Battle of the bulge

A WHOLE-FOODS, PLANT-BASED DIET REPRESENTS THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE TO REVERSE THE CHRONIC DISEASE EPIDEMIC.

We are losing the war against cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity!

In 2015, cardiovascular mortality in the U.S. rose for the first time in more than 40 years and is projected to increase unabated for the next several decades. We have reached the tipping point in cardiology — about one in every six U.S. health-care dollars is spent on cardiovascular disease. By 2030, annual direct medical costs associated with cardiovascular disease are projected to rise to more than $818 billion, while lost productivity costs could exceed $275 billion!

Cancer cases also are projected to increase by nearly 50 percent by 2030. According to the American Cancer Society, expenditures for cancer care in the U.S. totaled close to $145 billion in 2016 and could reach $156 billion by 2020. Preventing cancer in the first place or detecting it early is the best way to reduce many costs associated with cancer treatment — patient out-of-pocket costs, health-care payer costs, and indirect costs.

At the same time, more than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or prediabetes. The rate of new diabetes diagnoses in the U.S. is steady and persistent. This rising obesity and diabetes epidemic is outstripping our preventive efforts.

Treat causes, not symptoms

One must conclude that our national efforts of guideline-driven management for treatment of these chronic diseases have plateaued. It appears we need increased public health efforts to address underlying causes of chronic diseases rather than our current efforts at disease management. Production of more drugs to treat the symptoms of chronic diseases is not the answer.

Why become a whole-food, plant-based eater?

An accrual of scientific evidence shows that incorporating more plant-based foods into our diets represents a fundamental way for people to reduce or eliminate the causes of most chronic diseases. However, overcoming inertia, culture, and habit is no easy task. And the widespread marketing of unhealthy foods is an ongoing impediment on the path to making healthier dietary choices.

People become whole-food, plant-based eaters for many reasons, including health, religious convictions, concerns about animal welfare or the use of antibiotics and hormones in livestock, or a desire to eat in a way that avoids excessive use of environmental resources.

Traditionally, research into plant-based eaters focused mainly on potential nutritional deficiencies, but in recent years, the pendulum has swung the other way. Studies are confirming the health benefits of meat-free eating. Nowadays, the American Dietetic Association recognizes plant-based eating as nutritionally sufficient. By adding more whole and plant-based foods into our diets we necessarily reduce the amount of animal-based foods, which may be the root cause of disease promotion.

Reconsidering the role of animal protein in causing chronic diseases

Scientists first described dietary fat as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease starting in 1847. Decades passed without considering the contributions of other dietary components, like animal protein, as precursors for chronic diseases. Believing that dietary fat, singularly, represents a precursor for heart disease has led to the promotion of foods low in fat, like lean cuts of meat, low- or non-fat dairy products, and cholesterol-free products.

To suggest that blood cholesterol could be elevated by dietary animal protein, and not just dietary fat, seemed far-fetched at first. But, starting with research in 1941 on rabbits, animal protein — in this case the protein casein found mostly in dairy products — was five-fold more likely to form fatty plaques in arteries than the same amount of vegetable protein over a six-month period. Numerous other animal experiments since have confirmed these findings with other animal proteins. Growing evidence reveals that dietary animal protein increases cardiovascular risk, certain cancers, and diabetes, compared to plant-based proteins. In addition to animal studies, supportive evidence also has been reported in humans.

Showing a direct effect of animal protein on disease development may be less relevant when compared with the effects of reducing animal protein on reducing disease risk. When one includes more animal protein-based foods in the diet, one may consume less plant-based food, a trade-off that is rarely considered. And if we are replacing plant proteins with animal proteins, we may reduce the known cardio-protective properties of those plant-based foods.

The best testimonials for completely substituting animal-based foods with plant-based foods can be found in the numerous studies that show reversal of advanced coronary heart disease for patients who switched to plant-based eating. A recent study included 196 patients with advanced heart disease; 177 switched completely to a whole-food, plant-based diet. In two to seven years of follow-up, only one of these patients suffered a cardiovascular event. In contrast, 62 percent of the patients who did not comply to the whole-food, plant-based diet suffered at least one cardiovascular event.

I am not aware of a single other cardio-therapy protocol that approximates such spectacular results.

Are there health risks of being a plant-based eater?

Concerns about plant-based diets generally focus on the key issues noted below.

Varieties of plant-based eaters

Convincing evidence suggests there is no other lifestyle change we can make — dietary or non-dietary — that offers the same benefits of whole-food, plant-based eating.

There are different types of plant-based eaters, each with its own label and distinctive characteristics. Collectively, plant-based eaters generally classify with the generic term vegetarians. Here are the general vegetarian classifications:

• Vegans (total vegetarians) do not eat meat, poultry, fish, or any products derived from animals, including eggs, dairy products, and gelatin.
• Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not eat meat, poultry, or fish, but do eat eggs and dairy products.
• Lacto vegetarians eat no meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, but do consume dairy products.
• Ovo vegetarians eat no meat, poultry, fish, or dairy products, but do eat eggs.
• Partial vegetarians avoid red meat but may eat fish (pesco-vegetarian, pescatarian) or poultry (pollo-vegetarian).

Choosing plant-based foods

Approximately 6-8 million adults in the United States eat no meat, fish, or poultry. Several million more have eliminated red meat but still eat chicken or fish. About 2 million have become total whole-food, plant-based eaters, forgoing not only animal flesh but also all animal-based products such as milk, cheese, eggs, and gelatin.

A plant-based diet consists of all minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, herbs, and spices and excludes all animal products, including red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products. The table below presents a limited listing of foods included in a whole-food, plant-based eating plan.

References

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