A Healthy Heart

(From the book Fasting and Eating for Health, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who has given me permission to publish short extracts from his books):

Cardiovascular disease is our nation's number one killer. The gradual clogging, hardening, and damage done to the interior walls of our blood vessels are the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes. This process of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, also results in poor circulation to the extremities, the brain, and other organs. Ailments such as senile dementia, leg pain (intermittent claudication), and even erectile impotence have their origin in atherosclerosis.

Yet, by means of appropriate dietary approaches, heart disease, blood vessel blockages, and high blood pressure can all be prevented and reversed after they occur. As with other debilitating problems, these diseases are commonly the result of a high fat, high-protein, highly refined diet that is ill adapted to the needs of our species. The accumulation of fatty plaque on the inner walls of our blood vessels begins early in childhood and progresses gradually through life due to modern-day dietary practices.

High blood pressure is the result of blood vessels that are relatively inelastic due to deposits of plaque. Fatty plaque causes blood vessels to become stiff and weak. Such stiffened vessels lose their elasticity and are more likely to tear or rupture from high blood pressure, thereby causing a stroke or heart attack. Taking medication to lower blood pressure does nothing to reverse or remove the atherosclerotic blood vessel disease.

Half of the population over 65 years of age has high blood pressure. It is the leading reason for prescription medication in the country today. In numerous countries, however, where the diet is not rich in fats and protein, and is high in fiber and fresh produce, high blood pressure is virtually nonexistent. Atherosclerotic disease of the blood vessels and heart occurs only in part of the world where high-fat and high-protein diets are consumed, but heart attacks are virtually unknown in societies that follow natural plant-based diets.

Current treatments for clogged arteries include medication to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, bypass surgery, balloon angioplasty, and arthrectomy. Although surgical procedures can relieve the symptoms of chest pain (angina), they result in little or no improvement in how long a patient survives. In addition, these treatments are dangerous. Some patients die during surgery or soon afterwards.

In numerous cases, various drugs are prescribed to lower cholesterol levels and relieve chest pain. These drugs come with their own inherent dangers. Cholesterol-lowering drugs may slightly reduce the risk of future cardiac events, but, because of other undesirable metabolic effects, they increase the cause of death from other causes. Side effects and costs are considerable as well.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are well known for their liver toxicity and cal also cause life-threatening reactions such as muscle breakdown and acute renal failure. Drugs for angina relieve the pain but they do not reduce the chance of a heart attack or sudden death. All together, medications are minimally effective or ineffective in prolonging life because they do not halt the underlying disease process. Furthermore, as the patients are left with the false impression they are now OIK, their disease-causing life-style is indirectly encouraged, since they rely on medication for symptomatic relief or lowering of blood pressure. This lessens the essential importance of meaningful dietary change….

…If every patient with cardiovascular disease were placed on a fast, followed by a truly low-fat (less than 10% calories consumed) natural plant-based diet, millions of lives could be saved….

…Bypass surgery is under increasing criticism by the medical community, and most doctors are aware that bypass surgery fails to save lives. Bypass is not only unproven, but also has been disproved. Even the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that more than 125,000 of these procedures are done for inappropriate reasons each year….

…In almost every heart bypass surgery, some brain injury occurs from the time spent on the heart-lung machine. It is believed that 15 to 44 percent of those who survive such surgery suffer permanent brain damage, detectable as minor degrees of intellectual impairment, memory loss, sleep disturbance, and personality change.

…Surgery should and can be avoided. Even if there is some short-term reduction in symptoms, atherosclerosis then accelerates in arteries after they have been subjected to bypass or angioplasty – the plaques grow far faster after surgery. The arteries treated by angioplasty, arthrectomy, and bypass often reclog within a short period of time. Approximately one third of arteries dilated by angioplasty clog up again within four to six months.

Angioplasty has never been tested in a prospective trial against medications only, so doctors are in disagreement about its value despite its widespread use. Since the native blood vessel has now been interfered with, the new blockage that so often reappears is now more difficult to treat with nutritional methods. This restenosis (return of the treated blockage) is not the same as the original atherosclerosis. Restenosis is a new disease created by doctors (iatrogenic disease), and it is not controlled by the same process….

…Balloon dilatation is a risky crapshoot, 30-40 percent of patients will need to go back again for more invasive interventions….