Broccoli and Lentils OR Heart Transplant Surgery?

Last week, former Vice President Cheney was in the news—receiving a heart transplant that he’d waited 20 months to receive. A veteran of five previous heart surgeries (ages 37, 43, 47, 59 and 69), apparently he either thinks that the heart-disease reversing diet is too extreme OR maybe no one ever told him that he had a choice. (See USA Today article at end of this post)

Was Mr. Cheney lucky? The fact that Mr. Cheney was receiving a heart transplant at age 71 has raised a few eyebrows. Some feel that politics or money may have had something to do with him getting one of only 2300 available hearts per year. There are currently 3100 people on the list. Might he have been much luckier had he learned about how to easily reverse his heart disease back in his 30’s and 40’s when he first began having heart procedures?

Heart transplant surgery is now considered common and routine—not extreme at all.

But he didn’t take that route and now that he  has his new heart, his life in the years ahead may not be that pleasant. The article reports that he may live another five years if he is lucky, but those five years will be no picnic; as the article reports:

The first year after transplant will involve intensive medical care and monitoring to make sure that Cheney’s body doesn’t reject the new organ. He will have to take drugs to suppress his immune system, to prevent it from attacking the new heart, and doctors will biopsy the transplanted heart to make sure it’s not being rejected.

But turning down the immune system carries its own risks, such as leaving the body vulnerable to infection. He will also be at risk of a specific type of heart disease in the long term, Walsh said….Prominent cardiologist Eric Topol, who consulted on Cheney’s care during his first run for vice-president, said that people of Cheney’s age “don’t generally do so well” after a heart transplant.

Now for the broccoli and lentils option

Eating broccoli and lentils is considered an “extreme” diet.

President Clinton, now 65, was the lucky one. While he had previous heart surgeries as well, he had the good fortune of learning about the life-saving information from Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish.

And, after learning that information, he decided that making the switch to a whole foods, plant-based (near vegan) diet was worth it. Since making the decision in 201o, Mr. Clinton is doing all that he can do to make sure that he gets to meet his grandchildren.

And I’ll have some “extreme” lentil soup with that broccoli…

Think you might prefer the Clinton approach with the broccoli and lentils compared to the nightmare that Mr. Cheney is suffering? Think your loved ones might like to hear more about the superior method of heart disease reversal?

If so, you might want to share this post with them, because they’re not likely to hear about the Clinton method from their cardiologist or from the American Heart Association website.

Take a few minutes, watch these two short videos and share this information with people that you care about. It could save their lives.

Ali Velshi of CNN interviews Dr. Gupta

Want to watch the entire 40-minute special? After watching the first video above, just click on the image on the right side of the screen after on the short video ends. If you don’t have time right now, take a look at the two-minute highlight below—featuring Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Sharon Kintz, one of his patients.

Two-minute highlight with Dr. Gupta and Dr. Esselstyn

Want more information? Here are a handful of blogs that I posted in the few weeks following that great CNN special.

• ConsumerReports. Deceptive “confusion” on Heart Disease (posted on 9-18-11)
• Bill Clinton — social change, urgency and activism (posted on 9-12-11)
• Gupta over Oz…when it comes to CLARITY! (posted on 9-5-11)
• “The Last Heart Attack” on CNN (My review) + link to video (posted on 8-29-11)

Want to help eliminate heart disease? Share this post with everyone you know—not just people you think might be sick. As Dr. Esselstyn says, many millions of people (who think they’re in great health) already have coronary artery disease—they just haven’t had their first heart attack yet.

Got E.D.? While fixing your heart, those broccoli and lentils are likely also to eliminate your erectile dysfunction at the same time—for no additional charge. Erectile dysfunction can save your life. Who knew?

USA Today 3-25-12 Cheney recovering after heart transplant.

Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

International. We’re now reaching people in over 100 countries. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or get daily blog notices by “following” us in the top of the right-hand column. For occasional updates, join our periodic mailing list.

J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

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Blogging daily at hpjmh.com…from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation