Heart disease
“Dr. Esselstyn is a surgeon, but as he will tell you, he would rather not have to operate on people at all, he’d rather get to the cause of the disease,” says Dr. Neal Barnard.
Dr. Esselstyn decided to look at the potential of a plant-based diet to reverse coronary artery disease [CAD]. Dr. Neal Barnard says: “Dr. Esselstyn brought in people who had heart disease, who were at risk of death, who were on a list of medications as long as your arm. He said ‘let’s go to the cause’ – the cholesterol, the animal fat that’s in meat, dairy products and fish. He threw those off the plate completely. This was a completely vegan diet.”
Cholesterol improved, blood pressure fell, and the patients lost weight as they enjoyed saturated fat-free healthy vegan foods. Dr. Barnard adds: “The arteries were starting to open up again, their chest pain melted away…Dr. Esselstyn proved that when people adhere to this diet, they become just about bulletproof.”
