By Michael Greger, MD on May 12, 2010
The number one cause of death in the United States every single year for both men and women since 1918 (when a bird flu virus likely triggered the deadliest plague in human history) continues to be heart disease. William Clifford Roberts recently published a landmark review on the cause of our number one killer.
Dr. Roberts is executive director of the Baylor Cardiovascular Institute, has authored more than 1,300 scientific publications, written more than a dozen textbooks on cardiology, and has been the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Cardiology for 25 years.
The review, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nutrition in Clinical Practice, was entitled “The Cause of Atherosclerosis.” Doesn’t he mean causes? Aren’t there lots of things that increase our risk of heart disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, inactivity, cigarette smoking, etc.? None of those matter, he says, unless our cholesterol is too high. All those other things can speed the buildup of plaque in our arteries; but since the plaque itself is made out of cholesterol, if our cholesterol level is low enough, there is nothing with which our body can actually build plaque. According to Dr. Roberts, atherosclerosis simply does not occur if cholesterol is low enough.
If cholesterol is the cause of atherosclerosis, how low does our cholesterol have to be for us to become heart-attack proof? Ideally, our bad cholesterol—“LDL”—should be under 70. Quoting the review: “If such a goal was created, the great scourge of the Western world would be essentially eliminated.” There are only two ways, he says, to get it down that low: (1) put a hundred million people on a lifetime of high dose statin drugs starting in their twenties, or (2) be what he calls a “pure vegetarian fruit eater,” which is the term he uses for those eating whole food vegan diets.
If we put everyone on drugs, then thousands of people would suffer side-effects. So, according to Dr. Roberts, “Of course a… [vegan] diet is the least expensive and safest means of achieving the plaque-preventing LDL goal, but few in the Western world are willing to live on the herbivore diet.” In his words in a recent interview: “The best way to prevent heart disease is to be a…non-flesh eater, a non-saturated fat eater.” “Because humans get atherosclerosis,” he reasons, “and that’s a disease only of herbivores, humans also must be herbivores.”
The cause of our number one killer is elevated cholesterol. According to Dr. Roberts, probably the most renowned cardiovascular pathologist in the world, that means the cause of our number one killer is: not eating vegan.
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By Neal Barnard, MD on March 11, 2010
Photo Credit: Vanity Fair
As a doctor, I want to get a few things straight, Mr. President.
Right, left, or in-between, our country needs you. Your wife and girls need you. They need you in good health, and setting a good example, not least because talking about healthcare is so much more credible when we do what we can to not need it.
Here’s the bad news: You have not one, but two risk factors for heart disease: smoking and high cholesterol. You’re not a teenager anymore. It’s time to take this seriously.
The good news—great news, in fact—is that you can change them both. But frankly, I’m worried. If you have had trouble sorting out smoking and cholesterol, then millions of other Americans must be in the same boat, which is to say completely in the dark about the very same problems.
So let me lay it on the line:
First, smoking. Tobacco is a tough habit to break. I know. When my hospital banned smoking, I wondered how the doctors would take it—after all, the doctors’ lounge had a dull haze 24/7. But we broke that habit, and so can you. There is no magic here. Just keep trying until you quit for good. And it gets easier every day that goes by without a cigarette.
Second, cholesterol. Here, let’s clear up a few myths.
First, exercise won’t lower your cholesterol. It may bump up “good” cholesterol slightly and improve your basketball game or your stride, but you definitely can’t count on it to lower your “bad” cholesterol. It won’t.
Second, we almost certainly cannot blame genes. For the vast majority of people, high cholesterol comes down to diet.
Third, switching from beef to chicken and fish has almost no effect on cholesterol. It lowers “bad” cholesterol only about 5 percent–and that’s not enough.
The answer is behind your house, in the White House garden. Foods from plants have essentially no cholesterol and are free of the animal fat that causes the body to make cholesterol. If you skipped meat, dairy products, and eggs for even a few weeks, chances are your cholesterol would drop right into the normal range.
What’s that? You love burgers and chili? Fair enough. So make it a veggie burger. And I can show you a vegetarian chili that is so good, you’ll never know the difference.
And when you conquer your health demons, you’ll inspire every American child to do the same. Lest you think this is a trivial issue, one in five teens has an abnormal cholesterol test today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And it only gets worse as they reach adulthood. One in three children is overweight, and one in three will eventually develop diabetes.
You can help them by stubbing out the smokes for good and adopting a healthy, plant-based diet. And as a shining example of good habits, you will have done more good for the health of the American public than any prior president.
People may disagree on how to make healthcare work. But I hope that a bit of advice on how to be healthy will reduce the risk you’ll ever need it, and help you stay well and strong. That’s food for thought.
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