Joel Fuhrman - Eat To Live

72 Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

saturated fat. Certainly it is more significant than dietary cholesterol.

We do know that animal protein has a quick and major impact on

enzymes involved in the metabolism of cholesterol. Whether it is the

immune system, various enzyme systems, the uptake of carcinogens

into the cells, or hormonal activities, animal protein generally only

causes mischief.

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It may be impossible to extricate which component of animal

food causes the most mischief. However, it is clear that while Amer-

icans struggle in vain to even marginally reduce the amount of fat in

their diet, they still consume high levels of animal products and very

little unrefined produce.

Cholesterol levels can be decreased by reducing both saturated fat and

animal protein while eating more plant protein.

Remember, those countries and areas of China with extremely

low rates of Western diseases did not achieve them merely because

their diets were low in fat. It was because their diets were rich in un-

refined plant products — they were not eating fat-free cheesecake

and potato chips.

Never forget that coronary artery disease and its end result —

heart attacks, the number one killer of all American men and

women — is almost 100 percent avoidable. Poring through nation-

by-nation mortality data collected by the World Health Organization,

I found that most of the poorer countries, which invariably consume

little animal products, have less than 5 percent of the adult popula-

tion dying of heart attacks.

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The China Project confirmed that there

were virtually no heart attacks in populations that consume a life-

long vegetarian diet and almost no heart attacks in populations con-

suming a diet that is rich in natural plant foods and receives less than

10 percent of its calories from animal foods.

My observation of the worldwide data is supported by studies

of American vegetarians and nonvegetarians.^16 These studies show

that the major risk factors associated with heart disease — smoking,

physical inactivity, and animal-product consumption — are avoid-

able. Every heart attack death is even more of a tragedy because it

likely could have been prevented.