Prevent And Reverse Heart Disease

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States for men and women. But, as Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., a former internationally known surgeon, researcher and clinician at the Cleveland Clinic, explains in this book it can be prevented, reversed, and even abolished. Dr. Esselstyn argues that conventional cardiology has failed patients by developing treatments that focus only on the symptoms of heart disease, not the cause.

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

Ann and Jane introduce readers to the wonders of kale, and other hearty and delicious greens, sweet potatoes, artichokes, beets, parsnips, broccoli, cucumbers, asparagus, cannellini beans, lentils and so much more. With recipes like Lemon and Kale Open Face Sandwiches, Caramelized Onion Hummus, Triple-Decker Lasagna and Five-Star Rice and Beans, eliminating heart disease has never been so delicious.

There are many things you can do to prevent heart disease. Often, you can prevent heart disease naturally through lifestyle changes. In some cases, your healthcare provider may recommend medications or other treatments, too.

Twelve patients in our initial group had a follow-up angiogram. There was significant disease reversal in four of them, which suggests that WFPBN could not only eliminate future cardiac events but could also reverse angiographic disease. Even if significant angiographic reversal does not occur, patients can still benefit from more subtle improvements in the overall health of their endothelial cells and their capacity to produce nitric oxide, eliminating angina and future CVD events.[12] Additionally, the robust antioxidant value of WFPBN diminishes oxidative inflammation in plaques and foam cells, thus strengthening the cap over the plaques (Figure 1).

In 1990, Ornish, et al.,[15],[16] utilized a low-fat vegetarian diet without added oil and stress management instruction to arrest CAD and reverse angiographic disease, which was confirmed in subsequent publications. Earlier, in 1951, Strom and Jensen reported a profound decrease in circulatory diseases in Norway during WWII when the Germans confiscated the country's livestock, forcing the Norwegians to subsist mostly on plant food.[17] Results from both the On-Target Transcend trial investigators,[18] and the Epic Oxford Study[19] with more than 75,000 participants support the power of nutrition for primary and secondary CVD prevention.

In the early 1970s, Finland (and especially its eastern province of Karelia) was the heart disease capital of the world. Health authorities and local officials there became intent on educating the public on how to reduce cholesterol, blood pressure, and intake of animal foods and stop smoking. This group reduced their intake of dietary saturated fat, increased vegetable consumption, and decreased their smoking rate from 52% to 31%. During the next 30 years, Karelia's CAD disease rate plummeted by 85%. For Finland as a whole, CAD decreased by 80%.[20]

Complete with more than 150 delicious recipes perfect for a plant-based diet, the national bestseller Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease explains the science behind the simple plan that has drastically changed the lives of heart disease patients forever. It will empower readers and give them the tools to take control of their heart health.

"Interestingly, this heart failure can be prevented or even reversed by providing a high-fat, low carbohydrate "ketogenic" diet," McCommis said. "A 24-hour fast in mice, which is also "ketogenic" also provided significant improvement in heart remodeling."

"Our study reveals a critical role for mitochondrial pyruvate utilization in cardiac function, and highlights the potential of dietary interventions to enhance cardiac fat metabolism to prevent or reverse cardiac dysfunction and remodeling in the setting of MPC-deficiency," McCommis said. Ongoing studies will seek to uncover the importance of ketone body versus fate metabolism in this process of improved cardiac remodeling.

The trickiest situation is when someone has both insulin and leptin resistance and a genetic issue. A low-carb diet will usually drive up LDL-P in that situation, but it will improve many other markers that are also risk factors for heart disease, including triglycerides, HDL, fasting insulin, fasting glucose, etc. So I will usually recommend a low-carb diet for these patients, and if their LDL-P goes up, try to use natural therapies to bring it down.

Exercise has been shown to reduce LDL particle concentration even independently of diet. (1) Regular exercise prevents the development and progression of atherosclerosis, improves lipids, and reduces vascular symptoms in patients that already have heart disease. The benefits of exercise are related to maintenance of body weight or weight loss, blood pressure control, return of insulin sensitivity, and beneficial changes in lipids, all of which in turn promote endothelial stabilization and vascular health.

