BROKEN HEARTS 121ownership of radio, TV or motor car, with full head of hair and
scrawny and un-athletic in appearance, yet constantly straining
his puny muscles by exercise; low in income, B.P (blood pressure),
blood sugar, uric acid and cholesterol, who has been taking nico-
tinic acid, pyridoxine and long term anticoagulant therapy ever
since his prophylactic castration.The author of this passage might just as well have said, "Only REAL
men have heart disease." Also notice how a diet of fruits and vegetables
is described as "poor" even though the author suggests that this diet
is eaten by those people who are least likely to have heart disease. The
unfortunate association of meat with physical ability, general manliness,
sexual identity and economic wealth all cloud how the status quo scien-
tists viewed food, regardless of the health evidence. This view had been
passed down from the early protein pioneers described in chapter two.
Perhaps this author should have met a friend of mine, Chris Camp-
bell (no relation). Chris is a two-time NCAA Division 1 wrestling cham-
pion, three-time U.s. Senior wrestling champion, two-time Olympic
wrestler and Cornell Law School graduate. At the age of thirty-seven
he became the oldest American ever to win an OlympiC medal in wres-
tling, weighing in at 198 pounds. Chris Campbell is a vegetarian. As a
man not likely to have heart disease, I think he might disagree with the
characterization above.
The battle between the status quo and the dietary prevention camp
was intense. I remember attending a lecture at Cornell University dur-
ing 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, per-
sonal battle flared, and open-mindedness was the first casualty.
RECENT HISTORY
Today, this epic battle between defenders of the status quo and advo-
cates of diet is as strong as ever. But there have been significant changes
in the landscape of heart disease. How far have we come, and how have
we proceeded to fight this disease? Mostly, the status quo has been pro-
tected. Despite the potential of diet and disease prevention, most of the
attention given to heart disease has been on mechanical and chemical
intervention for those people who have advanced disease. Diet has been