Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Isn't it kind of simplistic to say a "plant based diet" will cure heart disease? How about a sedentary lifestyle and high quantities of refined carbohydrates.

Proponents of the paleo diet would probably disagree with him.

Hey Dag,

They can disagree all they want, the fact of the matter is that the research and stats are on his side. I will cite in the morning.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

My point is though - that it's misleading to say that my heart disease will be cured if I eat a plant based diet but I'm high on carbs and don't move around.

Of course, you are right that there are other components to health, however, I think the majority of our health is accomplished by what we do to our insides with a minority of the benefit coming through exercise.

I find it compelling that the heart patients too sick for bypass surgery are sent to Joel Fuhrman for fasting followed by a plant-based diet in order to get them safely back to health. In your own back yard, Joe Cross came out with "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." and was healed to health through a plant-based diet. The evidence for health through proper nutrition is now overwhelming. From Dr. John McDougal's, "The McDougal Plan," through Dr. Neil Barnard's, "Reversing Diabetes," we are seeing that the western diet is the main reason for the burden on our healthcare system.

My own story is this: Several years ago my blood pressure was 210/120. I was on 4 medications and had edema in my legs and was, at 54 years old, feeling that I was on my way out. The doctors were so concerned that they continued to recommend additional drugs and tests to see what was going on. At that point I went to an old friend named Richard. He is a nutritionist and he and his 10 children have NEVER been to a doctor. (He claims it is because he didn't poison his family with sugar and white flour among other processed foods). Through natural foods and supplements, he healed me. Last year I completed two rounds of P90X. That was the benefit of the internal healing. I was able to do that.

All that being said, a plant-based diet doesn't necessarily mean no meat. But if people choose to do a no meat diet, I suggest strongly that they plan on figuring out their protein requirements and making sure that they can eat a broad enough range of fruits, vegetables and legumes in order that they don't run a protein deficit. That is different, in my way of thinking, from a protein deficiency. It is possible to get all of some of the amino acids needed and lack some of the others. Trust me, that results in some weird side effects.

I believe the huge problem with discussing this issue with people is that it seems everyone has something to protect. So I normally don't talk about it unless someone comes to me who wants to get well. Even then, I am just a resource and offer no medical advice personally. I do, however, have a story to share with regards to improper nutrition.

I will add this beautiful tidbit : Linus Pauling's protocol for reversing heart disease is, in my mind, a remarkable piece of work. One doctor, when asked what he thought about it, said that he wasn't too sure it would work, but then again he hadn't won two Nobel Prizes either.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Well said. *promote.

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Saturday, March 9th, 2013 5:50pm PST - promote requested by dag.

Thank you, Dag! Appreciated.

My dad just had to have a stent put in and have medication. He's an active person who hates taking medication. He started following a diet by Esselstyn which is essentially plants-based and very low fat (i.e. no added oils, etc) with the goal of getting off his medication. I watched a video by Esselstyn and it was interesting. (I'll have to watch this one later as I need to leave for work.) He did not require any of his study group to exercise. One point he brought up that I hadn't heard before was about how olive oil is actual bad for you. While it does create a better ratio of cholesterol, it still increases it. He talked about two sequential studies (monkey and then rat) where each group were given either monounsaturated oil (olive oil) or saturated oil. At the end when the autopsies were done, both had very similar build of of plaque, etc in their arteries. It's made me decide to try to follow in my dad's footsteps when it comes to diet.

I also have a friend who is very happy and almost constant advocate of the paleo diet. IMHO, I think anyone will feel better if they steer away from processed foods, eat a variety, get plenty of fiber, etc.

Esselstyn is one of the big guns in this field as well. You may wish to watch, "Forks Over Knives," in which he thoroughly discusses much of what your dad needs to know. I would also seriously check out Linus Pauling's studies and recommendations for heart disease.

One of the things that really annoys me about debates on nutrition, is that there are almost never any actual studies cited. Tons of anecdotes, but anecdotes are not evidence.

Frankly, I've had to tune them all out in self-defense, or I'd be switching my lifestyle on a yearly basis to go along with the latest fad.

This is partly because such studies are hard, and rare. The most commonly cited one (which is unusual, as you point out) is the Nurses Study.

An interesting one mentioned by the TV show "Supersizers go..." was studies into the effects of wartime rationing in WWII London (the first episode of the series actually).