Monounsaturated fats have been shown to reduce LDL and triglycerides and increase HDL. They also decrease oxidized LDL, reduce oxidation and inflammation in general, lower blood pressure, decrease thrombosis, and they may reduce the incidence of heart disease. (7) The best sources of monounsaturated fat are olives, olive oil, macadamia nuts, and avocados.

In the NHANES study, subjects followed for more than 19 years with the highest quartile of dietary soluble fiber intake had a 15% lower risk of heart disease and had a 10% lower risk of cardiovascular events. (11) Soluble fiber binds bile acids or cholesterol; upregulates LDL receptors in the liver; increases clearance of LDL; inhibits fatty acid synthesis by producing short-chain fatty acids like acetate, butyrate, and propionate; improves insulin sensitivity; and increases satiety with lower overall energy intake. (12)

We provide sources to our claims and periodically update our content as new research develops. Our mission is to help practitioners, health coaches, and health enthusiasts get the information they need to prevent and reverse chronic disease. If you wish to find out more about our editorial process and how we create content please enter here.

Pioneering studies by Dean Ornish, MD, Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., MD, and others have shown that a low-fat, plant-based diet, combined with regular exercise and a healthy overall lifestyle, can prevent, delay, and even reverse heart disease and other cardiovascular events.

Plant-based diets benefit heart health because they contain no dietary cholesterol, very little saturated fat, and abundant fiber. Meat, cheese, and eggs, on the other hand, are packed with cholesterol and saturated fat, which cause plaque buildup in the arteries, eventually leading to heart disease.

Food That Heals We discovered that changing your to a whole food plant-based diet can dramatically improve your heart and artery health and in many cases reverse years of damage.

"My sister recommended that I try eating a whole food plant-based diet. She already had our mother eating this way and we were all shocked that it had reversed her heart disease, surprising her cardiologist. I thought I should at least give it a try.

"In 2012, despite all my hard work, I was diagnosed with heart disease. I was told I was at double the risk for a cardiac event, even though I was otherwise living a healthy lifestyle. My doctor recommended statins but said nothing about other options or potential changes to my diet. Still, my wife and I began to do our own research, and we decided to try a plant-based diet.

Jane is no stranger to plant-based nutrition and disease prevention.She is an author, researcher, mother, wife, registered nurse, teacher, and plant-based recipe creator. Jane and her mother, Ann Crile Esselstyn, co-authored the popular The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook, a companion to the book authored by her father, noted physician Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, author of the NY Times bestseller Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Jane and Ann also host a YouTube channel filled with simple, clear whole food, plant-based recipes.

Methods and results: In vivo, we show that in a mouse model of pressure overload, treating at the time of surgeries with an OPN aptamer prevented cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis, blocked OPN downstream signalling (PI3K and Akt phosphorylation), reduced expression of extracellular matrix (Lum, Col3a1, Fn1) and hypertrophy (Nppa, Nppb) genes, and prevented cardiac dysfunction. Treating at two months post-surgeries with the OPN aptamer reversed cardiac dysfunction and fibrosis and myocyte hypertrophy. While genetic homozygous deletion of OPN reduced myocardial wall thickness, surprisingly cardiac function and myocardial fibrosis, specifically collagen deposition and myofibroblast infiltration, were worse compared with wild type mice at three months of pressure overload.

Conclusion: Taken together, these data demonstrate that tuning down cardiac OPN signalling by an OPN RNA aptamer is a novel and effective approach for preventing cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, improving cardiac function, and reversing pressure overload-induced heart failure.

It's clear that following a plant-based diet is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. But do all plant-based diets have the same effect? And do you really have to cut out all meat for your heart's sake?

There are many types of plant-based diets, but they all emphasize certain foods associated with heart benefits, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and healthy oils like olive oil. The diets that have been most studied for their impact on heart health include the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and the MIND diet. These diets are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals that help lower blood pressure and LDL (bad) cholesterol, reduce the risk of diabetes, and help maintain a healthy weight, all of which can lower your risk of heart disease. 041b061a72