My health status is good. I’m 61 years old. I’m 5’10”, weigh 162 pounds, and my body fat percentage is 17%. I exercise about 5 days a week – jogging, weight-training, and stretching. I am not on any medications. But this page is about the journey – not the endpoint.
In December 1999, I weighed 230 pounds, hadn’t exercised in 30+ years, was on high-blood pressure medication, and used a CPAP machine for my sleep apnea. I had a high-stress job at Intel (Work Bio), worked 70+ hours a week, and my doctor was threatening to put me on a statin for high-cholesterol. I needed to make a change.
Back in mid-1997, I had decided to retire from Intel in 1Q2001, unless Intel made some changes, which with Barrett at the helm (in 1999) was extremely unlikely. I was thinking that I would get my health (weight, diet, exercise) in line after I retired. But then I thought, why wait? Couldn’t I do something starting now (December 1999) to start the ball rolling?
I did. I went on the Atkins diet, and stuck with it. My cholesterol came down, and so I avoided the statin. By the time that I left Intel at the end of February in 2001, I weighed 175. After retiring, I started an exercise program with a trainer and continued on Atkins until I got down to 165. I then transitioned to more of a Mediterranean diet.
But then I had an EBCT (electron-beam computer tomography) to see if I had any calcium (plaque) in my heart arteries. I did. My calcium score was 132 – not good, but I was already doing something for it. Also, because of my exercise program, the results of my stress test were quite good. I was able to get off high-blood pressure meds, and no longer needed the CPAP machine. So, I had abused my body in the past, but all would be good now. Right?
Unfortunately, not. About 3 years ago, I took another EBCT. I had a high calcium score, 435 (95th percentile for my age) – bad. Arteriosclerosis. However, my nuclear stress tests (last one, 1 year ago) have been excellent for the last 7 years. But because of the Calcium score, and my tendency to elevated blood pressure, my doc has had me on statins. I developed calf muscle pain while jogging on the 1st 2 statins (Vytorin, and then Crestor 5mg), after about 2 months on them. The pain continued to worsen in the 3rd month. After stopping the statin, the calf pain while running went away in 3 to 5 days. I then tried diet by itself (South-Beach like) and no statin. But I could only get my LDL down to 110. With my high calcium score, my doc wanted it below 70. So I then tried a very weak statin, Lovastatin 10mg, which got my LDL down to about 85. I then added 1gm Niacin. This dropped it another 10 points. Since 2001, I also had a high HDL (the good cholesterol) – 60 to 80.
Over the last 3 years, my cardio-vascular performance slowly deteriorated. It was still good, e.g. I could do a 5K (3.12 miles) in 35 minutes, but slower than the 28 minutes that I use to do it in. I no longer had the calf pain with the Lovastatin/Niacin, but I still thought that this might be the cause of my cardio-vascular degradation.
So, I really wanted to get off all drugs, especially the statin. Based on various internet/book readings (see below), I decided to try a low-fat vegan diet (no animal products, no dairy, no nuts, and no oils). I’ve been on this diet for almost 5 months now. I stopped all drugs (Lovastatin 10mg, Niacin 1g, Avapro 150mg) 2 weeks after starting the diet.
Since being off my blood pressure medication (the Avapro), my blood pressure has been OK – averaging about 130/78. I had my blood drawn 4 weeks after stopping all drugs. My LDL was 82, and HDL was 59. So a low-fat Vegan diet does work!
The diet translates to (based on calories): 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, 10% fat. In other words, it is the exact opposite of the Atkins diet.
This diet is advocated by Doctors John McDougall (http://www.drmcdougall.com/) and Caldwell B. Esselstyn (http://www.heartattackproof.com/). Lots of info at both sites. The Esselstyn studies on reversing arteriosclerosis are persuasive (check out http://www.heartattackproof.com/reversal01.htm). Of course, Dean Ornish also recommends this kind of diet, and perhaps has done the best peer-reviewed studies on reversing arteriosclerosis. His relatively new book, The Spectrum, has some great info,and is worth a read: http://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Scientifically-Proven-Program-Better/dp/0345496310/.
At the McDougall site, a good place to look is his hot topics page: http://www.drmcdougall.com/medical_hottopics.html. Here is one of his articles on statins: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/may/statins.htm.
To get a jump start on this diet, my wife, Iris, and I went on a 1-week McDougall trip to Costa Rica from Feb. 4th to 11th. At this point, I intend to stay on this diet forever (perhaps with the exception of Italy trips – too difficult to resist the olive oils and gelato). Pics from our trip are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/fjpollack/McDougallTripToCostaRica2009, but only the 1st 3 are worth a look – rest are boring.
