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YES. HEALTHY LIFESTYLE CHANGES CAN HALT PLAQUE BUILD-UP IN THE ARTERIES. THEY CAN ALSO LOWER RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES AND HYPERTENSION, AND HELP SHED EXCESS WEIGHT.
Plaque build-up in our arteries usually happens over many years. Often, we don’t even know the damage is taking place. But boy oh boy, the end result - a heart attack - comes fast and furious. Learn how to halt arterial damage.
Yes. To understand how, here’s a little background on how heart disease happens.
Most heart disease results from atherosclerosis, which is cholesterol build-up, or plaque, in the artery’s inner walls. Plaque can burst or rupture, which triggers blood clots that may block blood flowing to the heart. The result is a heart attack.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that with healthy lifestyle changes and, if needed, medications, many people are able to stabilize atherosclerosis, making plaque less likely to rupture.
Plaque is caused by the piling up of LDL “bad” cholesterol and other apoB-containing lipoproteins in the artery walls, resulting in inflammation.
Collectively, these many damaging forms of cholesterol are known as non-HDL cholesterol.
But keep in mind that cholesterol is not the only contributor to plaque build-up. Other plaque producers include type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as precursors of these conditions, such as pre-diabetes (a fasting blood glucose of 100 to 125 mg/dL) and pre-hypertension, which is a resting blood pressure between 120/80 and 139/89.
The more of these risk factors you have, the more plaque you likely have, and the more inflamed – and damaged – the inner walls of your arteries become.
High levels of artery-damaging lipoproteins like LDL are the result of several factors. Some, such as genetics, age, and gender, are beyond our control. Others we can control. Three key dietary factors that clog arteries are:
Another priority for improving heart health is losing excess body weight. That’s because being overweight or obese can adversely impact our cholesterol levels independent of the amount and type of dietary fat we’re eating. But certainly, all types of dietary fat can promote weight gain because all types of dietary fat, from vegetable oils to butter, are very calorie dense.
Refined carbs, high-calorie drinks
Refined carbohydrates and especially sugar-rich beverages can also promote weight gain, and, in doing so, elevate apo B-containing atherogenic lipoprotein levels.
Fructose
What’s more, refined carbohydrates, particularly those containing fructose, and excess alcohol intake can lead to elevated levels of triglycerides, which increase heart attack risk.
Tobacco smoke
Tobacco smoke can also damage arteries, making it easier for more blood cholesterol to end up in artery walls.
In most cases, plaque ruptures in much the same way a boil ruptures. The rupture then triggers a blood clot that chokes off blood flow to the heart. Without oxygen, heart muscle dies.
Plaque that has burst or ruptured has been called the single most common lethal event of the industrial world.
The really good news is that in just three to four weeks, the chances of suffering a heart attack can go way down. Very quickly, plaque can become far less vulnerable to rupture. By stabilizing plaque, most people can significantly lower their risk of a heart attack.
Lifestyle changes can yield dramatic benefits. The Potential Rx has been found to lower virtually all modifiable risk factors for a heart attack, LDL, stroke, and inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, as well as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and excess weight.
Daily exercise and a diet that focuses on fiber-rich, unrefined carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains are the hallmarks of the Potential Rx Class. The Class also substantially cuts down on heart-damaging saturated fats, trans fats, and dietary cholesterol.
Heart disease is virtually absent in cultures that eat fiber-rich, plant-based diets like the Potential Rx, such as the Indians of northern Mexico, the Papua Highlanders of New Guinea, and the people of rural China. In fact, noted Dr. Colin Campbell of Cornell University in his book The China Study, which details his research in the 1990s on the dietary habits of China, hundreds of thousands of rural Chinese go for years without a single documented heart attack.
The Potential Rx has been found to eliminate the need for coronary bypass surgery, as well as relieve angina (chest) pain. A five-year follow-up of 64 men who came to the Healthy.University instead of undergoing bypass surgery (which had been recommended by their heart surgeons) found that 80% never needed the surgery. Of those taking drugs for angina pain, 62% left the Center drug-free.
The Potential Rx has also been found to dramatically lower cholesterol levels. Among more than 4,500 men and women attending a Health Resort, documented in the LDL cholesterol fell on average 23% in three weeks. Non-HDL cholesterol fell 24%.
Yes. Several scientists, including Caldwell B. Esselstyn at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, have found that plaques are stabilized, and actually shrink, when heart patients adopt lifestyle changes similar to the Potential Rx.
Summarized Dr. Esselstyn in Preventive Cardiology : “Compelling data from nutritional studies, population surveys, and interventional studies support the effectiveness of a plant-based diet and aggressive lipid [cholesterol]-lowering to arrest, prevent, and selectively reverse heart disease. In essence, this is an offensive strategy.”
A diet based on fiber-rich, whole foods, like the Potential Rx Eating Plan, “can achieve total disease arrest and selective regression even in advanced cases,” concluded Dr. Esselstyn.
Bottom Line:The Potential Rx can reverse the progression of coronary heart disease, which can dramatically reduce heart attack risk.
