Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure
by Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr.
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Book Summary Information
Author: Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr.Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-01-31
ISBN: 1583333002
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Avery Trade
Book Reviews of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure
Book Review: Tried it for 6 months--triglycerides and blood pressure still high.
Summary: 4 Stars
[Later: Since reading Esselstyn's book, I've read Campbell's book, "The China Study," in which EsseIstyn is prominently mentioned as a pioneer in studies linking heart disease and nutrition, especially the importance of a plant-based diet. "The China Study" I found to be practically an essential prerequisite to Esselstyn's which, in confronting the layman with the "essentials," summarizes and reduces its findings to a few (too few) main points, devoting the rest of the book to recipes. I had to read several books about heart disease before finding one that, in addition to cholesterol and lipid panels, makes clear to the reader the role of triglycerides and sugar counts. Just as Dr. Ignarro focuses on a pet preoccupation, with cute phrases ("Say yes to N.O."--the latter standing for Nitric Oxide), Esselstyn tends to fixate on the number 150 as the dividing point between those who get heart disease and those who don't. But after trying his recommendations (pure vegan, no oils) and still finding the number 150 elusive plus elevated triglycerides and blood pressure both in the high-risk zone, I wish I had received more extended information about some of the problematic agents and causative factors that do not receive adequate attention in "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease." You can't go wrong with the book, which is easily recommended (especially over all of the "pill-pusher" books); but for anyone who is suddenly confronted with a widely shared problem in our society--CVD (heart disease)--it would be a good idea to include "China Study," Ornish, and some other books that look at factors other than fats and the number 150 (the highest permissible, or "safe," cholesterol number).]
It's amazing how things you once thought were unpalatable taste so much better after a bad stress test. Nor is it any less remarkable that the things you once thought you couldn't live without suddenly become expendable after a distressing cardiogram. Apparently it's a phenomenon that has been experienced by no small number of Americans, and it's one, moreover, that practically assures that a new book of the hour, promising healthier and more whole hearts, will perennially occupy the best-seller list. If you haven't had a stent installed during a not uncommon procedure called a "heart cath," you might do best to read Esselstyne's book (or see his article on the "Failure of Cardiology" on his website) before the procedure, so that you'll know that you have the option to refuse the stent as well as to learn the reason it might be in your interest to do so. (I wonder how many patients receive the new "chemically-treated stents" without being told about it before hand and without being informed, and in no uncertain terms, of the implications re: a medicinal protocol that in itself is not without complications, expense, and potential added grief. In sum, it's a procedure that, while in the interests of Boston Scientific, Bristol Meyers, and the marquee performers of the surgical theater, may not be a winning performance from the perspective of the passive prop.)
Esselstyn's book is currently one of the 2-3 most popular books on the subject, but its popularity should not necessarily be equated with its scientific-therapeutic value. It's a book and a program that are compatible with Dean Ornish's long-favored "Reversing Heart Disease," except that it's simplified, less philosophic, less complete. Ornish qualifies many of his findings and statements, whereas Esselstyn issues pronouncements about his research and its implications in no uncertain terms--and in language the average lay reader is no doubt apt to be most receptive to. In fact, at times a reader could be forgiven for questioning the sincerity behind the author's claims of heroic efforts and life-saving results on behalf of his desperate and despairing patients. Ornish presents his share of anecdotal material but is more careful to distinguish it from research findings based on large and credible samplings--and he's not as prone to playing games with the reader (see below).
All the same, Ornish/Esseltyn take an approach that's less radical, more realistic and practical than some of its present competitors. Do you really want to start popping--say, 10 grams of D-Ribose (Sinatra) or 4 grams of L-Arginine (Ignarro)--when even the included directions warn that the product is intended only for healthy athletes and in quantities that are a small fraction of the amount recommended by these other books? Esselstyne, on the other hand, approaches the problem of heart disease strictly from the angle of food and diet. His prescriptions are plain and plain-spoken: no meat, no milk. Ornish peppers his considerably more comprehensive book and approach with quotations from thinkers from all periods of history and all disciplines. And while he's no less insistent than Esselstyn on the importance of diet, he places equal emphasis on exercise, meditation (or other stress-reducing practices), and socialization--going so far as to suggest that loneliness and isolation can contribute as much to heart disease as a diet high in saturated fats and cholesterol!
