Heart Healthy Diets

Most medical doctors have only had one nutrition course throughout their whole medical education but they have been thoroughly trained in prescribing prescription pills. Because of this they have little nutritional knowledge and are reluctant to recommend diet as a first line defense against heart disease. And many times common medical wisdom is just plain wrong as in the margarine/butter debate.

There are a few doctors who specialize in treating heart disease with diet. Dr. Dean Ornish was the first to show heart disease was reversible through diet. Watch him speak about diet and lifestyle http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dean_ornish_on_the_world_s_killer_diet.html Information on his recommendations are here http://www.pmri.org/?p=jtb Another doctor with great success with diet changes is Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. His website is http://heartattackproof.com/ Be sure to watch the video. Yet another doctor with a similar philosophy is Dr. McDougall http://www.drmcdougall.com/about.html While all of these doctors feature low fat vegetarian foods which some people might find extreme, there is also evidence that a more mainstream diet which contains plenty of fruit and vegetables can also work to lower both blood pressure and cholesterol. The DASH Diet, which I believe originally came out of either Harvard or Tufts University is recognized by the American Heart Association as being able to lower both numbers. Yet even though this diet is proven to work, you will find few mainstream physicians that are even aware of this diet. You can find out more at http://www.dashforhealth.com/pages/public/index.php and also http://dashdiet.org/