Dr. Esselstyn Jr. from Cleveland Clinic Explains Health Benefits of Switching to a Plant-Based Diet

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., director of the Cleveland Clinic's Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Reversal program, spoke at Cleveland State last week to discuss a nutritionally based method to prevent and reverse heart disease.

Esselstyn has conducted research for 20 years, which is the longest study of its kind in this field of research. His results show that switching to a plant-based diet dramatically reduces the chance of cardiovascular disease.

Esselstyn explained that heart disease is a food-borne illness. Other cultures, in which its members survive on a strict plant-based diet, are usually free of heart disease.

Studies have found that at a young age, men and women who follow a Western diet of foods high in fat, were found to already have coronary heart disease established. A majority of males and females who are 65-years-old suffer from cardiovascular disease.

Esselstyn said a Western diet leads to an increase in cell stickiness, which causes the blood to slow down. White blood cells become filled with oxidized particles and plaque begins to build up in the arteries. These conditions make patients prime targets for heart attacks, strokes and heart disease later in life.

He noted that patients who consume a high-fat diet will suffer early effects as well, such as chest pain and difficulty breathing.

The current methods for treating heart disease are medications and medical procedures. Esselstyn said that these methods serve as a temporary patch job. There is an increasing failure rate with the passage of time, as more patients return to the hospital for addition bypass surgeries.

He stressed that cardiologists are relying on these quick fixes instead of addressing the real issue: diet. "This is an industry that's a little out of control," said Esselstyn.

Esselstyn said that part of the problem with the Western diet is the availability of fast food and crash diets. He cited one study in which students who ate breakfast at McDonalds were causing massive damage to their cells, as opposed to those students who ate cereal for breakfast.

"That single meal had so injured those cells that they could not dilate their arteries," explained Esselstyn.

He continued to say that crash diets can also injure cells and deprive the body of essential nutrients and vitamins.

Esselstyn then turned to his own field of research. He explained that the principle way to prevent heart disease is to break away from the Western diet. His nutrition plan includes raw/uncooked vegetables, fresh fruit, limited refined sugar and white flour, no meat or poultry, and no oil.

In addition to healthy eating, he said individuals should exercise regularly and avoid smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol.

Esselstyn has conducted a large quantity of research over the past two decades. In one study, he found that women who added raw vegetables to their meal had a greater number of progenitor cells.

"The results showed strikingly higher amounts of healthy cells in those women who ate five additional vegetables daily," said Esselstyn.

He said that in patients who ate a plant-based diet, both their good and bad cholesterol levels dropped. The diet can strengthen the cap that protects arteries as well as prevent the onset of heart disease.

Esselstyn admitted that the diet is hard for some individuals to follow, but once they notice a change in weight and no longer experience chest pains, they find motivation from within to continue with the diet. He also noted that after about eight weeks into the program, the fat receptor in the brain eliminates the craving for fat.

Esselstyn has published his findings and his program regiment in a book titled "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease."

Esselstyn received his bachelor's degree from Yale University and his master's degree from Western Reserve University. He has followed a plant-based diet for the past 26 years.