POSTED ON 1 MAY 2011 BY BRODRICK KENT

Cardiovascular disease:

• is heart, stroke and blood vessel disease • kills one Australian nearly every 11 minutes
• affects more than 3.4 million Australians
• prevents 1.4 million people from living a full life because of disability caused by the disease
• affects one in five Australians, and affects two out of three families
• claimed the lives of almost 48,500 Australians (34% of all deaths) in 2008 - deaths that are largely preventable.

Much has been learned over past decades as we now have a comprehensive body of knowledge documenting the link between a diet high in animal products, excess fat and low fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and the increased risk for developing several types of coronary diseases. The statistics above clearly show that the risk factors and fundamental causes of heart disease remain unknown to the greater public. 

This can be largely due to the misinformation and conflicting advice seen in various forms of media and the lopsided medical advice given by 'well meaning' doctors who are not nutritionally trained. Collectively, these factors keep the larger majority of the public confused as to what is their best health practice(s). 

The evidence continues to be largely suppressed that this disease is preventable by simply making some positive adjustments to an individuals total diet and lifestyle. Gaining a clear understanding of the risk factors and how these conditions develop will empower you to take the appropriate measures to not only prevent, but reverse heart disease. Consequently avoiding a reliance on medication, premature death and becoming a statistic.

What is Heart Disease?

Heart disease is collection of conditions such as, high blood pressure, stroke, angina pectoris, irregular heartbeat, congestive heart failure and atherosclerosis that all obstruct fluent blood flow to the heart and vessels. 

The primary cause of these conditions is poor diet and lifestyle, resulting in symptoms that indicate to an individual and their health care provider that changes need to made. The consumption of animal foods results in elevated blood fats and cholesterol - two symptoms of CHD. If elevated cholesterol is left unchecked it will result in atherosclerosis and other conditions outlined above.

Our dietary preferences cause atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis occurs when the endothelial cells that make up the soft tissue lining of the arterial walls form lesions (called plaques) begin to thicken and harden. Damage occurs due excess fat and animal protein metabolism. Animal protein and fat metabolism inhibit production of certain elements essential for nitric-oxide production.2 Nitric-oxide is a vasodilator that ensures all arteries and vessels remain soft, supple and elastic. When nitric-oxide production diminishes excess, fats, cholesterol and cellular debris accumulate throughout the damaged arteries, narrowing vessels and obstructing blood flow to the heart - HEART ATTACK. A stroke will occur when blood ceases to flow to the brain.

Cholesterol is a waxy, oily substance manufactured by the body to help build healthy cells, hormones and is used in tissue repair. Our liver naturally produces cholesterol in response to fat consumption of any description (good or bad fats). All plants contain healthy amounts fat that are consistent with our biological needs. From these natural plant fats the liver produces healthy amounts of cholesterol, so there is no need to consume cholesterol found in food. 

Foods such as meat, chicken, fish, dairy products and eggs all contain dietary cholesterol, whereas, plants essentially contain none. When we consume the standard Western diet rich in animal foods and low in fresh whole foods, this adds more cholesterol to our bodies manufactured cholesterol3 and as a consequence this elevates our total blood cholesterol. This is the genesis of heat disease.

A double whammy!

With dietary cholesterol comes packed animal protein. Primarily red meat and dairy contain an amino acid called methionine. When metabolised, methionine forms another toxic amino acid called homocysteine. Homocysteine generates large amounts of free radicals that are highly reactive broken up oxygen particles. Free radicals or radical oxygen species (ROS) attack blood fats, healthy cells and cholesterol.4 Our immune system sees these damaged cholesterols as not normal and in an act of efficiency, while dealing with the heavy work load (a continual stream of fat and cholesterol), our immune system will pack the damaged cholesterol into the artery walls for safe keeping until our defenses can take them to the liver for disposal. Due to the heavy and continual work load (poor eating) this never happens and CHD continues to progress. 

What are your numbers?

The CSIRO recommend that Australians maintain total cholesterol between 5.5 and 6.5. However, are these numbers really ideal and will they ensure your future protection? 

Research conducted on Asian populations where CHD is nonexistent and who derive their calories from plant based nutrition maintain cholesterol levels between 2.3 and 3.8.5 Other heart healthy cultures who also consume plant based diets such as the Tarahumara Indians of northern Mexico,6 the Papua highlanders of New Guinea,7 and the inhabitants of rural China5 and central Africa8 all seem to avoid this disease that remains the number one cause of death in our society. Researchers of the famous Framingham study found that no one who maintained total cholesterol below 3.8 ever suffered a coronary event.9,10

It seems to be the case of what is considered to be low cholesterol here, is actually our neighbours highs! Have our government agencies and those responsible for setting the guidelines to protect us really done their homework? 

For those individuals interested in disease proofing your diet, take note. Following are comments from Dr. Neal Barnard president and founder of the non-profit organisation Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.........

