Dr. Esselstyn v. Dr. Atkins. Which One Is Correct?

[Barry Reischling]

Hi. I'm a newby to this forum. But I subscribed because of the following recent event:

Last Friday July 15th, my beloved wife of 77 was ambulanced to a local hospital following an EKG showing dramatic hear palpitations. She had been
complaining for a week about lack of breath and chest constriction pains, so we made a quick appointment. When we arrived at the Polyclinic, the admitting doctor,
after giving her an EKG, immedately called an ambulance. The EKG showed symptoms similar to a heart attack. I was stunned. Petrified.

Upon arriving at the hospital, blood test results illuminating the diagnosis and explaining exactly what went wrong with her heart were taken but
are still pending. Emergency room cardiologists following treatment vaguely disclosed that she had "heart irregularities" but could not explain
more precisely what happened. My wife was released after 2 days and is now home recovering.

I'm her husband. I'm 78 years young and fit as a fiddle. 6"2" 190 lbs. I have been on the Atkins Diet for over 20 years. My wife is about 80% vegan,
except for occasional fish. Although she is healthy, she has not been on the Atkins diet. We both play tennis regularly. She has never had a heart problem.

So what's the point? Why I'm I so perplexed?

Well, a highly recommended and well-renowned book by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. called "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease" was
recommended by these same hospital cardiologists, that we read immediately. It was written following a so-called 20-year study of heart-diseased patients.

A quote from this book follows:

• "You may not eat anything with a mother or a face (no meat, poultry, or fish).

• "You cannot eat dairy products.

• "You must not consume oil of any kind—not a drop. (Yes, you devotees of the Mediterranean Diet, that includes olive oil, as I’ll explain in Chapter 10.)

•" Generally, you cannot eat nuts or avocados.

"You can eat a wonderful variety of delicious, nutrient-dense foods:

• "All vegetables except avocado. Leafy green vegetables, root vegetables, veggies that are red, green, purple, orange, and yellowand everything in between

• "All legumes—beans, peas, and lentils of all varieties.

• "All whole grains and products, such as bread and pasta, that are made from them—as long as they do not contain added fats.

• "All fruits.

"It works. In the first continuous twelve-year study of the effects of nutrition in severely ill patients, which I will describe in this book, those who complied
with my program achieved total arrest of clinical progression and significant selective reversal of coronary artery disease. In fully compliant patients, we have
seen angina disappear in a few weeks and abnormal stress test results return to normal."

WHAT?? This is 180 degree opposite of Atkins. How in the world in this modern medical age can their be such an alarming incongruous disparity of opinion between two diet professionals
as to what Atkins prescribes and what is written above?.

Would appreciate any comments. Frankly, I 'm suddenly at a loss to recommend which diet she should follow. This is frustrating as hell!

Barneycat1575

[FlorayG]

I haven't read this book but I had a look at his website. On the home page it says "...With this eating plan, sufferers of heart disease will maintain cholesterol levels low enough to ensure that they will never have a heart attack."
Well, there's NO evidence whatsoever that high cholesterol causes heart attacks. People who have heart attacks may tend to have high cholesterol, but that's not the same thing. One does not cause the other.
In the excerpt from the book he talks about 'the toxic American diet' what does he mean by that? Americans eat too much carbohydrate these days, and yet he recommends wholewheat? Also he says of his diet '.the nutritional program I recommend is that it contains not a single item of any food known to cause or promote the development of vascular disease...' No food causes vascular disease. It's the way your body processes food causes problems.

I suggest you read the book with an open mind but question his statements, and I recommend you read 'The Diet Delusion' by Gary Taube to help you learn how to winkle facts out of statements

[FlorayG]

I've just read the scientific article on this site http://www.heartattackproof.com/reversal01.htm
This is not a properly conducted study. First, there were no controls. Second, the experiment used cholesterol lowering drugs AND diet, so there is no way to know which of the two had the effect. 18 people adhered to the diet but results for only 11 of these are shown - what about the other 7?
And the bottom line is...OK, the non-adherent subjects had more cardiac events. But in the end, which group lived longer??? Did the people who stuck with him die of something else caused or exacerbated by this diet?
If his entire philosophy is based on this one experiment then I think he should stick to being a GP and give up scientific study.

