This month on the anniversary of my very first newsletter, I want to refocus on how we can prevent or reverse heart disease, our number one killer, which is now on the rise for people under the age of 40. Many of you know that I reversed my own symptoms of heart disease with a whole food plant-based diet. I was particularly motivated by my family history of high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks after we began to lose younger family members as a result.

The Dean Ornish lifestyle program is very similar to the plan developed by his contemporary and fellow pioneer of diet and lifestyle cardiac intervention, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, whose plan I followed. Both can prevent or reverse the symptoms of cardiovascular disease. With over nearly four decades of data and published studies, the Ornish Program is currently the only intensive cardiology lifestyle program covered by insurance companies and even Medicare. The results for people in this program for just one year are just as good or better than those on standard heart medications, with none of the side effects.

• a mostly plant-based diet, and eating their smallest meal in the early evening
• regular natural movements, like walking or gardening
• routines to shed stress like naps, mindfulness, prayer
• and belonging to close family, friends, social, or religious groups.

Like putting together pieces of a puzzle, research over the last several decades led to our understanding that most chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer’s, and more have a common underlying condition – systemic inflammation. And the process behind chronic inflammation is connected to what happens in our gut, now often called our “second brain.”

We think of the brain – which, along with the spinal cord, makes up our central nervous system – as our most complex organ and the origin of our thoughts, emotions, and signals that direct how our entire body functions. At the other end of the spinal cord is the gut, also part of our nervous system, now known to communicate with the brain and even dictate certain brain behavior. It influences emotions and the development of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The gut also regulates our immune system and inflammatory response. When we eat foods that bacteria and other microbes in our gut need to do their job, our risk for most chronic illnesses declines. 

There is so much confusion about sugar that we end up eating foods we think are good for us but aren’t, or avoiding foods that are good for us in their natural whole form.

Preventing diabetes and controlling blood sugar levels for those who have it traditionally focused on restricting the amount of sugar that we consume. However, in recent years with more dietary studies and data on how diet impacts most chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and common cancers, that is changing. It turns out that it is not sugar, in general, that is the cause of diabetes. The data now show that it is too much saturated fat, processed sugar, and too little fiber in our diet that increases inflammation in our body. It is the inflammation that sets us up for diabetes or other chronic diseases.

Are you 20 years old and want to add 10 to 13 years to your life? Or 60 years old and want to add up to 8.8 years? Or 80+ years old and want to add an extra 3.4 enjoyable years? I don’t know about you, but this got my attention. These results are based on new data showing how much we can gain by changing from a Standard American Diet to an “optimal diet” in which fresh produce, heart-healthy grains, and nuts outweigh the intake of processed foods and red meat. Americans, on average, get only 10% of their calories from whole plant foods, with 58% coming from ultra-processed foods and 32% from meat. This study on the impact of food choices on life expectancy, published in February 2022, did not require giving up meat altogether.

The message that "health care is self-care" has never been more timely or fundamental than now, as we battle Coronovirus-19 around the globe.  Each of us is our own first line of defense for ourselves, families and communities. Here are some tips to help us thrive during and beyond the pandemic, by envisioning what this experience can teach us.