Insights · September 6th, 2011
Is it wise to choose a better diet over surgery? The answer may be yes! After studying cancer and finding that certain cultures around the world do not get heart disease, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., a general surgeon, discovered that a strict diet can prevent heart attacks. In this case, the diet is difficult to abide by, but definitely possible. Dr. Esselstyn recommends no dairy, no eggs, no added oils and no meat.
This is not really new. Such diet ideas have been around for a long time, and are occasionally modified by new information. But, is the idea of intervening in your own health via diet becoming a significant future trend? The trend appears in the continued interest in and market for nutraceuticals – food supplements aimed at better health – and in the faster growing interest in organic, natural and local foods.
When the Institute for Systems Biology envisions the future of medicine, they propose that health care will become increasingly predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory. By participatory they mean that through better access to information individuals will take more charge of, and responsibility for their health. How you eat seems likely to become a key ingredient in participating in being healthy.
Watch the CNN video at this link to hear about one woman’s decision to save her life by making big changes to her diet.
Woman chooses food over surgery
We are on the cusp of what could be an absolute revolution in health — not dependent on pills, procedures or operations, but on lifestyle,” Esselstyn says.
