Free Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World by Kathy Freston

blocked arteries demonstrating striking disease reversal.
    The greatest gift to these patients is the increasing recognition that they are the locus of control for their disease—not some pill or procedure. They have made themselves heart-attack-proof and lose the greatest fear of all heart patients and their families—when will the next one occur?
     
    KF: What about drugs, stents, and heart bypass surgery?
    CE: In the midst of a heart attack a stent or bypass may be lifesaving, however, for the remaining 90 percent of patients, studies confirm that they do not prevent future heart attacks or prolong life. They are associated with significant complications such as hemorrhage, heart attack, stroke, cognitive decline, depression, and death. The benefits erode with the passage of time as the stents and bypasses may themselves develop blockage.
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    “Stents may be lifesaving during a heart attack, but they do not prevent future heart attacks or prolong life.”
    —Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
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    Some drugs may decrease blood pressure and the heart workload. Others interfere with clotting, which helps a stent remain open. Statin drugs lower cholesterol. None of these drugs or interventions addresses the basic causation of disease, and not surprisingly, the disease progresses with the need for more drugs, stents, and repeat bypasses.
     
    KF: Why aren’t physicians using nutrition therapy?
    CE: Most physicians have no training or understanding of the power of nutrition. In a busy practice they would not have the time for it. It is my belief that physicians must accord the plant-based lifestyle transition its due. Every patient with cardiovascular disease should be referred to a physician or nurse practitioner with the knowledge and expertise in these counseling skills.
     
    KF: Any final thoughts?
    CE: When people learn to eat plant-based, to eliminate heart disease, it could inaugurate a seismic revolution in their overall health. Other diseases that resolve include obesity, hypertension, stroke, gallstones, diverticulitis, asthma, osteoporosis, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and studies have shown a marked decrease in the common Western cancers of breast, prostate, colon, endometrial, ovarian, and pancreatic.
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    “Plant-based eating could inaugurate a seismic revolution in health.”—Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
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    Now you know how heart disease happens from a medical viewpoint. Here is one man’s personal story. Actually, it’s three stories woven into one.
    Robert Dew’s Story: Reversing the Family Heart-Attack Pattern
    For the record, this is a portion of my family’s health history:
    Great-uncle: deceased at 45. Cause: heart attack.
    Grandfather: deceased. Cause: heart attack.
    Grandmother: deceased. Cause: stroke.
    Great-grandfather: deceased. Cause: heart attack.
    Mother: deceased. Cause: congestive heart failure.
    Father: living with two triple bypasses, two pacemakers, and congestive heart failure.
    That’s how my family stories end. We all die of heart attacks and strokes. But every story has a beginning, too…
    I recall a set of stemware from my childhood—a nice set of sturdy, faceted goblets. They were obtained courtesy of a well-known peanut butter manufacturer. The peanut butter came off the shelf in special glasses, sealed with a pry-off lid. Our set was a result of my eating countless spoons of it in front of the TV. We had an even dozen. I would have been pleased to supply a dozen more, but the promotion ended.
    I had another food treat, this one invented by my dad. He would sit down to watch a football game with a stick of butter, a packet of saltines, and a bottle of ginger ale. He scraped out a furrow of butter onto the cracker and downed the thing in one bite. Every two or three of these were washed down with ginger ale. I loved it too. By halftime, the butter, crackers, half a jar of peanut butter, and a quart of ginger ale were gone. We were eagerly consuming the