“Cholesterol-containing foods should be avoided completely. An international conference of leading heart researchers, including Michael DeBakey, M.D., Dean Ornish, M.D., and many others concluded that “the optimal intake of cholesterol in the adult diet is probably zero,”11 reiterating the same conclusion reached by Harvard researchers.12 A diet containing red meat, as well as any chicken, turkey, fish, beef, eggs, or dairy products at all, is not a zero-cholesterol diet.

Cholesterol is a troublemaker. First, it adds to your own cholesterol, which raises the level of cholesterol in your blood.3 Everyone is different, but generally, every 100 milligrams of cholesterol in your daily diet adds about 5 points to your total cholesterol level. What does this look like on your plate? A four-ounce serving of beef or chicken, with or without the skin, contains about 100 milligrams of cholesterol.  

Even the leanest chicken cuts have cholesterol, because it lurks in the muscle tissue. Overall, chicken contains only slightly less fat than beef does-23 percent opposed to 29 percent fat. And much of it is artery-clogging saturated fat, the worst type.”

In sight of the research - you have to wonder how much influence certain industries have on the organisations who set the guidelines designed to protect us.

Did you know that heart disease is reversible?

Another leading expert is Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD who has published groundbreaking research demonstrating the power of a low fat plant based diet to not only stop, but reverse CHD in patients with advanced stages of this disease.13,14 Harvard professor Dr. Dean Ornish MD has also published research consistent with Esselstyn’s.15 Both of these studies showed that even after severe degeneration, arteries that were so clogged they collapsed, reopened after dietary cholesterol and food fats were removed. There is no other nutritional program, drug or pharmaceutical that can do that!

Many organisation recommend as much as 30% of total calories come from dietary fats and this is way to high and not consistent with heart healthy populations16 or the scientific literature.17,18 A well structured plant based diet will provide around 10-15% of calories from healthy fats and this amount of total fat is consistent with recommendations set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) who prefers fat consumption to not exceed no more than 10-15% of total calories.19

How are you measuring your health?

                "If you want to know what your health is worth, just ask someone who has lost it"

Are you healthy because you are not overweight? Because you don’t smoke or drink? Or, because your family history is favorable and you exercise? Many people use direct measures to evaluate their health such as body weight and the fact that they are not physically sick can lead to many common notions such as, “I exercise regularly and I feel great, my diet is working for me.” 

A large majority of “healthy-weight people” are convinced that they have the luxury of making some, but not all changes to their diet because they look and appear to be ‘fine.’ They fail to understand the silent, subtle and sub-chronic nature of degenerative disease that may leave an individual 'asymtomatic' for sometime before disease is detectable. At this point it can be quit serious requiring medical attention, or in many cases it can be fatal. As, is the case with CHD.

For example, we do not have nerve endings inside our arterial walls and vessels to indicate damage to our endothelial cells or that fatty plaques are building. Therefore, the first sign of CHD in many situations is the heart attack itself. In fact, The National Health Survey released in 2001 reported 48,700 coronary disease events and at least half (46%) of these were fatal, 86% of these coronary deaths occurred outside of hospital.20 MEANING: for half of us there is no second chance.

Exercise does not offset the effects of cholesterol and animal protein

“It is really easy to get sick people to make the changes they need to make - they don't want to be sick and in some cases, their lives depend on changing their diets. It is unfortunately much harder to get people who don't yet have detectable health problems to do so because they don't perceive any imminent threat.

Exercise does not burn off dietary fat, cholesterol and the effects of animal protein. For example, Alberto Salazar, an Olympic marathon runner, had a heart attack. While he remained lean and was running close to 100 miles per week, his right coronary artery became 80% blocked.

According to an article in Runners' World Magazine, while still an elite athlete and coaching elite runners, Salazar developed high blood pressure and took medication, his cholesterol rose and he took cholesterol-lowering medication. He weighed 158 pounds (71.6kg) and his body fat was 4.9%. Two months before his heart attack, Salazar reports that he had a complete physical. I'm fairly certain that Salazar felt that he was fine too, until his habits caught up with him and almost resulted in his death.”21 Dr. Pam Popper PhD ND

The Bogalusa heart study has clearly shown that the genesis of atherosclerosis begins in childhood, and prevention can and must begin at the early ages.22 Autopsies conducted on young service men supports the fact that this disease is well and truly on track and causing trouble in young adults.23,24

Summing up

Coronary heart disease is silent killer that need not exist. The evidence is comprehensive and clear, those who consume low fat vegetable based diets, that consist of lots fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes and minimally refined whole grains (with little or no animals foods) have virtually no degenerative diseases. In contrast, those who eat the most meat, chicken, dairy and eggs have the most heart disease, cancers and many other diseases of affluence.25

It is important to understand that the inclusion of only one healthy habit will not result in ideal health outcomes alone. Only when the totality of the diet and lifestyle are improved with a diet centred on a plant based nutrition, filtered water, adequate sleep, a plan to manage stress and the inclusion of a moderate exercise plan, will the synergy of these behaviors result in optimal health.  

