Keys to Reversing Coronary Heart Disease

Heart Disease—It may be the nation's leading cause of death, but it needn't be yours.  You can actually reverse heart disease!

1. Reduce blood cholesterol to less than 160 mg% with a cholesterol-free, low-fat, high fiber diet and with cholesterol-lowering medication, if necessary.
2. Lose weight by eating more "foods-as-grown" and less refined foods and animal products.
3. Drop your high blood pressure by cutting the salt to less than 5 grams (or 5000 milligrams) a day, and by getting into a daily exercise program.
4. Stop smoking and reduce alcohol intake.

 

Heart disease is responsible for almost every second death in the North America—and smoking and diet are the leading causes. It's been said that excess fat is the most harmful element in our rich Western diet. Isn't it time you reduced the amount of fat you are eating?

Getting the Fat Out

Here are four general strategies you can use to reduce fat in your diet.

For more information, we recommend: The Optimal Diet Cookbook This official cookbook used in the CHIP program has 166 pages of delicious, healthy recipes fully approved by the CHIP program for lifestyle change. Click for more...

Substitute: Drink skim milk instead of whole milk. Or, better yet, use a nondairy substitute. Try a bowl of chilled fruit instead of ice cream for dessert. Look for healthful substitutes for the high-fat items in your diet, such as cheeses, meats, dressings, and oils.

Reduce: Instead of ordering an eight-ounce steak, try a smaller portion with pasta or a vegetarian lasagna. Instead of a whole piece of pie, take just a sliver. Eating smaller portions of your favorite high-fat foods allows you to savor a few decadent bites while still being able to reduce fat from your diet.

Eliminate: Eliminate as many temptations as possible. If you don't buy it and bring it into the house, you won't eat it.

Eliminating high-fat foods in your diet can work wonders. In the headline-making studies by Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (Cleveland Clinic), the subjects that reversed the narrowing in their arteries were those who had eliminated meat and high-fat dairy products.

Construct: Processed foods are stuffed with added fat. If you want to regain control over what goes into your body, cook for yourself. Get the Optimal Diet Cookbook and learn how to prepare delicious new dishes. It's the surest way to protect yourself from the deadly effects of too much fat.

Contact CHIP to learn more. "Be Healthy by Choice, Not by Chance!"

For more information, we recommend: Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease By Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, Cleveland Clinic; Avery/Penguin Group, 2007 Based on the groundbreaking results of his 20-year nutritional study, Dr. Esselstyn explains, with irrefutable scientific evidence, how we can end the heart disease epidemic in this country by changing what we eat. Click for more...