Optimal Health Weekly Podcast

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of adults. This week Dr Jerry Meier MD joins Optimal Health Weekly Podcast to discuss how coronary artery disease develops and how plant-based nutrition has been shown to prevent, stop and even reverse heart disease.

A recent study published in 2020 looked at 248 patients to further investigate whether eating a plant-based diet could help stop or reverse heart disease. It found of the 45% patients who stuck to the diet, the majority reported a reduction in symptoms and 22 per cent had disease reversal confirmed by test results. The study didn’t just rule out animal products it also cut out added oils, refined carbohydrates, processed foods, sugar, excess salt, avocados, fruit juices, and nuts. Physical activity was also encouraged and prescribed medication continued for most of the patients.

Participants in the study had all heard about the earlier study and wanted to follow a strict plant-based diet to reduce the risk of heart disease, so they were already motivated to change their diet. They were also given information about recipes, how to read food labels so they could select foods that best fit the diet, and how to make sure the diet they choose met their overall nutritional needs. This is an important point, as the level of restriction required for this diet could make it difficult to maintain longterm. 

Links from the show:

1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20353118
2. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronary-heart-disease/
3. https://stemcellthailand.org/therapies/heart-disease-myocardial-ischemia-chd/
4. https://www.heartandstroke.ca/heart-disease/what-is-heart-disease/types-of-heart-disease
5. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/conditions/coronary-heart-disease