Chapters 3 & 4

[Donna]

“The innermost lining of all the blood and lymph vessels and the heart is called the endothelium…”
Endothelium matters most, especially during COVID:
https://dolifemed.org/healthier-you/2...

[Donna]

In chapter 4 Dr. Esselstyn outlines cholesterol parameters for his study targeted below 150 mg/dL,

He based this number on the work of T.Colin Campbell of Cornell University’s China Study’s numbers, where the residents of rural China who rarely have Coronary Artery Disease falls between 90-150 mg/dL.

According to this chapter:
“Cholesterol is a white, waxy substance that is not found in plants-only animals…our bodies need cholesterol, and they manufacture it on their own.”

The most important thing to note: “…eating fat causes the body to manufacture excessive amounts of cholesterol, which explains why vegetarians who eat oil, butter, milk, ice cream, glazed doughnuts, and French pastry develop coronary artery disease despite their avoidance of meat.”

[Eric]

The link between endothelial damage and coronary artery disease has been well-established. It’s pretty clear to me how our diet can lead to a heart attack. It’s important to consider that our diet’s impact on endothelial function can also have an effect on our immune system by disturbing our lymph vessel function.

[Donna]

So yes, and in Chapter 4 “A Primer on Heart Disease” the bypass surgery described on pg 33 CRITICAL to highlight. It is so important that we understand taking a blood vessel away from another location in the body to graft in and go around blockages is not solving any problem (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, CABG).

Eventually CABG’s wear out, more importantly they do not stop more vessels from getting harmed.

Even less invasive procedures like drug-eluting stents, which prop open a diseased vessel, can cause injury and lead to clots while the drug in the stent inhibits the vessel's capacity to heal!

Eating habits MUST be addressed. Whole food plant-based diet shown to reverse this disease process. We are doing harm if we ignore the elephant in the room as to how that patient got into this predicament in the first place.