Staying Healthy in the Fast Lane

the good news: chronic disease is preventable and reversible

that if we could get people to eat to save their hearts they would

actually then be saving themselves from cancer as well, and I still

think that’s true.”^50

The diet and lifestyle principles in any one of the four books
mentioned (by Drs. Esselstyn, Ornish, Fleming, and Rip Esselstyn),
if applied with diligence, will stop the progression of and reverse
heart disease in many people. Heart disease, the world’s number
one killer, can be relegated to a “toothless paper tiger,” as Dr. Es-
selstyn also stated in his interview with me.^51
Coincidently, former President Bill Clinton recently switched
to an unprocessed plant-based diet before his daughter Chelsea’s
wedding. This resulted in a dramatic 24 pound weight loss. He did
this because he had already had bypass surgery for his heart, his
stent had clogged up, and he was influenced by the researchers I
have just spoken about (Caldwell Esselstyn, MD; Dean Ornish, MD;
and Dr. T. Colin Campbell and son Thomas M. Campbell) and their
work on plant-based nutrition reversing heart disease. He shares
his reasons and experience with this diet change in a CNN inter-
view with Wolf Blitzer.^52
While there are a good number of credible health profession-
als who debate the role of fat and cholesterol reduction in heart
disease management—such as cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, MD,
who recommends a PAM diet (Pan-Asian Mediterranean diet)
of approximately 80 percent plant foods and 20 percent animal
foods^53 —the common points in most cardio-protective diets are:
eating only unprocessed foods, large portions of plant foods rich
in phytochemicals, and a low glycemic diet, which controls blood
sugar and insulin and therefore reduces inflammation, the real
cause of hardening of the arteries.
You might be wondering why I am taking so much time on type
2 diabetes and heart disease treatment by diet and lifestyle and
using the word “reversible.” First, I am tired of hearing the words,
“Take your medication, eat right, get some exercise, and donate to
our society, and we will find a cure in the near future.” The cure
is already here! No more donations and controlling diabetes and
heart disease. It is time to get rid of them. The same diet will greatly