Esselstyn Caldwell B
Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, Lyndhurst, Ohio.
Am J Lifestyle Med. 2016 Jul 8;10(5):313-317. doi: 10.1177/1559827616638647. eCollection 2016 Sep-Oct.
During the past 40 years, we have witnessed significant advances in the pharmaceutical and interventional treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which have helped achieve a decrease in morbidity and mortality for this illness. Nevertheless, CVD remains the number 1 killer of women and men in Western civilizations. This fact is in stark contrast to the scenario in multiple whole food, plant-based nutrition (WFPBN) cultures, where CVD is virtually nonexistent. The utility of plant-based nutrition to halt and prevent CVD has been demonstrated epidemiologically, during wartime deprivation, in large cohort and population transitioning studies, and through prospective randomized and nonrandomized investigations. A basic scientific study confirms that omnivores have intestinal bacteria capable of converting animal food to trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), which injures blood vessels, whereas those eating plants only do not have intestinal bacteria capable of producing TMAO. Despite this overwhelming evidence for the safety, simplicity, and efficacy of plant nutrition to halt and prevent , the cardiovascular medicine community has failed to embrace this option of therapy and persists in palliative treatments associated with high morbidity, mortality, and expense. It is long overdue to question why.
在过去40年里，我们见证了心血管疾病（CVD）药物治疗和介入治疗取得的重大进展，这些进展有助于降低该疾病的发病率和死亡率。然而，在西方文明中，CVD仍然是男性和女性的头号杀手。这一事实与多种全食物、植物性营养（WFPBN）文化中的情况形成鲜明对比，在这些文化中，CVD几乎不存在。植物性营养对阻止和预防CVD的作用已在流行病学研究、战时匮乏时期、大型队列和人群转变研究以及前瞻性随机和非随机调查中得到证实。一项基础科学研究证实，杂食者的肠道细菌能够将动物食物转化为氧化三甲胺（TMAO），从而损害血管，而纯素食者则没有能够产生TMAO的肠道细菌。尽管有大量证据表明植物性营养在阻止和预防方面具有安全性、简易性和有效性，但心血管医学界仍未接受这种治疗选择，而是坚持采用与高发病率、高死亡率和高费用相关的姑息治疗方法。现在早就应该质疑原因了。