"Dietary change that results in improved health outcomes works just like a combination lock - if it takes four numbers to open the lock and you only dial three numbers, you do not get 75% of the results - you get nothing. You must get all four numbers right, and in the right order, to get results. And so it is with diet." Dr. Pam Popper

 Watch the CNN special "The Last Heart Attack" 

Recommended reading:

1. Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, Dr. Esselstyne CB, MD
2. The Spectrum, Dr. Dean Ornish MD 
3. The China Study, Dr. T. Colin Campbell PhD

References:
1. 2011, data and statistics http://www.heartfoundation.org.au
2. Esselstyn CB Jr. MD,  Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, Avery-published by the Penguin Group 2008. Page 42
3. Lichtenstein AH, Ausman LM, Carrasco W, Jenner JL, Ordovas JM, Schaefer EJ. Hypercholesterolemic effect of dietary cholesterol in diets enriched in polyunsaturated and saturated fat. Dietary cholesterol, fat saturation, and plasma lipids. Arterioscler Thromb. 1994;14(1):168-175.
4. Troen AM.  The atherogenic effect of excess methionine intake. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Dec 9; 100(25): 15089-94.
5. Campbell TC, Parpia B, Chen J. Diet, lifestyle, and the etiology of coronary artery disease: The Cornell China Study. Am J Card 1998;82(10B):18T-21T.
6. Connor WE, Cerqueira MT, Connor RW, et al. The plasma lipids, lipoproteins, and diet of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. Am J Clin Nutr 1978;31:1131-42. 7. Sinnett PF, Whyte HM. Epidemiological studies in a total highland population, Tukisenta, New Guinea. Cardiovascular disease and relevant clinical, electrocardiographic, radiological and biochemical findings. J Chron Diseases 1973; 26:265.
8. Miller K. Lipid values in Kalahari Bushman. Arch Intern Med 1968; 121:414.
9. Castelli WP. Doyle JT, Gordon T, Hames CG, Hjortland MC, Hulley SB, Kagan A, Zukel WJ. HDLcholesterol and other lipids in coronary heart disease: the Cooperative Lipoprotein Phenotyping Study. Circulation 1977;55:767-772.
10. Castelli W. Take this letter to your doctor. Prevention 1966;48:61-64. 
11. Moncada S, Martin JF, Higgs A. Symposium on regression of atherosclerosis. Eur J Clin Invest. 1993;23(7):385-398.
12. Willett W, Sacks FM. Chewing the fat—how much and what kind? New Engl J Med. 1991;324(2):121-123.
13. Esselstyn CB Jr, Ellis SG, Medendorp SV, Crowe TD. A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease: a 5-year longitudinal study of a single physician's practice. J Fam Prac 1995;41:560-568.
14. Esselstyn CB Jr. Updating a 12-year experience with arrest and reversal therapy for coronary heart disease (An overdue requiem for palliative cardiology). Am J Card 1999;84:339-341. 
15. Ornish D, Brown SE, Scherwitz LW, et al. Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? Lancet. 1990;336:129-33.
16. Campbell TC, Parpia B, Chen J. Diet, lifestyle, and the etiology of coronary artery disease: The Cornell China Study. Am J Card 1998;82(10B):18T-21T.
17. Chen, J., Campbell, T. C., Li, 3. and Peto, R. 1990. Diet, life-style and mortality in China. A study of the characteristics of 65 Chinese counties. Oxford, UK; Ithaca, NY; Beijing, PRC: Oxford University Press; Cornell University Press; People’s Medical Publishing House.
18. Campbell, T. C., Campbell, T. M., II. 2005. The China Study, Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-Term Health. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, Inc.
19. WHO study group in diet, nutrition, and prevention of non-communicable diseases. Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases: report of a WHO study group. WHO Technical Report Series 1990:797.
20. 2011, data and statistics http://www.heartfoundation.org.au
21. http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--12095-6-1X2X3X4X5-6,00.html
22. Berenson G, Srinivasan S, Bau W, Newman WP, Tracy RE, Wattingney WA. Association between multiple cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis in children and young adults. N Engl J Med 1998;338:1650-1656.
23. Enos WF, Holmes RH, Beyer J. Coronary disease among United States soldiers killed in action in Korea. JAMA 1953;152:1090-1093.
24. McNamara JJ, Molot MA, Stremple JF, Cutting RT. Coronary artery disease in combat casualties in Vietnam. JAMA 1971;216:1185-1187.
25. Chen, J., Campbell, T. C., Li, 3. and Peto, R. 1990. Diet, life-style and mortality in China. A study of the characteristics of 65 Chinese counties. Oxford, UK; Ithaca, NY; Beijing, PRC: Oxford University Press; Cornell University Press; People’s Medical Publishing House.