As a cardiologist, my days are filled with treating patients who experience heart attacks, strokes, high cholesterol, erectile dysfunction, high blood pressure, diabetes and many other conditions. I treat our family members, our friends, our neighbors and sometimes I treat you.
In fact, heart and blood vessel disease is the number one killer of adult men and adult women in the U.S., but it doesn’t wait until adulthood to start appearing. Autopsy studies show that up to 2 out of 3 12-year-olds have early signs of cholesterol disease in the blood vessels that feed their hearts with blood.
During my 11 years of medical training, I learned how to diagnose and treat diseases from many brilliant physicians and scientists. However, I did not learn as much about the successful ways to prevent disease in the first place, such as with nutrition; a common theme, unfortunately.
Nevertheless, I have come to learn and experience that heart disease (and many other diseases) are preventable, treatable and even potentially reversible with dietary changes, specifically by adopting a whole food plant-based diet — a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and yams, and excluding highly refined foods and animal products, such as meats and dairy. And, if that wasn’t enough, this same dietary change can make you much healthier overall — not a bad deal!
[See: 7 Reasons to Choose a Plant-Based Diet.]
Accordingly, some of the healthiest and longest living people in the world — those living in the ” Blue Zones” such as in Loma Lima, California, and Okinawa, Japan — eat predominantly plant-based diets, and reach age 100 at nearly 10 times the average rate. And, if you take someone out of those environments and plant them in the “western world” or move the western world to them, they very quickly develop obesity, diabetes and/or heart diseases, much like we’re seeing in China right now.
Large population studies demonstrate that the more your diet is plant-based, the greater your health. The opposite is true as well — the less plant-based foods in your diet, the less healthful you are. Even more astonishingly, studies of patients with heart disease (meaning disease from cholesterol blockages in the arteries feeding their hearts with blood) who adopted a plant-based diet actually demonstrated reversal of their disease. In my nearly 15 years as a practicing cardiologist, outside of the treatment of a medical emergency, I have yet to see a medical intervention provide anywhere near the vast array of benefits that a whole food plant-based diet provides.
It is important to highlight that medication and heart procedures can be very helpful; however, the cornerstone of health is lifestyle. Many diseases and conditions that develop as we age are the result of our lifestyle choices, and not the result of a deficiency in medication. In most cases, such diseases are preventable with a healthy lifestyle, which in addition to exercise and not smoking can include a whole food plant-based diet.
We have around 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies. For reference, the circumference of the earth is approximately 24,000 miles — that’s a lot of miles covering every inch of our bodies! So, not surprisingly, when we treat our blood vessels well, we treat every curve, angle and sharp turn of our bodies well, too.
The state of health in our country is on a worrying trajectory — about 70 percent of the population is overweight or obese, and we continue to grow. We are not on a good path. The time for half steps and measured responses is over.
[Read: 10 Tips for Saving Money on a Plant-Based Diet.]
We recognize that change can be difficult, but I like to share five tips with my patients here at Montefiore Health System in Bronx, New York, to try and help them incorporate a whole food, plant-based diet into their daily routines.
1. Turn your body into a health-promoting powerhouse. Bathe it in vegetables and fruits throughout the day so it’s teeming with antioxidants, plant-based nutrients and more.
2. I’ve yet to see someone become obese eating vegetables and fruits. So please eat them to your heart’s (and blood vessels’!) content.
3. Recruit a friend or family member to join you on this incredible health journey. Work as a team, and build your community.
4. Keep it tasty. There are tons of amazing plant-based recipes and restaurants out there to choose from.
5. Check out the many amazing resources online, such as Forks Over Knives, The Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine and Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease — or check out our program in the Bronx.
6. Bonus theme! Please take your B12. Although I am unaware of a more nutrient-dense diet than a plant-based diet, the one nutrient it is missing is B12. Since it lives in the soil and we wash our foods so well, we no longer get B12 via fruits and vegetables. Animal foods offer B12 because animals eat soil, or eat other animals with B12. A simple blood test can check your B12 level.
[See: The 38 Best Diets Overall.]
Please note that although it can bring wonderful health benefits, there are some situations where significant dietary change should be closely monitored by your physician — for example, among those on the blood thinner Warfarin or patients with advanced kidney disease. Please check with your medical team before making this dietary change.
So grab the reigns of your favorite green vegetable, and ride off into a healthier sunset. It would be lovely to meet you all on healthier terms, and not in my office.
More from U.S. News
7 Reasons to Choose a Plant-Based Diet
10 Tips for Saving Money on a Plant-Based Diet
The Secret to Putting Your Cardiologist Out of Business originally appeared on usnews.com
