Cholesterol

The other night South Beach Diet guru Dr. Arthur Agatston was interviewed about heart health on "Chicago Tonight," a local news program on PBS. I was impressed that he didn't mention eating lean meat in an effort to achieve a healthy heart. But, as is too often the case, he became another doctor in the media who didn't mention eating a vegan diet. He didn't even tell the audience that cholesterol is only found in animal products.

So I wrote to the producers, and Phil Ponce read an edited version of my letter on the air last night:

I'm perplexed as to why doctors are reluctant to advocate a vegan diet for their patients. They're more ready to prescribe a potentially liver-damaging drug to control cholesterol than to tell their patients that cholesterol is only found in animal foods.

The last two sentences of my letter were omitted (which was fine):

Studies have shown that a vegan diet can reverse heart disease, in addition to lowering the risk of certain cancers, diabetes and obesity. After being vegan for less than a year, my cholesterol dropped 38 points.

200 is regarded as the dividing line between normal cholesterol levels and high cholesterol. But the medical community is considering lowering that to 175. In "The China Study" author and medical researcher T. Colin Campbell puts the line at 150, saying that heart attacks still occur in people whose total cholesterol is between 150 and 200.

When I scheduled my first cholesterol test, in 2005, I worried that I'd be over 200 and that I'd have to change my diet. At the time I was still a meat eater, and I loved cheese and cream soups. I was happy to learn that my total cholesterol was 162. Of course, I hadn't yet read "The China Study." A year later, while still a meat-eater, my total cholesterol had jumped to 177. I didn't worry about it because it was still below 200.

The following year, after being vegetarian for a year and vegan for only three months, my total cholesterol had dropped 38 points -- to 139! I had read "The China Study" by then and was glad to see my total cholesterol below 150. And I was psyched to see that changing to a vegetarian diet and then to a vegan one had produced such a dramatic result.

This year I'm going to fast before my test, so I can see the breakdown of good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL). I love food and can't stand to be hungry, so that's why I never fasted for the three previous tests.

While obesity continues to be an epidemic in this country and TV ads for cholesterol medications are now as commonplace as those for headache meds, Americans need to know that the best way to lower their cholesterol (and lose weight) is by eating a whole-foods, vegan diet. Your body naturally produces all the cholesterol it needs. Consuming more by eating animal products only hurts you.

So when your doctor says he wants to put you on medication to lower your cholesterol (and which may damage your liver), tell him you're going to try a vegan diet for six months and get retested then.

Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so please investigate further and make a decision you're comfortable with.

(Image courtesy of PETA.)