T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II
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 I remember attending a lecture at Cornell University during the late 1950s when a famous researcher, Ancel Keys, came to talk about preventing heart disease by diet. Some scientists in the audience just shook their heads in disbelief, saying diet can't possibly affect heart disease. In those first decades of heart disease research, a heated, personal battle flared, and open-mindedness was the first casualty.
RECENT HISTORY
Today, this epic battle between defenders of the status quo and advocates of diet is as strong as ever. |
| Preventing heart disease by diet was a threatening idea because it implied that something about the good old meaty American diet was so bad for us that it was destroying our hearts. The status quo boys didn't like it.
One status quo scientist had a good time making fun of people who appeared to have a low risk of heart disease. |
| By demonstrating that we could see the disease in advance by measuring risk factors, the idea of preventing heart disease suddenly had validity. Researchers wrote, "... it appears that a preventive program is clearly necessary."15 Simply lower the risk factors, such as blood cholesterol and blood pressure, and you lower the risk of heart disease.
In modern-day America cholesterol and blood pressure are household terms. We spend over 30 billion dollars a year on drugs to control these risk factors and other aspects of cardiovascular disease. |
Marcia Angell, M.D.
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 But now a large NIH clinical trial indicates that, instead of preventing heart disease, combination hormone replacement actually increases it. This trial underscores the fact that we need to question how reliable publications from industry-sponsored research really are.
I do not want to sound like a nihilist or a Luddite. I know very well that as a result of innovative research and development—in both academia and industry—we have available to us many drugs of immense importance. |
Mark Hyman, M.D.
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 Or, as another New England Journal of Medicine article (November 20, 1997) explained, "Replacing saturated and trans fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats is more effective in preventing heart disease than reducing overall fat intake."
The myth that fat is a four-letter word probably started for a simple reason: People figured that if they were trying to lose weight, they had to shed fat. And it seemed logical that if you were trying to lose fat, you shouldn't eat fat.
In 1988 the U.S. surgeon general set out to gather the data to prove that dietary fat is harmful. |
Earl L. Mindell, RPh, PhD with Virginia Hopkins, MA
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| Our bodies are in double oxidant jeopardy, which makes taking antioxidant supplements an important part of preventing heart disease.
Antioxidants come in many forms, from teas and herbal tinctures to foods and vitamins. Their disease. Many researchers believe the increased risk is caused by the depletion effect excess alcohol has on magnesium.
Good food sources of magnesium include whole grains (especially oats, brown rice, millet, buckwheat, and wheat), legumes (lentils, split peas, and beans), bran, almonds and peanuts, and broccoli. |
Gayle Reichler, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.
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 In conjunction with the general Active Wellness guidelines, which are beneficial for preventing heart disease, Plan 3 also emphasizes potassium-rich foods and foods rich in vitamins B,, and B,2 and folate. Other lifestyle risk factors associated with heart disease include smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and obesity.
Preventing Heart Disease, Stroke, and Elevated Cholesterol
Reducing your risks for heart disease and stroke and lowering your cholesterol levels requires that you watch your total intake of fat, trans fatty acids, and saturated fat. |
Earl L. Mindell, RPh, PhD with Virginia Hopkins, MA
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| The claims made for estrogens in preventing heart disease, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's are grossly exaggerated.
What Are They Prescribed For? For hormone replacement therapy, both for menopausal women and women who have had a hysterectomy. Estrogens are prescribed for the symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. However, in light of the WHI study, if physicians continue to prescribe them to any woman near the age of 50 as a matter of course, they're ignoring the medical dictum to first, do no harm.
What Are the Possible
Side Effects/Adverse Effects? |
Gary Null
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| The American Heart Association showed that six glasses of grape juice were as effective as two glasses of wine in preventing heart disease.4 This study offers convincing evidence that PCO from grapes, rather than the alcohol, provide wine's protective benefits to the circulatory system.
Health professionals monitoring the effects of PCO have reported that it also has helped in the prevention and treatment of glaucoma.