Since they have put up all the episodes on yt, I can even link to it: http://youtu.be/cCddAKnf2LI?t=7m



As they point out, although certain details change, the basic advice has stayed the same for the past 50 years... eat less sugar and fat, eat less meat, eat more fruit and vegetables. No matter which trend is in at the moment, eating too much processed food is always discouraged and, with few exceptions, eating more fruit and vegetables is usually encouraged.

Re-watching the end of the episode though, reminds me that it wasn't actually the last few minutes where they mentioned the research, it was earlier. Rats. Somewhere in the episode they did make mention of it, I'm sure of it, but I only found the summary at the end.

In his short and readable book "In defence of food", Michael Pollan also mentions research by Canadian dentist (!) Weston Price, published in 1939 and titled "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration". Price studied the diets of various isolated populations that had not been exposed to modern food, and found that humans are quite adaptable and can thrive on a wide variety of diets... sadly, the Western diet does not appear to be one of them.

In the same volume he also points out that you should avoid foods which make health claims... if you look in the supermarket, the healthiest foods are likely to be lumped together in the fresh fruit and vegetable section making no claims at all. If you want a book which provides references and studies, that one is worth reading. I'm sure he is not 100% correct in every claim he makes, but like I said, the book is short and readable.

*promote

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It's these sorts of claims that kill your and your friend's credibility. This is when red flags go up. Maybe what you and he say are true but, talking like that, you put it on the same level as homeopathy and Q-ray bracelets.

Interesting vid, but billing plant-based diet as the "cure" is a bit strong. There's no denying the benefits of proper diet and exercise but, saying all you have to do is switch to a "plant based diet" to "cure" it seems a little irresponsible to me... certainly makes it sound like an agenda being pushed.

No voodoo involved, friend. I have learned that the human body has an amazing capacity to heal given the right environment. I did away with processed foods, made sure the bulk of my diet was plant-based, and supplemented as necessary. It's not homeopathy. It's science. My friend Richard raised a healthy family and taught me to be healthy myself. I realized that my poor health was a result of bad dietary choices and that I didn't have to be a slave to medication for the rest of my life.

If you want to see some remarkable turn-arounds, just Google some of the names I mentioned above and read what is taking place in the medical field as it pertains to diet. There is a revolution afoot.

The problem is this: it is difficult to change a lifestyle after many years of physical and mental investment. So, people don't want to do it. When I asked my Dr. if anyone ever gets off the blood pressure medication once he puts them on, he said, "No, they don't want to work that hard." And that, in a nutshell, is why our hospitals are full of people who have diet related illnesses. People are trapped in their bad decisions. They are sick from eating the stuff they eat, they go to the doctors to get medicine to suppress the symptoms so they can go back out and continue to eat the very thing that got them sick in the first place.

OK, I've said too much already. Like I said above, I don't like talking about this publicly because it descends into "well, that's anecdotal," or "where are the stats?" With a bit of research you find that the stats are there and I am just one of many examples of living proof.

Peace.

http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v308/n2/full/scientificamerican0213-62.html

I think you mean "ascends". Without peer-reviewed studies (which pretty well requires stats), it's not science.

Hey Stormsinger,

There are plenty of studies on how the diet affects heart and circulatory health. Here is a compilation of some of them:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/105/7/893.full

They conclude:

The most important dietary recommendations are as follows:

Keep an energy balance, indicated by a body mass index below 25 kg/m2.

Consume <10% of energy from saturated fat.
Consume <2% of energy from trans fat.
Eat (fatty) fish at least once a week.

Eat ≥400 g of vegetables and fruits per day.

Limit salt consumption to <6 g/d.
If these recommendations are followed, coronary heart disease can be eliminated to a large extent in the population aged <70 years, and by implementing these recommendations at middle-age, there will be lower annual costs for medical care in older age.

The data continues to pour in that diet can prevent and reverse heart disease. To the extent people eat healthily, they can benefit from the truth those studies serve to illuminate.

Excellent, @silvercord, that's just the kind of reference I was looking for. While there may be plenty of studies (your link certainly lists quite a few, and I'll need a few days to wade through the ones I can get to), I find it depressing how few of the diet experts ever reference them. Even though the original site mentioned -says- they link to original journal articles when possible, the half dozen or so videos I looked at, had not a single such link.

It makes it awfully easy to assume that he's just selling books or ads.

At least you've given me a weekend or two's worth of reading. I thank you.