Oct 24, 2009 - A visit to the cardiologist

My visit to the cardiologist two days ago was encouraging. He asked me, "How are you feeling?".


I responded, "I feel better every day!".


He took a blood pressure reading on my right arm. "110/70. Excellent".


Funny, I thought. My doctor just took it the day before on the left arm and it was 137/86. I'm not going to complain, however, either number is an improvement over the previous 160/90.


And I really do feel better every day. And I know I still have blockage. I have been eating according to 'Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease', by Dr Caldwell B Esselstyn. I eat a plant based diet entirely - I don't eat anything with eyes or has a mother and I don't take in any fats or oils, except what comes through naturally in my food. I don't eat out of a box or can. Ever. I can't afford to. The result of this simple approach? Keep reading. It only takes about three weeks to have a profound effect on cholesterol with this aproach. Who has those kind of numbers? Anyone you know? I know one - and he's on the same diet!



Take a look at this chart which tracks my total cholesterol. You can make a good argument for having high numbers so long as HDL/LDL ratio is good, but that's not my approach. And there is also the scare that if the number is too low, you can lose your memory, and increase risk for certain cancers. You most certainly need a limited amount of HDL and LDL for proper cell function.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say if you can get your numbers down with plant based nutrition alone, you only get good results. If drugs are required to drive those numbers down, careful monitoring by your doctor is absolutely essential. You want some background on this?

Read, "The Great Cholesterol Con", by Anthony Colpo or better yet - "Lipitor Thief of Memory", by Duane Graveline. Like they say on the commercials - "ask your doctor if ______ is right for you." You need to draw your own conclusions - I encourage you to become WELL informed about your own health and the drugs you decide to use. Know everything you can about them.


Here's the skinny:

Drugs alone got my total to 170 in 2007, but then it started creeping up again. In 2008, I had gone vegetarian, no drugs, and my cholesterol was at 197.

Today my total cholesterol is 111. What have I done differently? I am taking 20 mg Simvastatin, which I am not real fond of. Hopefully I can end that at some point. I removed coffee, and all added fats and oils - I am still vegetarian. I am sorry - olive oil is not a health food! Just being vegetarian is not enough if you want to reverse arterial plaque. I take ground flax seed for my omega-3 essential fatty acids.

So the difference is 59 points between 170 and 111, basically the same class of drug being used at both tested periods. Populations that showed no arterial plaque deposits consistently had total cholesterol numbers below 150 when they ate a plant based diet. There is every evidence that I am now reversing arterial plaque.


So getting back to the cardiologist. Based on my symptoms and my latest readings, He said, "I don't recommend changing a thing". That means - no bypass, no stint. So long as there is improvement, no need. And that artery, mind you, is STILL blocked!

I asked,"Well, what can I do? What are my limits?"
He responded, "try anything you want, when it gets uncomfortable, back off".
Simple advice. I wish I had adopted that wisdom years ago!