Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure

I actually ordered this after watching Forks Over Knives as a follow up refresher kind of thing. I figure we always have more to learn. Now I will start by saying I think America as a whole would benefit from watching Forks Over Knives. This books goes into detail about Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. and his research and conclusions about today's main killers in America and boy is it a wake up call. If you are like me we grew up being told to always eat that meat and boy was it the main part of the meal. Now somewhere in my mind I always knew I should be eating the vegetables more and the meat less. I knew that meat and oil wasn't all that healthy just by how I felt when I ate it compared to when I ate something healthy like a salad or some other ruffage. What I want to know is why it was never totally clicking that food that made me feel like crap after I ate it probably did the same thing to my organs but big duh to me. I mean we all hear about all of this healthy Vegan like food habits that save lives now but we were blind to it for so long and it is so much easier to order a pizza than cook right? I was the type that made dinner for my family I got rid of most of the red meat when my dad had his first heart attack but I always thought fish and chicken were healthy for us. Now don't get me wrong I do believe fish has its place even now but I am able to see where I was wrong and that was the whole mindset that the veggies were a SIDE. I have rethought all of this since watching Forks Over Knives as I said that was the real wake up call for me and this was like follow up homework. Now I thought this book was easy to read he has a good personality and is not condescending in the least but if you are like me and have health paranoia at all this may not be for you. I say that only because it does go into a lot of detail about heart attacks and symptoms. I admit I am a hypochondriac. And no I am not just exaggerating, I am not ashamed I am beating such an awful disease. But as a fair warning to those out there like me this may go too into detail and cause some what of a scare. I was glued to the pages none the less and finished the whole book and am o.k. now that I really sorted it out in my head but just wanted to put that in there. Now I have made the lifestyle change personally and so far have lost 11 lbs and 5 inches on my waist. I read a couple other supportive books as well. This one has great recipes in it and there is a common sense education on cooking etc in it that I find to be awesome and ever so helpful for someone like me that is learning a whole new way to cook. I thought I knew how to read a label but sadly no I didn't. So if you want to enrich the health of yourself and family this is a great read and it does go into detail on the studies and science, there is no doubt in my mind that this just makes sense. This book also shows you how to do it and believe me you will feel and see the difference. I am even more emotionally stable since starting the Forks Over Knives Diet. It helps in all areas of your life and if you think it costs too much to eat healthy think again what is the cost of not??? How much does a heart attack cost you and I do not mean in money so think it over how much does a good steak honestly cost you? Then if you say a cheeseburger at oh McDonald's is cheap so I cannot afford to switch to veggies. Well if you live off of McDonald's you cannot afford to not switch unless you like committing slow suicide. Sorry if this is blunt but America we need to wake up! I know that if you are reading this review you get what I am saying anyhow so do yourself a favor and just go for it get the book and make that change. You wont regret it and this is not coming from someone that loves to choke down salad trust me it was a shock for me but if I can do it why cant you?

