Could Food Reverse Disease? by Craig Bell

What if heart disease, cancer, and diabetes were in your family history, is this your fate?  
I began to wonder about the chronic illnesses hypertension that has plagued my family for generations. My doctor said to me I would have to take high blood pressure medication for the “rest of my life.” But I did not agree with her prognosis.  
Why should a doctor and a pharmaceutical company be able to sentence me to a life on prescription drugs. Why was I in this predicament? 
I started seeking solutions to improve my blood pressure which initially led me to a book called, "The China Study”. The China Study was a study that took place in China, over 20 years, in 65 countries with 6500 people, and 367 variables. Dr. T. Colin Campbell:
"indicated that the lower the percentage of animal protein consumed, the greater the health benefits. Even relatively small intakes of animal protein were associated with adverse effects. People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. Eating less meat or no meat and far more fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes is best for people."  (Edwards, 2018)
 Another study, conducted by cardiac surgeon Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s, aimed to see if heart disease can be reversed with nutrition.  So, he stopped doing heart surgeries and developed a strict plant-based diet, that includes no S.O.S. (sugar, oil, salt), to heal his patients without surgery. Esselstyns 21-year study, showed the reversal of heart disease can occur if the proper nutrition is adhered to (Esselstyn, 2007).   
By switching to a plant-based lifestyle my hypertension has improved so much, that my antihypertensive drugs were reduced by half. I am reversing my heart disease.

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My research led me to areas in the world called blue zones. A blue zone is an area in the world where people live longer than most from their culture. There are only five blue zones in the world and one in the United States, in Loma Linda, California which is populated mostly by vegetarian eating Seventh-Day Adventist. Seventh-day Adventist live an average of 10 years longer than most Americans. One study, conducted on 73,000 Loma Linden’s concluded that "vegetarian diets are associated with lower all-cause mortality and with some reductions in cause-specific mortality", (Orlich, et al, 2014) which shows that diet does have effect on death and its causes.
I came across some disturbing information in the documentary, “What the Health”, in which Kip Andersen revealed how the continued push for consumption of animal and animal products is directly related to money, and not the health and welfare of Americans (Andersen, 2017).

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The evidence is overwhelming and convincing that we can delay, avoid, or reverse familiar disease like heart disease, cancer and diabetes by eating a plant-based diet. Your family history of disease has more to do with the historical eating patterns not with the history of your genetic make-up.
 
Andersen, K. 2017. What the health
[Video file] Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AL4EX53gFY
Edwards, J. (November 21, 2018) The China Study: Lessons We Need to Know.
Retrieved from: https://nutritionstudies.org/the-china-study-3-lessons-we-need-to-know/

Esselstyn, C. 2007 Aug 31. We Can Prevent and Even Reverse Coronary Artery Heart Disease. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4191896/

Orlich, M.J., Singh P. N., Sabaté J., Jaceldo-Siegl K., Fan, J., Synnove Knutsen, S., Beeson, W. L., Fraser, G. E.
(2014). Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Mortality in Adventist Health Study 2
Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4191896/


Picture References
Chain to giant pill. [Drawing] (n.d.)
Retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=chained+to+medicines&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS811US811&sxsrf=ACYBGNQ_m7ajdKFKMH_wbhL414ZtpvsFWg:1576300942241&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwieneLNsrTmAhVVJ80KHYnrDgcQ_AUoAnoECA0QBA&biw=1366&bih=598#imgrc=7k3IJsbAsSpQgM:
 
 
ClipArt. Open thought bubble. [Drawing]. (n.d.)
Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS811US811&biw=800&bih=516&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACYBGNTD9hdxHfybpAOFNbEqlNO27ggCWg%3A1576300948559&sa=1&ei=lHH0XdneIYO1tAbPypPACQ&q=idea+bubble&oq=idea+bubble&gs_l=img.3..0l10.655232.663318..666863...3.0..5.2572.15731.0j6j1j7-7j0j2......0....1..gws-wiz-img.....10..35i39j35i362i39j0i131.MNRAi0aySjQ&ved=0ahUKEwjZ-OPQsrTmAhWDGs0KHU_lBJgQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=ML_1wU9rff_26M:


Harvard Health Publishing. January 2018. [Picture]
Retrieved from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/media/content/images/p6_HeartFood_N1801_ts516546584.jpg