-effective interventions to improve health outcomes are becoming more involved in helping their patients adopt healthier lifestyles. Healthy eating may be best achieved with a plant-based diet, which we define as a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, dairy products, and eggs as well as all refined and processed foods. We present a case study as an example of the potential health benefits of such a diet. Research shows that plant-based diets are cost-effective, low-risk interventions that may lower body mass index, blood pressure, HbA1C, and cholesterol levels. They may also reduce the number of medications needed to treat chronic diseases and lower ischemic heart disease mortality rates. Physicians should consider recommending a plant-based diet to all their patients, especially those with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.
And here is a short summary of the key findings of the above study.
https://www.treehugger.com/health/5-remarkable-health-benefits-plant-based-diet.html
Forbes Magazine - How to Make the Transition
Here is a bit of advice on how to move to this kind of diet, from one of our most preeminent financial publishers.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2018/11/30/how-to-smoothly-transition-to-a-plant-based-diet/#2fb42fb950dc
I was so persuaded that I jumped in feet first - you may need a more gentle transition - as long as you get there eventually!
Dr. Greg Feinsinger - How To Get Started
https://www.postindependent.com/news/local/doctors-tip-tips-for-converting-to-a-plant-based-diet-part-1/
He includes a discussion of the available videos and the impact of all of this on the planet. I think the planetary impact is positive, but the odds of getting a large number of people in the developed countries to eat this way are about zero. We have a better chance of banning
all oil, gas and coal than changing our diet.
National Institute of Health Studies
This is a 2018 review of plant based diets and heart disease. It mentions the practical need to reduce the impact of the diet - AND its effectiveness.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5971679/
“the diet design goals were to create patterns that would have the blood pressure lowering benefits of a vegetarian diet, yet contain enough animal products to make them palatable to non-vegetarians”.[
This one is a review of the diet and its impact on cancer. It mentions
The China Study.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048091/
The magnitude of difference in cancer risk within China ranges by more than a factor of 10 across the 65 counties studied. Campbell and colleagues found that a group of diseases (notably cancers of the colon, lung, breast, brain, as well as leukemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes) were all associated with a diet of nutritional extravagance – meaning a diet that was associated with higher levels of blood cholesterol and blood urea nitrogen. These risk markers were directly associated with the intake of milk, meat, eggs, dietary fat, and animal protein and inversely associated with dietary fiber and legumes.
Ornish Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Dr. Ornish has developed a cardiac rehabilitation program based on the plant based diet. He has trained and developed a national network of providers who deliver this program, and he has persuaded several insurance providers to fully cover it as part of cardiac rehab. My personal cardiac rehab dietary session lasted 15 minutes, and consisted of "Follow the Mediterranean diet. Eat less red meat, more fruits and vegetables." Amen.
https://www.ornish.com/intensive-cardiac-rehab/
NYC City Hospitals and Bellevue Start Major Diet Related Therapy
Just to persuade you that this is not some crazy diet fad, here's another
Backed by this evidence, as well as advocacy from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, NYC Health & Hospitals/Bellevue was motivated in November 2017 to develop the Plant-based Lifestyle Medicine Program, which offers patients with chronic diseases support services to transition to and stick with eating vegetarian. The public health system has invested $400,000 for the pilot program, which officially kicks off Jan. 16, 2019 with more than 300 patients.
You should note that they are only treating diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease. That is, of course, the primary focus of this dietary approach.
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20190105/TRANSFORMATION03/190109969
Sugar as Toxin - Dr. Robert Lustig
I happened on this book,
Fat Chance, by Dr. Robert Lustig, and found it very interesting from a "diet" perspective. Dr. Lustig is primarily concerned with obesity, and his book examines biology and research related to diet and obesity. I found it interesting for several reasons related to this diet.
