I am mostly glad to receive your emails about how you all guys integrate in your lives the principles outlined in this blog! A few weeks ago a reader contacted me about her husband’s case of severe Congestive Heart Failure and how he tackled this debilitating condition in a totally unconventional, yet highly efficient way. The lovely lady gave me permission to publish a post based on her husband’s case, explaining the diagnosis, suggested medical treatment and the regime this brave man decided to follow. I wanted to publish this post because above all I believe that our food can have a powerful effect and amazing healing power; our food is information to our genes. When we give our bodies the raw materials that promote health, our DNA has no choice but to promote health, it is genetically programmed to do so. Therefore, here it is, the first case study of this blog, proving that people around the world save their lives by going beyond the “conventional drug madness” of the medical society. I will briefly describe this case and then make some comments on this story, just to clarify a few details for us all.
For practical reasons and in order to keep the anonymity of the couple, let’s name the gentleman Mark and his lovely wife Jane. So, Mark was diagnosed with severe Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in 2008; a debilitating and potentially deadly disease. This means that Mark’s heart was found to be unable to provide with enough blood to meet his body’s needs. According to Jane, his heart was much compromised to the point that “initially he was unable to do more than shuffle a few steps without pausing to catch his breath”. The standard medical approach to this condition include prescription of statins, ACE – inhibitors, diuretics and anti – platelet drugs on top of a suggested fat free diet.
Most of you probably know that statins are given to lower the blood cholesterol levels (because most doctors still believe that cholesterol causes atherosclerosis and subsequently heart attacks).
- Statins (Symvastatin): lowers blood cholesterol levels
- ACE inhibitor (Lisinopril): lowers blood pressure, relieves heart stress
- Diuretic(Furosemide): help to excrete extra water and fluids
- Anti platelet (Plavix): prevents blood clots from forming,” blood thinning”
Mark took the full range of this cocktail of heart drugs (Simvastatin, Lisinopril, Furosemide and Plavix) for 3 months without any improvement whatsoever, on top of feeling very weak and lacking energy. He decided that there must be a better way to manage his disease so he quit taking all the above drugs except for the diuretic, which he quit taking as well a month later substituting it with cabbage water (cabbage is a natural diuretic). Jane wrote to me that at the point Mark quit his drugs his feet were really swollen as well.
Mark adopted a nutritional approach and also started to build his cardiovascular strength through exercise. He would essentially take no drugs, except for supplements. For a period of time he agreed to take the minimum dose of a beta – blocker, due to the fact that his pulse was relatively fast (90s) but he no longer needs to take it. Beta blockers are used to manage heart arrhythmias and diminish the effects of stress hormones. His diet at the moment is as follows:
| Mark’s Diet | ||
| Yes foods | Definitely No foods | |
| Free range eggs | Dark Turkey | Grains and relevant products (bread included) |
| Free range pork belly | Nuts: almonds | Vegetable or seed oils |
| Sardines | Very little fruit. | Fruit juices |
| Steamed or Sautéed (in coconut oil) veggies | ||
| Loads of vegetables | ||
| Extra Virgin Olive oil | ||
| Spices: turmeric, cinnamon, ginger | ||
Most of you are probably able to see how different this diet is from what any conventional doctor would ever recommend; most probably a cardiologist would have a heart attack just by reading this diet indeed! It includes very healthy fatty foods like free range pork belly, sardines, free range eggs, extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil as well. I must say that I am seriously impressed with Mark’s dietary choices and by the fact that he refused to continue with the mainstream drugs for his heart. He quit the highly toxic and inflammatory vegetable oils which are so popular now and substituted them with extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil; the perfect combination of high quality monounsaturated and saturated oil. The types of fats that Mark has chosen to eat, have contributed massively to his recovery, I have absolutely no doubt about that. His health has improved massively and is enjoying the benefits of a vibrant health despite the fact that his heart is certainly quite compromised from the chronic disease that was diagnosed in 2008. Jane said that “when I think that a simple tread mill test was abandoned because of concern over the precarious condition of his heart, I feel that the scale of the improvement needs no further measure”.
Mark is a living proof of several facts that modern medicine has reluctantly started to accept. Most important, cholesterol and dietary fat in general do not cause atherosclerosis and therefore do not pose any threat to our cardiovascular health. In fact they contribute to genuine health, protect the heart and help the body recover fast; cholesterol is a healing molecule among other roles. As you can see Mark is much healthier with his dietary approach and exercise regime than he was when he was taking the heart drugs cocktail his cardiologist prescribed for his condition. He was brave enough to observe and acknowledge that these drugs were not helping him and then even braver to adopt a completely alternative solution.
Secondly, you can see the power of food in your health even when we talk about serious debilitating disease. Mark improved physically and regained much of his stamina by ditching the drugs and eating healthily. His body responded perfectly and recovered to the point that was physically possible given the injuries his heart sustained over the years. I guess that it becomes quite obvious that there are some foods and drugs that just cannot work well with our bodies (see toxic drugs, refined vegetable oils). On the other hand, it is also very obvious that there is a whole group of natural foods and substances that can produce miracles against all odds just because our bodies are perfectly adapted to assimilate and use (healthy fats, fruit and veggies).
