Heart disease kills one American every 34 seconds. I almost joined these ugly and startling statistics. Eight months ago, at one o’clock in the morning, mean and miserable pain awakened me.
According to dictionary.com, angina, also known as angina pectoris is “a sudden intense pain in the chest, often accompanied by feelings of suffocation, caused by a momentary lack of adequate blood supply to the heart muscle.”
Three days later I was sporting a 10-inch scar on my chest. Superb surgeon Dr. Didier De Canniere at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine performed a quadruple bypass open heart surgery on me and I was given a new lease on life. Now at 74, I feel renewed and full of life again, ready to chase after that tennis ball and eager to take up skydiving.
Could I have avoided the agony of the heart-stopping surgery (yes, they stopped my heart for dreadfully long minutes) and dodged the prospect of ruining my active life as an avid tennis enthusiast? Yes, I am convinced I could have avoided the 911 call had my preceding change of heart been carried out a decade or so earlier. A life of leisure and fun — highlighted by reckless dietary practices of juicy steaks and oily tidbits — had finally caught up with me.
One year prior to my night of horror, I committed myself to a strict diet advised by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn in his book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (heartattackproof.com). That along with my daily intake of a shot of wheat grass delivered positive results: I lost 35 pounds of excess weight, cut my cholesterol in half, and passed a tough stress test with flying colors.
The good doctor urges the health conscious to not eat anything with a face or a mother. This means any kind of meat including red meat, poultry and fish. No dairy. He also suggests avoiding oils of any kinds, refined grains and nuts.
Allowable foods include all vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fruit. Acceptable beverages are water, seltzer water, oat milk, nonfat soy milk, coffee and tea. Alcohol in moderation is fine.
So live a healthy, hearty life and enjoy peace of mind for many happy years to come.Heinz Dinter is a Miami-based online publisher at GrandLifestyle.com. Author of the booklets 101 Tips For Finding Peace Of Mind and 101 Tips For Embracing the Golden Years, Dinter is a retired computer scientist with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, Master of Science degree in Management and Ph.D. in Eonomics and Business Administration from the University of Florida. Dinter can be reached at hdinter@grandlifestyle.com.
“Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings.” Ancient Roman Writer Publilius Syrus
