Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. is an American physician, author and former Olympic rowing champion; most notable for his work Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, which advocates for a low-fat, whole foods, plant-based (vegan) diet. He recommends avoiding all animal products, as well as reducing or avoiding soybeans, nuts, avocados and oils. The diet is the one former U.S. President Bill Clinton follows after his heart attack.
“You work hard to establish the background of chronic illness.”
In this video, Esselstyn discusses heart disease as a food-born illness. He states that simply stopping consumption of cell-damaging food substances will stop the down-stream processes that cause the onset of plaque buildup in your arteries. Hence, you have the power to prevent heart attacks and other chronic illnesses through changing whats on your plate.
Esselstyn in response to common heart health questions:
Q) Who develops heart disease?
A) “Everyone eating the typical western diet. In autopsy studies of our GI’s who died in the Vietnam and Korean wars almost 80% at an average age of 20 years, had disease that could be seen without a microscope. Forty years later in 1999, a study of young persons between the ages of 16-34 years who have died of accidents, homicides and suicides, finds the disease is now ubiquitous.”
Q) What is the cause of the disease?
A) “It is the typical western diet of processed oils, dairy, and meat which destroys the lifejacket of our blood vessels known as our endothelial cells. This cell layer is a one cell thick lining of all of our blood vessels. Endothelial cells manufacture a magical protective molecule of gas called nitric oxide, which protects our blood vessels. It keeps our blood flowing smoothly, it is the strongest dilator (widener), of our blood vessels, it inhibits the formation of blockages (plaques), and it inhibits inflammation.” With such natural protection why do we ever develop heart disease? “Every western meal of processed vegetable oils, dairy products, and meat (including chicken and fish) injures these endothelial cells. As individuals consume theses damaging products throughout their lives, they have fewer functioning endothelial cells remaining and thus less of the protective nitric oxide. Without enough nitric oxide the plaque blockages build up and grow creating eventually heart disease and strokes.”
Q) Can it be stopped or even reversed?
A)”Yes. First we must look at the lessons learned from cultures where there is a virtual absence of coronary artery heart disease such as rural China, the Papua Highlands of New Guinea, Central Africa, and the Tarahumara Indians of Northern Mexico. Their nutrition is plant based without oil. Beginning in 1985 I initiated a study of seriously ill coronary artery disease patients. Their nutrition became plant based without oil. Their cholesterol levels plummeted. Their angina disappeared. Their weight dropped. I have reported this study at 5 years, 12 years, and 16 years, in the peer reviewed scientific literature and again beyond 20 years in my book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. “
Q) Any final thoughts?
A) When people learn to eat plant based to eliminate heart disease it could inaugurate a seismic revolution in health. Other diseases that resolve include obesity, hypertension, stroke, heart attacks, gall stones, diverticulitis, asthma, osteoporosis, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and a marked decrease in the common western cancers of breast, prostate, colon, endometrial, ovarian, and pancreatic. To paraphrase John Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for [your health], ask what YOU can do for [your health].”
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“The truth be known coronary artery disease is a toothless paper tiger that need never exist and if it does exist it need never progress.”
Foods Rich in NITRATES:
- Beets
- Leafy greens (includes kale!)
- Lettuce
- Carrots
- Green beans
- Spinach
- Parsley
- Cabbage
- Radishes
- Celery
- Collard greens
- Etc.
Foods Rich in POLYPHENOLS (aids in nitric oxide production) :
- Fruit
- Garlic
- Berries
- Nuts
- Soy
- Chocolate (w/ no added fat)
- Red wine (resveratrol)
- Etc.
His book is: Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, available on Amazon