I am a complete science dork. My favorite course in undergrad (just last year!) was biochemistry where we learned about how food is broken down and used up in our bodies, to put it very simply. Anyway, I actually became no-added-fat vegetarian on the weekdays while in undergrad just because it made sense due to the basic science principles. I didn't need to read studies to figure that one out...which is comforting because it makes the claims by this book easily understood and accepted. Anyway, I read several books before this one that recounted research from the 1970's and earlier that all suggested the same dietary approach for several significant reasons. The thing is, I was still eating my pizza, ice creams, etc Friday - Sunday. I eventually came across this book which has transformed me completely. The book is written so well--very easy and entertaining read. Somthing I could not put down the 1st time and then read for a second time. The information is well explained for non-science geeks without being too elementary for us science folk. Whats especially nice is that the recipes are amazing and that there are many other recipe books out there for further support. I use the recipes in here on a daily basis (please try the black bean & corn salad...way more yummy than you would assume by just reading the ingredients!) and I retire to the Almost No-fat books by Bryanna Clark Grogan. Look her up--O-M-G. Good tasting comforting food...great holiday food too. Anyway, it's just nice that changing your entire dietary approach is not as hard as it may seem due to all the great CHEAP resources available out there. Please do not read the rules of the book and think its too complicated. Please give it a good honest try. For me, trying out some nonfat vegan junk food helped. I still eat it very sparingly due to habit, but it helped me out mentally to know that I could have anything I wanted with the promise of a fruitful future. Best of luck. Read the book--it's fun, enlightening and it challenges you to become the best person you can be for yourself. If you have high self worth and self respect, the first step to prevention or reverese should come easy. If you love to cook and enjoy experimentation in the kitchen like I do, then you're going to have a ball--just make sure to buy some recipe books out there because learning how to do many of these things out of theblue is a bit frustrating otherwise and the most important thing here is our compliance to the diet rather than our pride. You learn many new techniques and learn a lot about the vast array of foods around you that you may have not appreciated nearly as much. =) UPDATE: I am now writing as a medical student. I still stand by this book--it is a phenominal resource for all those lookingto avoid the many heart wrenching diseases that slowly torture it's victims. I don't mean to sound so artsy in that sentance but what I forgot to mention before in writing this review is that I spent 6 months as an intern for the social security disability service in my area where I spoke to hundreds of people who were seeing their last days of life approaching within a 12 month span....the majority of these disability benefit seekers were suffering from cardiac disease and it was so sad to know that they couldn't even walk to the mail box, play with their kids/grandkids or have intercourse with their partner--all of these "exertional" activities would be far too overwhelming for their frail hearts to handle. One man was in his later 40's without any symptoms of heart disease who, thanks to some routine medical care, found out that he had less than 8 months to live. He was to be wed that year. He was also not the first in his condition. I even had a marathon runner apply for the same reasons. Remember 2 things: 1. Heart attack / death may be your very first symptom that anything is wrong. 2. A good BMI does not mean "healthy." I've been super thin my whole life--always maintained a slim figure with pizza, hamburgers and ice cream. While I only ate each of these items "on occasion" I now realize, in retrospect, that I ate these things (considering you consolodate all the junk food into 1 general category) preettttyyyy frequently. Anyway, just some food for thought. You are what you eat....just beacuse you look one way on the outside doesn't mean everything. ALSO....my great grandmother lived to be 101 with PHENOMINAL health and died of a freak non-health-related accident. Mind you, her daughter has diabetes and is struggling with her health. Some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren are also in pretty bad health conditions. So don't do yourself the diservice of comparing your super healthy grandparent to the rest of society and brushing off health concerns as a concern merely for the masses and not for you or else you might end up in a very poor place. I'm just really happy to have been exposed to the things that I've seen and heard while working with the disability service. It SCARED me. I cried for the people over the phone and was motivated to never be in their shoes. If you're in the same boat, I urge you to read this book for enjoyment, education and for learning proactive measures to better your health. =)

Loved the book! Gives you great insights and understanding about heart diseases and how to prevent them with your diet. It is crazy that more people aren't talking about it! There are some great recipes at the end if the book as well.