If you are concerned about cancer risk or surviving it, read the China Study, http://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Comprehensive-Nutrition-Implications/dp/1932100385 by T. Colin Campbell. He also advocates a low-fat plant-based diet. His research indicates that casein in dairy products (eg milk and cheese) fuels the growth of cancer. Casein doesn’t cause cancer, though.
Since being off medications and on a low-fat vegan diet, my cardio-vascular performance has improved. My average 5K time is down to ~32 minutes. For the last 8 years, I have been using a Polar heart rate monitor when I exercise, so this is not a placebo effect. And, I do feel better (which, of course could be such an effect).
I am NOT saying that statins are bad! For me, they are, and various physician reports indicate some patients can’t tolerate statins. I am one of those.
People are Vegans or Vegetarians for other reasons than mine. Industrial farming (principally the raising of animals in industrial-sized feed lots) is responsible for ~20% of greenhouse gas emissions. ~70% percent of the antibiotics produced in the US are fed to animals in feedlots. This practice nurtures the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. The animal waste from the feed lots, and the fertilizers and pesticides used on industrial farms for growing the feed for the feedlots, pollute our rivers and lakes.
But, in all honesty, my reason for being a vegan is not the noble one of “save the planet”, it is just the selfish one, “save me”.
Fred's Corner 
I’m glad you wrote this, Fred. It all makes sense now. When you started, I wasn’t so sure. Years ago I read the Dean Ornish suff but dismissed it since I didn’t think any actual human beings were able to eat like this. But his conclusions always seemed sensible – just impossible. Thanks for clearing up all the mystery.
Hi
I read your page with interest. I have just had a calcium scan and my score came back at 70 (very high for a 59 year old woman). My doctor has not, as yet, put me on statins and seems unconcerned with the score. I too exercise daily and have a good diet, 80% fruit and veg, very litte dairy, just a small portion of Edam or Gouda cheese a day (it is high in Vit.K2 which keeps the calcium in the bones and out of the arteries) and almost no fat. What I want to know is how can you prevent a heart attack if you cannot prevent the calcium from building up in your arteries.
Denise
Thanks for sharing. Is 10% Protein enough for muscle development, specially with daily exercise?
Thanks.
Ehud
Yes. With daily exercise, your calories also go up. So, if you maintain the 10% ratio, your protein intake will also increase.
Humans grow the fastest rate from birth to 6 months. During this time, most infants are just on breast milk. About 5-6% of the calories from breast milk are in the form of protein.
Some human experiments indicate that adults should get 0.6g of protein per kg-of-body-weight. However, to allow for variability of protein sources and different human metabolism, this is upped to 0.8g/kg as a recommendation, i.e. about 56g of protein for a 155 pound adult. Assuming 2200 calories per day, 56g is about 10% of the calories (4 kcal/g of protein).
On a low-fat vegan diet, it is practically impossible to get less than 10% of your calories from protein. My steel cut oats cereal in the morning is 15% protein; black beans, 25%; brown rice, 10%; sweet potato, 7%; broccoli, 40%. Even when you look at the suggested daily value (DV) of each of the 8 essential amino acids, you can meet your DV of each one by simply consuming just 650 calories of steamed broccoli. Unfortunately, that is ~15 cups of broccoli.
Fruits have less protein then vegetables, legumes, and grains, and thus, serve to bring down the overall percentage, e.g. they serve to balance the higher protein content of beans, tofu, oatmeal, etc.
On average, I go to the gym 4 times per week, 90-100 minutes per session. Each session consists of cardio (jogging), weight-training, and stretching. My protein intake is between 10 and 15% – I would guesstimate somewhat closer to 15 than 10.
I just listened to a recent lecture by T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, and he provided an update of the link between protein intake and cancer growth. In animal studies, when animal protein intake exceeded 10% of calories, cancer growth occurred – the higher the percentage (up to 20%) the faster the growth. Below 10%, no growth. However, when plant protein sources were used, the threshhold for growth was at 20%. The exact mechanism to explain the difference between animal and plant sources is not known, and there are some hypotheses that are being investigated. One hypothesis is all the phyto nutrients in plant foods (and there are studies that have shown various phyto nutrients can stop cancer growth). Another hypotheis has to do with the different amino acid ratio in plants vs. animal sources. Perhaps, the different fats are an additional factor. Clearly, more research is needed.
Thanks Fred for posting on the John Mauldin blog regarding John’s visit to the Cleveland Clinic. Your post started me on a journey which is long over due. I raise cattle (grass finished Longhorns/mix) and so I’ll probalby never go completely vegan. However, I do plan to alter my ratio of protein/carb/fat.
Best regards,
Ed Wiliams
Texas