Heart Disease
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Success StoriesSee articleI Suffered a Widowmaker Heart Attack at 45. Today I’m Thriving on a Plant-Based Diet
I’ve lived in Texas my whole life, raised by parents who liked to fry stuff. I played high school football and ate like a lineman, with a diet of gravy and chicken-fried steaks and anything else I could dip in gravy. After graduating high school in 1992, my weight became a constant battle. At 6’1”, […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI Dropped 100 Pounds in One Year by Ditching Animal Products, Processed Foods
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2021. Scroll to the end for an inspiring 2025 update from Dave on how his health and life have continued to improve. I’ve been big for most of my life. I wasn’t an obese child, but I was tall and overweight, and I knew I stood out. […] -
Success StoriesSee articleGetting Healthier Together on a Plant-Based Diet
Last year, my husband and I reached a turning point in our health. After several years of gradual weight gain, our BMIs had crossed over into the obese range. I was experiencing heart palpitations that were benign in nature but were still worrisome. In addition, I was borderline hypertensive, with my blood pressure routinely reaching […] -
Success StoriesSee articleFrom Cheese-Loving Vegetarian with Sky-High Blood Pressure to Whole-Food, Plant-Based and Healthy
Around 10 years ago I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I knew in the back of my mind that changing my diet might help, but I was a vegetarian who loved eating dairy, especially cheese, and I had no real interest in actually making a change. My doctor prescribed me medications […] -
Success StoriesSee articleA Plant-Based Diet Cut My LDL Cholesterol in Half
Like many people, I struggled with my weight from a very early age. I tried nearly every diet you can think of. They all worked for a short time, but as soon as I got bored and went back to the way I normally ate, I always gained the weight back, with interest. My road […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI Went Vegan After Cardiac Arrest Nearly Killed Me
February 12, 2013, will live in infamy as my “death day,” but perhaps it would be more accurate to call it my “rebirth day.” I was president of the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, and that day we were celebrating National Sports Day, a holiday to promote sports and healthy lifestyles. The college had a […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI Went Plant-Based to Avoid Needing Statins. The Results Have Been Incredible
My family was self-sufficient on our small Iowa farm in the 1960s and ’70s. We raised, butchered, and packaged cattle, pigs, and chickens for our freezer and canned all our garden produce. It was hard work but very rewarding. Growing up I was never accused of being skinny, but my weight wasn’t much of a […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI Fully Recovered From a Heart Attack in 3 Months of Eating Plants
Two years ago, in January 2018, I had a heart attack. I wasn’t a candidate for one: I had no particular family history of cardiac disease. My cholesterol levels had always been enviably low. I slept well, albeit with a bit of snoring that kept my spouse awake at times. I had very little stress […] -
Success StoriesSee articleAfter 40 Years in the Pizza Business, I Went Plant-Based and Transformed My Health
Feb. 28, 2018, started out like an ordinary day. In the morning, I went to my doctor’s office for my quarterly blood work and checkup. My doctor told me, once again, to lose weight: 12 pounds over the next 12 weeks, before my next checkup. But I’d gotten used to hearing this same thing over […] -
HealthSee articleUnderstanding Heart Disease and Your Diet’s Role in Prevention
WHAT IS HEART DISEASE? When we say “heart disease” here, we’re really referring to cardiovascular disease—a large category encompassing conditions of the heart muscle and coronary arteries as well as the circulatory system and blood vessels. Facets of cardiovascular disease include coronary artery disease (clogged arteries) and heart failure. GET OUR FREE 20-PAGE ULTIMATE PLANT-BASED […] -
WellnessSee articleNew Study: For Stable Heart Disease, Lifestyle Changes and Meds Just as Effective as Bypass, Stents
For people with stable coronary artery disease, stents and bypass surgery are no more effective at reducing rates of heart attack and death than lifestyle changes and medication alone, a recently published large-scale federally funded study shows. The ISCHEMIA trial examined the efficacy of surgical intervention in patients with ischemic heart disease, also known as […] -
Success StoriesSee articleAt 73, I Went Plant-Based and Said Goodbye to Obesity, Heart Disease, Kidney Disease, and Arthritis
Rick McKeon shares his journey from obesity, heart disease, and stage 3 kidney disease back to health on a plant-based diet. Eight years ago, I had a heart attack and triple-bypass open-heart surgery. Even that wasn’t enough to scare me into changing my lifestyle permanently. Sure, I made some short-term changes, but after a few […]
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