Proper nourishment is important, as we all tend to become a little cranky when hungry, so to keep blood sugar levels from dropping too low we can enjoy a quick and healthy snack when feeling run down. Our diet also has a direct and lasting effect on our ongoing health. In fact, almost all of the risk factors for common cardiovascular-related diseases, other than smoking or lack of exercise, can be prevented or controlled by one simple lifestyle choice – what you eat.
The best diet for lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, and maintaining a healthy weight is a plant-based whole foods diet that includes fresh and cooked vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, nuts, seeds, and several glasses a day of good clean water. It is the only diet that includes no cholesterol and no harmful animal fat.
Watching what you eat (with an emphasis on a plant-based, whole foods diet) can help to improve your overall well-being immensely. Following a heart-healthy diet and exercising regularly has in fact helped many patients around the country remediate many of their health concerns completely, and without pills or surgery.
Hypertension or high blood pressure, as well as stress, can negatively affect your health in many ways – and it can be made worse by what you eat. A single meal containing animal products may double the amount of cortisol, a steroid stress hormone, in the blood – as opposed to cortisol levels actually decreasing after a vegan meal. One should also aim to get more omega-3 fatty acids (called ALA) into the daily diet by consuming items such as flax seed oil supplements, flax meal, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, pecans, edamame, cauliflower, purslane, spinach, brussels sprouts, watercress, and kale.
Did you know that vegans also report less stress and anxiety than omnivores?
Combining the results of a series of clinical trials clearly shows that supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids, in particular the long-chain varieties EPA and DHA from plant sources, also helps reduce the symptoms associated with clinical depression. A study posted by the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health showed that just 1 gram a day of omega-3 fatty acids can reduce commonly experienced anxiety and depression by 50%. In another study, 68 medical students who received 2.5 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids each day for 12 weeks showed less stress and anxiety before an exam than those who were given a placebo for the same duration.
Plant-based foods offer an important benefit – soluble fiber – which is not found in any product made from animals. Soluble fiber slows the absorption of cholesterol and reduces the amount of cholesterol that the liver makes. One can easily increase their fiber intake with oats, beans, barley, okra, eggplant, apples, and many other fruits and vegetables – as they all are great sources of soluble fiber.
There is virtually no cholesterol in plant foods as it is only found in animal products and in their secretions. This includes: cow and pig, fish and crustaceans, all poultry, all animal milks, creams, cheeses, and of course, eggs. Saturated fat also raises cholesterol levels, and this type of fat is predominately found in the consumption of animal products. Saturated fats are also found in a few vegetable products such as palm oil, coconut oil, and some chocolate preparations – yet deemed safe if consumed very minimally. Some commercially baked goods, processed foods, and snack foods contain trans fats which have been found to also stimulate the production of more cholesterol. Read product labels, especially the Nutrition Facts panel to see if it contains saturated fats or trans fats.
Lowering cholesterol levels is imperative for many Americans. LDL or low-density lipoprotein is known as the “bad” cholesterol. It can damage your arteries that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body. Once the arterial damage has started, the LDL continues to penetrate and build up inside of your artery walls causing atherosclerosis to develop.
Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) has been directly linked to the years that you have eaten the Western diet, or the Standard American Diet (SAD). The fatty plaque deposits that narrow and block important arteries and blood vessels begin to accumulate in early childhood. Many conditions that we all have been taught to think “runs in the family”, only seem to be prevalent in families because of traditional foods and lifestyle habits that were learned and passed down for generations. In fact, fatty cholesterol streaks have been found in children as young as 3 years of age.
An article in the Journal of Atherosclerosis Research and the National Institutes of Health states that “Atherosclerosis begins in childhood, with the appearance of aortic fatty streaks” and that by age ten, “100% of children have these visible streaks, which is the first stage of heart disease”.
This means that by the time a child reaches the age of 10 years old, they have already begun forming atherosclerotic plaque – and these plaques will continue to form, resulting in artery disease upon reaching the age of 30 to 40 years old. According to the Coronary Artery Risk Development in (Young) Adults (CARDIA) study, the most optimal way to prevent coronary heart disease is by adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet as soon as solid foods are introduced in infancy.
Dr. Kim A. Williams, a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology who served as its president in 2015 to 2016 and currently remains as a trustee of the organization is also the Chairman of Cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He often sees patients who are overweight and struggling with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. One of the things he advises them to do is to change their diets. Specifically, he tells them to go vegan.
Sadly enough, anyone who has ever eaten the Standard American Diet (SAD) has some form of heart or vascular disease – but may not be aware of it. Symptoms of arterial disease are often not noticed at all until artery and vessel blockages are 70% or greater. There are many diagnostic tools that do not readily detect artery blockage unless the blockage is already significant. Narrowed arteries mean that the flow of blood through the artery is reduced or even completely blocked. The resulting atherosclerosis can then cause reduced blood supply to the brain or heart – affecting leg circulation and leading to cramping and pain when walking.
Reduced blood flow to the brain begins depriving it of much-needed oxygen – a lack of oxygen and blood can cause damage to the brain in a short period of time. Vascular Dementia, also called Vascular Cognitive Impairment, is the second most common cause of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease.
The Standard American Diet lives up to its acronym, as it sadly causes many preventable diseases and suffering. Scientific evidence has repeatedly proven that adopting a plant-based diet, avoiding most trans fats, minimizing added sugars, and decreasing refined or processed carbohydrates can indeed help to prevent, pause, or even completely reverse many common diseases. In fact, a plant-based diet can also effectively lower cholesterol very nearly as much as a typically prescribed statin drug – but in a safer and more nutritious way.
While foods made from plants possess many anti-inflammatory properties, meat and dairy actually exacerbate inflammation. Putting the body through chronic inflammation fuels the atherosclerosis which causes most heart attacks and strokes. Studies of chronic inflammation show that it can cause or feed serious conditions such as autoimmune disease and cancer.
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., is the world famous and renowned author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Dr. Esselstyn has successfully treated and reversed serious blockages in the coronary arteries of his patients. His groundbreaking results from his 20-year nutritional study “explains, with irrefutable scientific evidence, how we can end the heart disease epidemic in this country forever by changing what we eat.”
Study after study have documented how replacing animal protein with plant proteins works quickly to reduce blood cholesterol levels, decrease inflammation, and lower blood pressure – even when the total amount of fat and saturated fat in the diet remain the same.
“Some people think a plant-based diet, whole foods diet is extreme. Half a million people a year will have their chests opened up and a vein taken from their leg and sewn onto their coronary artery. Some people would call that extreme. — Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
Prevention is always the best medicine, and it is never too late to work towards greater well-being. If you are concerned about your health and want to learn more about making lifestyle changes that can really make a difference, contact us to schedule an appointment. Begin your health and wellness journey with The Journey Medical Program today!