Esseltyn not only attributes all heart disease to diet but "bullet proofs" his cure. in the event he's not 100% right: he fixes it so the reader can't be either. There's no question but that reading this book will make you a compulsive ingredient-inspector, all too conscious of the difference between a pizza that says "50% of the daily saturated fat requirement" vs. one that says "20% of the daily saturated fat requirement." But as is so often the case with the extremists, Dr. Esseltyn insists that, at least where saturated fat is concerned, "just a little bit" is simply way too much. For some unscientific reason, the careless imbibing of the least bit of the objectionable stuff will produce an internal explosion capable of sabotaging the cure. There's virtually no way the cure can fail: there's every way the patient can. Perhaps most disturbing of all is the author's prohibition of fish oil supplements as a source of Omega 3 (and I had been naive enough to believe it was important to find the "best," most concentrated fish oil). If you follow Esseltyn's recommendations, may as well throw out all your oils and capsules, or save them for your car and lawnmower. And don't feel the least bit proud of yourself for ordering the fish sandwich instead of the hamburger--in fact, don't even give yourself a gold star for ordering the fish sandwich and scraping off all the breading before eating it. You've sinned, and there could be a price to pay.
Finally, after his recommendations and prohibitions, the do's and don'ts, and the assurances about immediate, "breathtaking" results, the author puts in a big plug for statin drugs, suggesting that the rapid improvement will be an extra motivator to most with heart disease, especially those who can't afford to waste any time. So what's the reward of following the author's strict vegan diet, which suddenly has lost some of its luster as a miraculous cure, or disease-reverser? He refers to some study that showed that those who went on statins and lowered their cholesterol still suffered a 25% rate of heart disease, whereas those who combined statins with a strict plant-based diet were virtually immune to heart disease of any kind. Enough motivation to choke down all of that oat meal? Each reader will have to make that call.
With a regimen this strict, you might appreciate, and certainly would have a right to expect, substantial scientific data. To this reader, that is not the case, but readers will have to decide whether Dr. Esseltyn's cited case studies, examples and anecdotes are sufficiently compelling to "go all the way" i.e. no ingestion of the least hint of even "negligible" fats from non-plant sources. The foregoing is not to suggest that Ornish downplays the importance of diet: he simply takes a more balanced, intellectually persuasive, and holistic view. I started with Ornish's book and found Esseltyn's somewhat anticlimactic, repetitious and reductive. Esselstyn quotes and follows quite literally an Eastern scientist who states that the West looks to drugs for a cure; the East, to food. Both books are easily recommended, and certainly "safer" than the radical pill-pushing publications, but in this case the newer book might best be read first. Either that, or limit your reading to Ornish's groundbreaking, still cutting-edge volume.
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Summary of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure
A powerful call for a paradigm shift in heart disease therapy.Based on the groundbreaking results of a twenty-year nutritional study by Dr. Esselstyn, a preeminent researcher and clinician, this book illustrates that a plant-based, oil-free diet can not only prevent and stop the progression of heart disease but can also reverse its effects.
The proof lies in the incredible outcomes for patients who have followed Dr. Esselstyn's program, including a number of patients in his original study who had been told by their cardiologists that they had less than a year to live. Within months of starting the program, Dr. Esselstyn's patients began to improve dramatically, and twenty years later, they remain free of symptoms.
Complete with more than 150 delicious recipes, this book explains the science behind the simple plan that has drastically changed the lives of Dr. Esselstyn's patients forever. It will empower readers to take control of their heart health.
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