The research results of Dr. Esselstyn and others who have investigated very low fat/high wholesome carb diets to prevent and even partially reverse cardiovascular disease(CAD) are of great interest to everyone who has an inkling of interest in their long term health. His ambition to educate the public how to prevent CVD and to fight all those entrenched special interest groups that depend on maintaining the status quo in menus and medical involvement in treating and preventing CVD is commendable. At 67y.o.,I have decided to adopt a slightly modified version of Dr. Esselstyn's diet for a trial: no animal-based products, and a veggie oil content of about 10% of calories, emphasizing adequate omega 3-fatty acids. I have not undergone extensive testing for CVD, but flunked my recent stress test and my GP saw a new suspecious blip on my ECG. I've always strongly favored veggies on my menu, but included much nuts and some animal foods. Thus, it wasn't a big deal to cut out the offending foods and drinks. Over the past 5 months, I've lost 30 lbs(15% of my weight) without trying to loose any, never hungry, although I eat lots and frequently. I'm back down to almost my ideal weight chart weight. So far, my moderately elevated systolic BP hasn't budged. The biggest problem has been social, avoiding eating and drinking what people want to give me, and being very picky at resturants. Fortunately, with my lifestyle, these occasions are relatively few. I don't mind eating pretty much the same menu day after day. It's not expensive and is simple to fix. I don't have to hunt for expensive fake ice cream and burgers, no sodium or fat breads, crackers, chips and cookies, etc. I no long have any craving for these. The book spends far too much space on recipes, which I can largely think up myself, and too little space on some of the important basics. For example, some people want to know if this high carb diet is compatable with diabetics. From what I have read elsewhere regarding other low fat/high carb diets, the answer is yes, as long as you include a good amount of fiber with the higher glycemmic index items. In fact, you are likely to soon be able to eliminate or much reduce your diabetes medicines! The initial weight loss you will probably experience is part of the diabetes cure. As pointed out in 'The China Study',it's high animal protein/fat/sugar menus, not high wholesome carb diets, that promote diabetes II in the first place! From other review comments, it appears that not quite everyone responds to this diet with markedly lower cholesterol, triglyceride and BP readings. You may have to fiddle with the details to make it work best for you. Diet alone isn't likely to completely solve the problem of stress and depression-induced heart attacks. Also, in contrast to most other health advocates, Dr. Esselstyne thinks regular exercise is nice, but not essential for success. I have made a few alterations in diet details. I believe Dr. Esselstyne undervalues the importance of adequate salt. He recommends adding no salt to foods, yet somehow says we should get 2000mg/day. Well, none of my foodstuffs have significant salt. My ketchup and mustard doesn't supply even half that sodium. So, most days I add a smallish half teaspoon of salt to one of my dishes, so I don't get weak from salt deficiency. I do a physical job, and often sweat a lot. Dr. Esselstyn puts his emphasis on achieving a good blood lipids profile. He does mention, but does not emphasize, that his diet should soon correct systemic inflammation, which may be more important. He also says nothing about the effect of his diet on artery calcification, which is recognized by some as the best predictor of heart attacks. You may get enough Vit. K2 by eating lots of greens. I don't, so I have begun taking a Vt.K1/2 gel to help prevent more artery calcification and maybe even reverse it. Also, I take a Vit. D gel or get some sun and get enough calcium and magnesium, but not too much, to help retard artery calcification. Finally, the author does not emphasize the importance of taking adequate antioxiadants to reduce the critical oxidized cholesterol. Instead of flaxseed as my main omega 3-FA source, I chose chia seeds, which have as much, with little omega 6-FAs, but is much more stable, due to included antioxidants. Also, not necessary to grind these tiny soft seeds. Just chew them, or put them in water, and they will soon explode to form a drinkable gel. Instead of one tablespoon, I am taking 2/day, thus getting twice as much omega 3FAs as the author suggests. Also, I take 1 teaspoon/day of cold-pressed walnut or grape seed oil to get some more omega 6-FA and to help absorb my oil-based supplements. Be aware that a surprising 17% of quick oats calories come from oils! Instead of the suggested dilution of cooked oats with apple juice, I mix in cold (no sugar added) applesauce, which has a more miscible consistency, then banana slices, which makes for a very palatable sweetish breakfast. Also, be aware that whole wheat pasta has a significant oil content, when totaling your daily oil allotment. With my emphasis on high protein/carb/fiber foods(beans oats and pasta)to get enough calories to maintain my weight, no doubt, I am getting more protein and fiber than ideal. Increasing my rice and banana content at the expense of thes foods is the way I have somewhat reduced this problem. Adding banana or sweet potato slices to mixes of basic foodstuffs is a way of making them more interesting. Other supplements, besides Vit.K1/2 and antioxidants, that may prove useful include: nattokinase to help dissolve clots, and coenzyme Q10 to strengthen the heart. Be sure to take a strong B12 supplement, as suggested. There are a zillion possible symptoms of its deficiency, including some common symptoms of heart attacks. Also, be aware that ouabain(Strodival),a non-steroidal adrenal hormone, has been used for decades in Germany to prevent fatal heart attacks, with 100% success. The US medical establishment doesn't want you to know about this. Also, a statin treatment, with a high dose of Crestor, has now been found to partially reverse blocked arteries in many, as does this diet, ideally. Of course, you need a prescription and be sure to take adequate Coenzyme Q10 with this alternative, to prevent possible serious side effects.

