weight should avoid nuts,
spreads, avocados, and
easy-to-consume calories.
used sparingly by most of us.
—John A. McDougall, MD, founder of the McDougall Program
in Santa Rosa, California, and coauthor of several best-selling
books, including The Starch Solution
Q
A
Q
Q
A
IS THERE A HEALTH BENEFIT
TO EATING A PART-TIME OR
SEMI-VEGAN DIET?
Indeed, we know there is a health benefit
for flexitarian and semi-vegan diets. The
Adventist Health Studies 2, a large study of Seventh
Day Adventists in the U.S. and Canada, found
overall a linear eff ect with plant-based diets—the
more plant-based they were, generally the more
health benefits, with vegans having the greatest
reduction in disease risk overall, followed by
vegetarians, pescatarians, and semi-vegetarians
(flexitarians).A
MY DOCTOR IS CONCERNED
THAT MY HDL LEVELS DECLINED
AFTER I WENT PLANT-BASED. IS
THIS WARRANTED?
It is not uncommon for HDL (the good
cholesterol) to fall when consumingplant-based nutrition. Do not be alarmed. Scientific
research shows that there is no relationship
between blood levels of HDL and the capacity of
the HDL molecule to function optimally. Research
has confirmed that the HDL molecule can be injured
and weakened by a pro-inflammatory Western diet
and optimized by anti-inflammatory plant-based
nutrition despite lower-than-normal levels.
—Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD,
author of Prevent and
Reverse Heart
Disease