Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease – by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn

This is not a book of moderation. Indeed, it has a chapter entitled “moderation kills”. So, what does it advise? The dietary requirements are simple:

• No animal products
• No oils
• No oily plants (e.g. nuts, avocados)

You may be wondering: aren’t nuts and avocados healthy? What about olive oil? And the answer is that yes, for most people they are indeed healthy, but Dr. Esselstyn makes a compelling argument for their elimination in the case of someone needing to take drastic actions to prevent or reverse heart disease.

The single most important deciding factor, he says, is whether our total cholesterol is above or below 150mg/dL. Below that, he considers we need not worry. Above that, time for serious action.

So, if (like this reviewer!) you’re enjoying a Mediterranean diet with cholesterol well under that level, this book might not be for you.

For those with total cholesterol above 150mg/dL, however, Dr. Esselstyn presents a wealth of evidence for his approach working. On the one hand, this is mostly based on case studies rather than randomized controlled trials, but on the other hand, he’s accumulated so many of them that unless he’s hiding a lot of evidence to present only the successes, it’s safe to assume this way of eating really does prevent and reverse heart disease.

If you can’t imagine cooking without oil, and especially if you’re not vegan so that’d be several big changes at once, fear not, he provides recipes, with an emphasis on flavor and enjoyment; indeed, part two of the book (which is full of these recipes) is entitled “the joy of eating”.

The style is quite narrative; this is a man with a story to tell and he will tell it at length. But, there’s a lot of information therein that comes thick and fast, and it’s all well-referenced.

Bottom line: if you’re very sure you’re not in the danger zone for heart disease, this one’s probably not for you. If it’s a risk for you, however (or perhaps a known reality already), then this book presents a fix that seems somewhat drastic, but has a good record of working.

Click here to check out Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease, and prevent or reverse heart disease!