Before I start, some background on me. I'm a 30 year old male who has been into weightlifting and "fitness" since about 13. I was born and grew up in the south and was raised on some of the unhealthiest foods you can imagine. Think about all of the obesity causing "southern soul food" and you'll get the idea. I ate few vegetables growing up and through college. Since then I've tried to clean up my diet with moderate success, though through the years there has been one staple which has not wavered - meat, dairy, and eggs. In other words, lots of animal protein and animal fat. I was taught these food products were necessary for anyone who wanted to be a successful athlete. I never really worried about the long term ramifications because I was "healthy" (to the eye anyway), I was young, and many other people ate the same way I did and were doing fine. My dad had a mild heart attack 7 years ago at age 56 and to be honest, I want desperately not to follow the same path as him as I age. Issues of diet and how it relates to chronic, debilitating disease are something I carry a lot of interest in. With that context in mind, I went into this book with an open mind, hoping to learn something. Dr Esselstyn outlines in this book his decades of experience in the medical community learning how to treat and prevent heart disease. By using a low fat vegan diet he has successfully arrested and reversed heart disease in every one of the patients which have come to him for help. That one point is worth re-iterating. His success rate has been right at 100% with this diet. People who have been turned away from surgeons because their disease was too severe for mechanical intervention and they had "no hope left" have been successfully treated with these diet protocols. The logical framework he lays out in this book is extremely compelling and the evidence for it's success cannot be ignored by any rational person. After reading "The China Study", and this book, I decided to make some changes in my diet. Given the heavy bias towards animal products in my diet, this would have to be a shift and a transition, not an overnight change, but I am getting there. Four weeks in I have: - Completely eliminated egg yolks from my breakfast (previously I hate between 3-5 whole eggs per day for many years). - Removed about 90% of the dairy from my diet. I still use a small amount of low fat cheese - primary for flavoring. - Completely eliminated red meat and all forms of fatty meat from my diet. All of it. - Reduced my lean meat consumption (primarily chicken breast) by about 70% So after taking all of that stuff out of my diet, what have I replaced it with? Vegetable and whole great products. I try to use high protein grains and lentils to support the dietary needs of my strength training. The results so far have been dramatic. My energy and stamina are way up in the gym. I'm able to workout significantly longer without fatigue. I can run farther, more often, with less fatigue than I used to. I have also noted improved sexual function and speech fluency. I've struggled with a mild speech impediment since I was young and it's been a hindrance in almost every part of my life. I am cautiously optimistic here, but I have noticed a significant improvement (I'd say 60%) in this condition over the past couple weeks. This has been an absolute godsend for me and if the improvement holds I will never (ever) go back to eating the way I used to again. What are the drawbacks? Well I'm concerned about the amount of high quality protein in my diet and how it relates to muscle recovery and strength development. So far I have not noticed any significant reductions in strength or muscle mass, but it's still too early to tell. I am losing a little weight (down from 184 to 180) even though I'm not trying to. I think this is more due to a lack of calories than anything. I'm confident though I'll be able to adjust my diet to compensate in the future as I get better at this. My recommendation to anyone reading this review would be to give the book a read. You have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Even if you don't have heart disease, you can vastly improve your health and longevity with the dietary guidelines promoted by this book.