The book is quite complex - full of science and research terms. I am sure most people will not finish reading it. It needs a brief summary. Fortunately, there are a couple of those available. For one, the author gave a TED talk that is pretty well done, and gets to the point much more quickly. You can find that here:
https://youtu.be/gmC4Rm5cpOI. There is also a fine review of the book which briefly summarizes the major points, and also points out a few of the problems, which you can find here:
https://thehealthsciencesacademy.org/book-reviews/fat-chance/.
What I found interesting was his research related to diet, and the real impact of sugar on our bodies.
- Sugar is a toxin. You have to agree with him by the time you get to the end of the book. It is addictive, it manipulates all manner of biochemistry in us to get us to consume more and more.
- Obesity is an illness in most people. It is not the lack of will power, or gluttony. Many of us have a genetic propensity to obesity, and the food industry has stacked the cards seriously so that we are all eating more and more sugar. He has a great empathy for people with this problem. It helped me have a bit more empathy for folk.
- Glucose and sucrose are bad, but we handle them pretty well. Alcohol is really bad, but we manage to deal with it. Fructose is murder - ten times worse than alcohol in terms of the damage to the body. Watch the video above.
- Dieting is really hard work. There are so many things in our food stream, in our air, in our environment, that maintaining any diet is extremely difficult for all of us. So . . . don't feel bad if you run at this more than once.
- He pretty much discounts the Ornish diet because it does not control enough sugar and processed foods. He does not seem to be aware of the whole foods, plant based diet. Which I found kind of amazing since he has done so much research in the field. But . . .
A Book To Avoid
I was walking through Barnes and Noble and saw this book prominently displayed:
The Plant Paradox, by By Dr. Steven Gundry. The title is interesting, and a quick scan seems to indicate that the author is privy to some detailed information about the dangers in some parts of the plant based diet. But a closer view shows that there is almost no foundation for the things he is espousing. A very critical review of the book was written by Dr. Campbell here:
https://nutritionstudies.org/the-plant-paradox-by-steven-grundy-md-commentary/. Reading that makes one wonder why on earth Dr. Gundry published such a confusing and misleading book. This stuff is tough enough to learn about, without a mishmash of half truths thrown in.
AND another one to avoid
The book is
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet.
I really do not like throwing rocks at people who write books - it's a lot of work, and I have not managed to produce even one. But this book is extremely misleading in its claims. Fortunately, a couple of others have taken the book's author to task, so I can just refer you to them. The book's title is a pretty amazing claim, if you have read any of this research. See what you think. The 1 star reviews at Amazon also have some pretty strong critiques.
This is a good critical review - it's a careful analysis of the first 5 chapters or so:
https://thescienceofnutrition.wordpress.com/2014/08/10/the-big-fat-surprise-a-critical-review-part-1/
Looks like it is pretty lousy science and fact checking. A few errors are understandable - this many looks to be intentional.
There is also an interesting exchange in Scientific American with this author. This might be a simpler read. The book author chose to criticize Dr. Dean Ornish's article in the magazine, and he responded. He was one of the first to really put this Plant Based diet on the map. Why she chose to attack in this way is not clear. Between this and the book, she put a lot of work into producing something that looks like it is intentionally misleading. Strange business!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-almost-everything-dean-ornish-says-about-nutrition-is-wrong/
The Wikipedia entry on her helps a bit. She is clearly being compensated for this stance by some portion of the meat and dairy industry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Teicholz Bit surprising that she hasn't figured out how to edit that entry.
AND, finally, Politico has the gory details. Her supporters are focused on changing the new dietary guidelines published by the US Government. Lobbyists all. Well, Thank you, Politico and the like.
https://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/the-money-behind-the-fight-over-healthy-eating-214517
OTHER DIETS
This is an excellent video by John McDougal, MD, about other types of diets: Adkins, low carb, etc.
https://youtu.be/kOfF_r2R8QM. You do NOT want to go the low carb route. Trust me on that.
ENOUGH. Way too long, way too much. I know that. But I really want you to think about this. Please! Thanks.