PCO strengthens skin connective tissue and fat chambers. |
The Complete Book of Alternative NutritionSelene Y. Craig, Jennifer Haigh, Sari Harrar and the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books
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| Crumbly in texture and nutty in flavor, a quarter-cup of the golden stuff packs 40 percent of the Daily Value for vitamin E—a high-scoring antioxidant that "captures" the free radicals that speed up cell aging and has earned many a gold star for preventing heart disease. Although wheat germ is technically a food, most people who sprinkle it on their cereal in the morning are doing it to supplement their diets, not simply to add flavor. |
Mary G. Enig
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 The aspect of any margarine preventing heart disease is nonsense, though, if it is made with coconut oil it might be useful because such a product would provide enough lauric acid to give the body the raw material to make monolaurin; and monolaurin is known to kill the various viruses (eg, herpes, cytomegalovirus) and bacteria (eg, helicobacter pylori) that cause lesions in the arteries, which in turn lead to some of the atheroma. |
John R. Smythies
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| The investigators reported no benefit for preventing heart disease from this level of beta-carotene intake.
(5) A similar study carried out in Basel, Switzerland, found that eight years of beta-carotene intake showed no clinical benefit; but if the length of the study was increased to twelve years, there was a significant reduction in the incidence of heart disease [66]. The researchers stress heart disease's slow rate of development and, if one is to get a true estimate on the effectiveness of any procedure, the need for long trials rather than short ones. |
| This is evidence that the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin E may be too small to play a role in preventing heart disease.
(2) The same team then looked at a population of 39,910 men over a four-year follow-up period using the same methods [176]. The median intake of vitamin E in the case of the highest quintile was 419 mg per day and in the case of the lowest quintile it was 6.4 mg per day. Again they found that the higher level of vitamin E intake was associated with a significant reduction in the rate of development of heart disease; vitamin C had no effect. |
J. Robert Hatherill
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 Monounsaturated fats are linked to preventing heart disease. Examples include olive oil, canola oil, and macadamia nut oil.
Mucinous carcinoma
A rare form of breast cancer.
Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)
A newly described disease, also called environmental illness, that seems to affect the immune and nervous systems. The symptoms of MCS involve insomnia, dizziness, depression, mood swings, and a large collection of other symptoms. |
| Vitamins have additional benefits, including enhancing immune system function and preventing heart disease, cataracts, birth defects, and stroke. þBe careful with high intakes of vitamin A. On the other hand, vitamins C, E, beta carotene, and folic acid are relatively nontoxic and can be well tolerated by most people even at very high intakes.
The Cancer Conquering Female: Defeating Breast Cancer and Other Female Cancers
Women have been at risk for breast cancer throughout human history. |
Mark Bricklin
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 Jumping through the ages to our present day, many researchers now feel that a high-fiber, low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt diet may be very helpful not only in preventing heart disease, but also in forestalling the development of high blood pressure, maturity-onset diabetes, gallstones, painful diverticular disease of the colon, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, at least several kinds of cancer, and possibly ulcers and other problems that so often seem to arise in our society for no particular reason. |
The Complete Book of Alternative NutritionSelene Y. Craig, Jennifer Haigh, Sari Harrar and the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books
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| Bonus Benefits
The benefits of a vegetarian diet go a long way beyond preventing heart disease. Among people who eat vegetarian diets, "rates of osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity are a fraction of what they are in people who eat meat," Dr. Ornish explains.
A vegetarian diet may also offer some protection from many types of cancer, studies suggest. In parts of China where the people eat a plant-based diet, colon, breast and prostate cancer are much less common than in regions where the traditional diet includes meat.
Meatless doesn't mean tasteless, however—and Dr. |
Nicola Reavley
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 Another study, published in 1998 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation provides further evidence of the importance of vitamin B6 in preventing heart disease. Researchers involved in a study done in several centers in Europe compared 750 patients with vascular disease and 800 control subjects of the same ages and sex. They measured blood levels of homocysteine, folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6. The results showed that those with high blood homocysteine concentrations had a high risk of vascular disease. |
The Complete Book of Alternative NutritionSelene Y. Craig, Jennifer Haigh, Sari Harrar and the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books
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| Department of Pathology at the University of Chicago, Billings Hospital, who doesn't recommend following macrobiotics to the letter but agrees with most of its principles when it comes to preventing heart disease.
"Dairy, eggs and meat fat are out of the question if you want to avoid atherosclerosis. The American Heart Association's recommendation to stay below 30 percent fat a day just isn't adequate." Dr. Wissler endorses the fat intake level of macrobiotics, which is less than 20 percent of your daily diet. |
Prevention Magazine
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 Wrapped beneath their papery skins are dozens of compounds that help lower cholesterol, thin the blood, and prevent hardening of the arteries—all of which can go a long way toward preventing heart disease.