...Discipline...I went through what you could say is a crisis. I am overweight and a Pre-diabetic (Or as you'll learn in the book if you've been diagnosed with Pre-diabetes then you're already a type 2 Diabetic). I needed a root canal and waited too long and the pain sent my blood pressure through the roof one day. Thought I was having a heart attack. I couldn't have the root canal done because of my hypertension. I had 4 weeks to bring my weight down. I immediately grabbed this book and re-read it. I implemented everything all the while getting on blood pressure pills (Lisinopril) to stay out of trouble. Visited my primary care to check my tooth. ...let me tell you, I was dropping weight that same week. It was hard but given the circumstances there was no room for games. When I went to see my Dentist at the end of the month she was shocked and so happy that I dropped weight and got control of my blood pressure. I had a follow up with my primary care doc and she was blown away. She checked my Sugar levels and my A1C levels had drastically dropped. She asked me how I did it. I told her about this book. She was like "no way I'm from the Carribean I can't cut out meat. But you keep doing it, it's working!" She said it was rare for people to turn around and buckle down but I turned it around within a month. People - this book is a life saver. This even works for the severe folks. In the book you'll find stories of people who doctors gave up on, arteries totally done. But the body is amazing how it heals, even from almost death if you give it healing foods fruits and vegetables. Even people with 100% blockage have managed to clear their artery wall from going plant based (but that was going cold turkey THAT DAY). 100% blockage with no symptoms is a widows maker knocking on your door at any moment and some of you walking around with that. This is the real deal, backed by tried and true science and testimonials to back his work and him exposing the politics behind mainstream medicine and bad medical practice. So many people gone behind mainstream doctors choice of ignorance of not utilizing plant based lifestyle to save people smh. My father would be here today if his doctors did their dodiligence and advised properly. Get the book. And do it now.

Interesting, readable book on preventing and reversing heart disease. The concepts are easy to understand. The recipes are reasonably easy to make, with readily available ingredients.

