Plant Based Diet Protects against Heart Disease

[Jinzang]

A study comparing five dietary patterns common in the United States found that a plant based diet protected against heart disease. The article does not define the patterns, but I found the definitions in this news report.

Kyla M Lara, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues from the University of Alabama at Birmingham examined data from 15,569 participants from the REGARDS cohort (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) in order to find the rate of incident heart failure associated with 5 specific dietary patterns.

Median follow-up was 2892 days. During this time, 300 participants experienced incident heart failure hospitalizations. The lowest risk for heart failure (42% decrease) was associated with an adherence to the plant-based dietary pattern; no other associations were noted.

 

[Vince]

Has anyone read this book or it is Ornish based stuff that can not be verified by more modern tests.

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]However, coronary artery disease is virtually absent in cultures that eat plant-based diets, such as the Tarahumara Indians of northern Mexico,8 the Papua highlanders of New Guinea,9 and the inhabitants of rural China10 and central Africa.11 Hundreds of thousands of rural Chinese go for years without a single documented myocardial infarction.10[/FONT]

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]All patients who maintained the diet achieved the cholesterol goal of less than 150 mg/dL and had no recurrent coronary events during the 12 years. At 5 years, angiography was repeated in most cases. By analysis of the stenosis percentage none had progression of disease, and 70% had selective regression.28 These data are compelling when one considers that the same group had experienced more than 49 coronary events during the 8 years before this study.28[/FONT]

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Unsafe: oils, dairy foods, meat, poultry, and fish (not regulated by inspection, and frequently contain unacceptable levels of PCB's, dioxin, and mercury"[/FONT]

www.heartattackproof.com/resolving_cade.htm

 

[Vince]

Clinton on CNN. He was singing praises of a plant based diet. He has lost 24 lbs. He gave credit to doctors Caldwell B Esselstyn, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, and Dr Dean Ornish.

The link below has Clintons interview as well as an interview with the 2 doctors. Both are no/low fat with Ornish allowing some fish oil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNh1ICGNpbA

Ornish's initial group of people, half ended up with procedures or heart attacks. They just were fewer than people on the standard diet.

 

[Jinzang]

I haven't read the book, but I have listened to Dr. Esselstyn's talks on YouTube. As far as I am aware, the only research on his diet is the case series he published. Dr. Kim Williams covers the evidence in favor of a plant based diet in the treatment of heart disease in this 50 minute YouTube video. Dr. Ornish gives the research supporting his lifestyle and dietary approach on his web site.

 

[SoCal Guy]

Ornish is a slippery character, pushing his retread of the discredited Pritikin approach. But it's certainly appropriate to group him in with the Vegan crowd.

Point by point take-down of Ornish that explains the weaseling Ornish uses:

Critique of Dean Ornish Op-Ed