The first family of heart-healthy compounds in onions is the flavonoids. Flavonoids are substances in plants that have potent antioxidant powers, meaning that they help prevent disease by sweeping up harmful, cell-damaging oxygen molecules called free radicals, which natutally accumulate in your body. |
The Complete Book of Alternative NutritionSelene Y. Craig, Jennifer Haigh, Sari Harrar and the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books
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| Just as important, they have higher levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein, the "good" cholesterol), giving them a real advantage in preventing heart disease.
Epidemiological studies show a reduced risk of several different cancers in people who eat a diet rich in vitamin C and beta-carotene—both found in abundance in raw fruits and vegetables.
Research has also focused on the anti-cancer properties of glutathione, a little-known compound found in fruits and vegetables. |
Gary Null, Ph.D.
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 Many nutritionists feel that the reduction of dietary fat intake is vital to preventing heart disease, especially angina. The intake of fatty foods, which on average comprise 40 percent of an American's diet, should be reduced to, at most, 20 percent. In fact, some health practitioners feel that fat intake should be as low as 10 percent.
While saturated fats are the worst culprits, too many unsaturated fats have also proven to have potentially harmful effects on the body. |
| Herbal Treatments
Herbs are a source of nutrition that can assist in treating and preventing heart disease. Among the many choices available, garlic shines as a cardiovascular disease preventive: It contributes to the lowering of cholesterol levels and elevated blood pressure, and helps prevent blood clots in the arterial walls when taken along with vitamin E. It also helps stimulate and revitalize the heart muscle and strengthen the peripheral circulation, as well as circulation within the heart. |
the Editors of PREVENTION
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 Having a doctor monitor your risk factors is key to preventing heart disease. ized for an active constituent called guggulsterone. At the dosage above, you should get a daily total of 75 milligrams of guggulsterone. Once you are able to optimize your cholesterol through diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes, you don't need to continue taking guggul, says Dr. Golan.
Hawthorn
Take 2,000 milligrams daily in capsule form or 1 teaspoon of tincture two to four times a day. |
Michael T. Murray, N.D.
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 In addition, garlic preparations standardized for alliin content exert several other beneficial effects in preventing heart disease and strokes (discussed below).
In addition to taking a garlic supplement, individuals with high cholesterol levels should eat more garlic and onions, as increased dietary garlic and onion consumption can also lower cholesterol levels.39-42,48 In a 1979 population study, researchers studied three populations of vegetarians in the Jain community in India, who consumed differing amounts of garlic and onions. |
Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman
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 First discovered over 150 years ago in the isolated orange pigment of carrots, beta-carotene has become one of the most powerful antioxidants on the market today, responsible for boosting immunity, preventing heart disease, and reducing our chances of cancer. It is also able to convert itself into vitamin A in the body, without displaying any of A's toxic side effects. |
J. E. Williams, O.M.D.
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 In the following examples, we will look at several different diets to find what they have in common:
• The Mediterranean diet appears to be very good for maintaining general health and preventing heart disease. However, because about 40 percent of calories in this diet come from fats, mostly olive oil; the higher fat content along with overuse of pasta, as many Americans are prone to do, may lead to obesity.
• The traditional Chinese diet, high in phytoestrogenic foods and fresh vegetables, promotes proper hormone metabolism and contributes to a youthful appearance. |
Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman
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| Finally, chromium seems to play a key role in preventing heart disease. For three decades, researchers have known that people who died of heart disease had abnormally low levels of chromium in their aortas. A recent study found that people who suffered from heart disease might have up to 40 percent less chromium in their blood than healthy people. |
The Complete Book of Alternative NutritionSelene Y. Craig, Jennifer Haigh, Sari Harrar and the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books
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| Heart Disease and High Cholesterol
Beyond Low-Fat—The New Heart-Smart Eating
When it comes to preventing heart disease, you've stacked the odds in your favor.
You've said no to butter, banished premium ice cream from the freezer and traded in your old breakfast buddies—doughnuts and coffee, bacon and eggs—for oat bran and skim milk. You've embraced grilling, trim fat aggressively and have learned to savor the tart zing of raspberry vinegar on your salad (bye-bye, bleu cheese!).
Pat yourself on the back. Low-fat eating is the cornerstone of any heart disease prevention diet. |
Bill Gottlieb
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 Improving Your Cholesterol Balance
Stopping the oxidation of LDL cholesterol is crucial to preventing heart disease, says Dr. Miller. But if there's less LDL cholesterol in your body, there's less to oxidize, so reducing LDL is important.
It's also important to increase HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, which hauls the LDL away from your arteries and back to your liver. There are a variety of supplements and herbs that help lower LDL, raise HDL, or do both at the same time. |
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