Recherches Health

A whole foods, plant-based diet is the heart-healthiest diet

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world, even though three-quarters of the humans on this planet have no heart disease. Women’s death rate from heart disease is eight times higher than their death rate from breast cancer. The incidence rate (not death rate) for heart disease is about the same as it was in the early 1970s. According to USDA figures, we consume significantly more meat and added fat than we did 30 years ago. Dr. T. Colin Campbell concludes:“The American public is not being given the most up-to-date scientific information. Health institutions in America such as the American Heart Association are intentionally misleading the pubic about heart disease by recommending a diet for heart disease that favors moderation rather than scientific truth. The layperson must be aware that a whole foods, plant-based diet is far and away the healthiest diet, whether scientists, doctors and policy makers think the public will change or not.”

Heart Disease Proved to Be Both Preventable and Reversible

A whole foods, plant-based diet is ultimately more effective and far cheaper than medical intervention because it reduces coronary risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure and weight. Beyond prevention, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Jr. and then Dr. Dean Ornish proved that heart disease is reversible with a very low-fat, plant-based diet. Dr. William Castelli, director of the Framingham Heart Study, the nation’s oldest and largest cardiovascular research project, also participated in research on vegetarian and macrobiotic people at Harvard Medical School. He noted they have healthier hearts and circulatory systems than conditioned athletes.

Sources: American Journal of Cardiology; The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., 2005; William Castelli, “Summary of Lessons from the Framingham Heart Study,” Sept. 1983