In many areas of the world today, a plant based diet is common place and coronary artery disease is unheard of. For citizens in central Africa, New Guinea, northern Mexico, and rural China heart disease is basically nonexistent. Additionally, hypertension, obesity, and adult onset diabetes are very rare.
The American economy is overloaded with the financial and emotional expense of the mortality rate and medical complications that come from a toxic food environment. Without a dramatic change in the standard American diet our children will become the next victims of a nutritionally poisonous diet. The recommendations of the American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization state that people should have no more than 15% to 20% dietary fat daily. These are really the only two independent groups in the nation that track and research dietary information.
Sadly, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Committee and the U.S. Congress have a woeful reputation of ties to special interest groups within the food industry. This prevents pure objective analysis of undiluted research that will determine the dietary recommendations for the country that these organizations are responsible for.
The information put out by these agencies has in part, helped to develop the American palette over the last generation. When fatty foods are consumed early in life the chance of developing heart disease later in life skyrockets. For example, children who are given a lot of meat, cheeses, whole milk, butter, ice cream, eggs, and fried foods have demonstrated damage within the arteries at a young age. It’s been shown that their arteries have lost elasticity and distensbility.
Prevention is the key to turning these statistics around. Doctors can, and should encourage their patients to indulge in a predominantly vegetable based diet that is high in plant strong snacking. Many times, if a patient is unaware of the importance of diet in their health condition, they are relieved to know they have a lot of control in this area. They often feel empowered to eradicate their heart disease and its progression.
Truth be told, this is not new information and we can turn around this health crisis in less than a generation. We have the power to heal ourselves and reverse heart disease to a large extent. Much of this starts with education via general health practitioners, physicians, nutritionists, nurses, and researchers. Talking to people about basic nutrition and proper exercise that all people need. Heart disease does not have to dominate a patient’s life. With the right diet, physical activity and attitude, coronary disease can become a rare occurrence in American society.
