It has been proven that reversing heart disease holistically is possible. In this article, I will expand on things you can do in order to holistically reverse heart disease. Studies show that people on healthy vegetarian diets have lower risks of:
- Heart disease
- Colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancers
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
This is because a healthy vegetarian diet is commonly high in organic, fresh, whole vegetables and fruits, low in unhealthy fat, and high in fiber. Quality is important. For an optimum vegetarian/vegan diet, you want to buy certified organic, non-GMO, fresh food, and to avoid trans-fats, cottonseed oil, canola oil, soy, artificial sweeteners, high fructose sweeteners, white refined carbohydrates, processed, microwaved, pasteurized, radiated and fast foods. (I expand on the best ways to live a healthy lifestyle in my award-winning book, How To Be A Healthy Vegetarian, 2nd edition.)
Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., former president of the medical staff at the Cleveland Clinic, writes that you can reverse heart disease with no drugs and only a plant-based diet. He bases this conclusion on the groundbreaking results of his 20- year nutritional study. Backed by solid scientific evidence, he argues that we can end the heart disease epidemic simply by changing what we eat. Dr. Esselstyn recommends a plant-based, oil-free diet that he says can prevent heart disease, stop its progress, and even reverse its effects.
The late Walter Kempner, MD founded the Rice Diet. He advocated a diet of rice, fruit, and vegetables on the basis that it has the power to do miraculous things for people and help them gain back their health. He treated hundreds of people at Duke University, where he prescribed a diet of rice, vegetables, and fruit that reversed hypertension, diabetic eye changes, heart failure, kidney failure, and obesity.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD, professor emeritus at Cornell University and co-author of The China Study, the most comprehensive human nutrition study to date, advocates a plant-based diet for optimum health. I was fortunate to be part of Dr. Campbell’s class at Cornell University, where he told us: Plant-based eating is a superior way of eating. Benefits of eating this way: Live longer, look and feel younger, have more energy, lose weight, lowers blood cholesterol, prevents and even reverses heart disease, lowers your risk of prostate, breast and other cancers, preserves your eyesight in your later years, prevents and treat diabetes, avoid surgery, vastly decreases the need for pharmaceutical drugs, helps keep bones strong, avoid impotence, avoid stroke, prevents kidney stones, keeps your baby from getting type 2 diabetes, alleviates constipation, lowers your blood pressure, avoid Alzheimer’s, beats arthritis and more.
Dr. Campbell discussed studies he had done on the diseases that arise in populations when meat protein is introduced into the diet. He continued: “My early research gave me the understanding that animal protein, when tested experimentally, was substantially different from plant protein in its ability to promote tumor development. It turned out that animal protein had its effect by operating through a constellation of integrative mechanisms. The division between animal and plant foods was a signpost of a division of the kinds of foods having an effect on cancer.”
“Dr. Dean Ornish in California, and Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. in Ohio, during the mid l980’s, each separately initiated studies of plant-based nutrition as treatment for patients severely ill with coronary artery disease. Their goal was to remove every last morsel of animal food, dairy, processed flour, and oils that were causing the disease, and to eat a diet of vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains.
One thing I’ve learned through research, is that people with heart disease, frequently have diabetes as well. It’s common for a person to actually die from a heart attack, without even knowing they were diabetic. A plant-based diet can help with diabetes as well.
In Dr. Campbell’s class on plant-based nutrition, I learned of many studies that prove it is possible to be healthy or overcome illness on a plant-based diet. Recently, one study conducted by a team of American and Japanese researchers showed that people who have diabetes can vastly improve their health by eating an entirely plant-based diet.
More than 100 million people today have diabetes or pre-diabetes. The study’s findings agree with my experience. Working with people who have diabetes, I have found they show remarkable improvement in their health and well-being from consuming a plant-based and almost completely raw food diet. For that study, the researchers also undertook a new meta-analysis—which is considered the highest level of scientific evidence—in which they compared six significant prior research studies.
The researchers found a plant-based diet significantly improved blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes, and specifically in a key indicator of blood sugar control called hemoglobin A1c. The participants’ results improved as much as 1.2 points, which was greater than the effect of typical oral diabetes medicines.
The plant-based diet goes way back in time. It was recorded in the sixth century by the Greeks. Today, many people are switching to a vegan, vegetarian, or plant-based diet for health, environmental, or ethical reasons.
Many people throughout the ages have chosen to be vegetarian: Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, George Bernard Shaw, Mohandas Gandhi, Paul, Linda, and Stella McCartney, Carl Lewis, Hank Aaron, Mike Tyson, Martina Navratilova, Doris Day, Danny DeVito, Alec Baldwin, Joan Baez, Ellen DeGeneres, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Michael Bolton, Mary Tyler Moore, Joaquin Phoenix, Dave Scott (six-time Ironman triathlon winner), Brendan Brazier (two-time Canadian 50K ultramarathon champion), and the list goes on and on. In this group of enlightened minds and great talents, there is a common bond. Veganism and vegetarianism is a choice. So if you make this change, you will be in good company!
One thing that is clear, is that the human body was not designed for consuming meat. Humans don’t have the correct teeth for tearing. Human saliva isn’t as acidic as carnivores. Human digestive juices are not acidic or strong enough to break down meat well on an ongoing basis. Because our intestinal tract is long and curvy, undigested meat can stay in the intestine too long. It can putrefy and rot in the intestines, allowing toxins and acid to build up. This creates inflammation and disease. This is one reason there is such a high rate of colon cancer, as well as digestion and intestinal tract problems.
One thing I have found that helps reduce cellular damage and oxidative stress is a supplement called Protandim. It can help reduce oxidative stress by 40% in 30 days. It’s been nominated for two Nobel Prizes for Medicine and had over 26 peer-reviewed medical papers written about it. 3 of those studies are concerning the benefits of this supplement for the heart. ABC did a primetime update on this supplement to show it’s benefits for aging and overall health.
People ask me about statin drugs frequently. They can cause cellular damage and deplete the necessary nutrients in the body. I really think that getting healthy in a natural holistic way is a safer alternative.
I’ve learned that everyone needs to find the diet that works best for them, and to find balance in their life. I also know that the quality of the food we eat is vital. From my studies and research, I believe an organic, plant-based diet can greatly benefit your health, and even heal your body.
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The information from Nancy Addison and Organic Healthy Lifestyle LLC is not offered for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease or disorder nor have any statements herein been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We strongly encourage you to discuss topics of concern with your health care provider.
Medical Disclaimer: Information provided in this email, article, book, podcast, website, email, etc. is for informational purposes only. The information is a result of years of practice and experience by Nancy Addison CHC, AADP. However, this information is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professionals, or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. I make no claims about healing anything.