[david7307]

Barry iam 58 male a bit over weight 6'4" 123kg
last November i was working and ran out of breath chest pains ,then i came right then it hit again then it went ,that afternoon i was ok no trouble
went home told wife ,next morning i went out early to feed hens and did not get 30 meters when i ran out of breath pain in chest ,rushed to local hospital on all machines in emergency ,found nothing wrong
have had all heart tests done breathing test done nothing ,it took me 2 months to be able to drive a car ,and i still have shortness of breath some times ,i used to walk 2 to 4 k a day when this hit i could not walk 50 mt ,and now i have heard of about 6 more people that have had same experience

[Shrinkin'Sue]

I HAVE HAD EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPEN!

However, I was lucky that when I was rushed to hospital with my 'heart attack', and after being subjected to an angiogram which showed that I had NOT had a heart attack, an intern suggested that my lungs be examined. The chief cardiologist had been quite happy to just discharge me.

The lung examination showed that I had a fairly major Pulmonary Embolism, resulting in a 30% loss of lung function. The chief cardiologist (or chief hypocrite as I now call him) warned me that this was extremely serious. 30% of all patients who have one die; the remaining 70% die if they have a second one.

So, can I suggest that you have this aspect checked out? Mine was nearly 6 years ago, and was caused by taking hormone replacement and Sibutramine, sold here as "Reductil" - an appetite suppressant! It has since been banned from sale in Australia as WAY too many people had major, in some cases fatal, problems. A close friend of mine had a catastrophic stroke, in 2004, and is still in rehab!

Worth checking, folks? The symptoms are very similar to a heart attack, which is why I was consigned to the cardiac ward.

[Shrinkin'Sue]

Barneycat1575, we are hunter / gatherers - that is indisputable, anthropological fact!

To attempt to follow a diet which eliminates all animal foods will inevitably lead to problems - my 43 year old friend who persists in doing so now weighs over 150kg (330 pounds) at 5'5" and has cirrhosis of the liver from her fat. She is a lifetime abstainer from alcohol.

I feel for your wife's position; as teenager I was determined to become a vegan, to save the poor cows. My father, a very smart man, pointed out to me that if we ALL did that, cattle in particular would be extinct in a very short time - they are large animals that take up a lot of space, and as soon as they ceased to be food the human race would refuse to allocate them the necessary space. Sad, but probably true?

[daffodyllady]

...
To attempt to follow a diet which eliminates all animal foods will inevitably lead to problems - my 43 year old friend who persists in doing so now weighs over 150kg (330 pounds) at 5'5" and has cirrhosis of the liver from her fat. She is a lifetime abstainer from alcohol.
...?

I also have fatty liver disease, even though I do not drink alcohol at all. The metabolic disturbances that cause high triglycerides and low HDL will also eventually cause the liver to become fatty just as in Alcoholic Liver Disease.

I am taking Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) at 500mg/day to help combat the fatty liver. It has been shown to be completely safe up to 1200mg/day. Pantothenic Acid is used in making Coenzyme A, which is a vital catalyst for burning fat. Pantothenic Acid has been tested in numerous small studies, and has been proven so effective in lowering unhealthy lipids that it is used in Japan and Europe instead of statin drugs, and it has no bad side effects. It has also been proven to cause accelerated burning of internal abdominal fat.

My weight loss has sped up since starting this a week ago, and I am doing nothing different. I am sticking to my regular Atkins diet, which had stalled.

I am now down 24 lbs (from July), and am feeling a lot smaller around my middle. Energy levels are through the roof!