Today is day 7 of starting this diet. I've lost 7 lbs in those 7 days. Not sure if that rate of weight loss will continue but I'm sure I will continue to lose weight. I don't have any heart disease or heart associated conditions that led me to this book but was attracted by the thought of "PREVENTION" of heart disease. My mother had atrial fibrillation which led to a stroke later and left her paralyzed on one half of her body. The last 7 years of her life were not pleasant. My father died from heart disease but that was caused by living with diabetes since age 17. I became a fish & dairy eating vegetarian 8 years ago which resulted in a weight GAIN of about 30 lbs. Cutting meat out of my diet made me far more dependent on breads, eggs, cheese and other dairy and of course nuts. I didn't consume enough fish to reduce my reliance on those products so that was a big reason for the weight gain. After hearing Dr. Sanjay Gupta (CNN) story on this diet, I decided to give it a try. After all, if Clinton could do it surely I could! I never chowed down on Big Macks like he did. But this diet is NOT easy. But given that I've lost about a pound a day so far - even with a little cheating, I'm going to stick with it. I did have a thin crust pizza about day 4. So not sure if I'll adhere to the diet strictly for an entire month since I don't really need to. But I will continue to keep this as the main part of my diet since the weight is coming off. And I'm glad I learned that Olive oil is NOT heart healthy as I had been led to believe by the "Mediterranean diet". After the first month, I do plan however to continue to eat wild caught Pacific Red Salmon at least once every one or two weeks as I am not convinced that it isn't a healthy source of protein and fish oil. And I do have walnuts with my whole grain cereal in the morning. (He says a little walnuts are OK if you don't have heart disease). But the most exciting thing I have noticed after only 7 days (besides the weight loss), is the reduction in asthma symptoms. I developed asthma about age 7 and suffered with it my entire life, nearly 50 years! I have resisted/refused steroids, relying on over-the-counter rescue inhalers which have now been outlawed, effective 12/31/11. Since starting this diet, my need for the inhaler has gone from one to two puffs per hour to maybe one to puffs per 6 hours!! And this after only 7 days! I may not have to use it at all after a few more weeks or get the prescription medications after all as I had dreaded and expected. From what i have Googled, milk and dairy (& some nuts) can be a cause of asthma and asthma can possibly be cured by cutting out milk and dairy. So dropping the dairy from my diet must be the reason for that improvement. For that reason alone, I am thrilled I discovered this book, even though I will not follow it strictly. I will keep off the dairy and oils however. Will post an update if the asthma goes away completely and when I reach my weight loss goal (60 lbs). So bottom line, this diet is healthy, helpful, but some people may struggle with it. Definitely give it a try if you have asthma! I'm breathing better than I have in years! UPDATE 10/27/2017: I wrote the above in 2011. Unfortunately, I did not stick with the diet because my husband wanted no part of it. So I only stayed with the diet in 2011 for about a month and went back to eating same old diet. I also did not do the diet 100% back then. However, recently he started the diet with me. And we are nearly 100% true to the diet in that we eat NO animal protein (no dairy), use no oil in cooking and really watch what we buy and read ingredients to avoid too much fat/oil. Its so much easier when everyone in the home is eating same diet/dishes. This is our about our 2nd month on this diet this year:. Started again 8/25/2017. My husband's cholesterol was 152 at start of diet (8/25/2017). Today, we just got back his new test results from yesterday (10/26/2017) : Total cholesterol now 116 ! His doctor was amazed! (update on me: I had gained back the weight I had lost in 2011 but now I'm now down 20 Lbs! :) Will have my lipids done again next year sometime. They were already good but will be interesting to see what changed.

Excelente texto para referencias y puntos importantes en la justificación del porqué es necesario llevar una dieta basada en plantas para prevenir la enfermedad coronaria.

A VERY GOOD BOOK JUST READ IT IT WILL CHANCE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR EATING HABITS THEIT ARE SPECIAL PHOTO'S IN THE BOOK

I have been following the advice of the author since Sept 2014. Before I started the programme my readings were BP 155/ 85 , Total Cholesterol 189, Sugar 187(PC); after being in the programme for about 4 months, the readings are BP 140/77 , Total Cholesterol 152, Sugar 120 (PC). When I am free from, meat, oil, egg and milk products , the angina comes down. Still I am on medicine for angina and BP. I stopped statin and clopilet, but my cardiologist advised me to continue with a vitamin and mineral supplement, I am following it. I walk daily for 30 minutes with a mild yoga. It's a wonderful programme. I am waiting for the day when I am free from all my medication. Since I am from South India , I am following the programme suitable to the vegetables available here. Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease is a must read for all the heart patients around the globe. -Cornelius, South India

If you have heart disease, or care for someone who has it, buy this book. Dr. Esselstyn can save your life. Most unfortunately, the good doctor has nothing to say about heart failure except that his diet should be tried. If you have heart failure you need to read The Sinatra Solution: Metabolic Cardiology by Dr. Stephen Sinatra. These two books are life savers. Read and educate yourself.

Ya conocía al Doctor Cadwell Esselstyn, escuchado numerosas conferencias médicas en yotube, por lo que el libro no fue ninguna decepción. Junto al Doctor Ornish, Barnard, Greger, el futuro de la medicina curativa y preventiva con bases científicas e investigaciones clínicas de varias décadas. Todos deberían tener la oportunidad de conocer lo que este médico y los otros mencionados han descubierto en las últimas décadas. Cambiaría drásticamente nuestras costumbres alimenticias y estilo de vida para siempre.