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 Guests
at the Pritikin resort reduced total and LDL (the "bad")
cholesterol on average 23% and triglyceride fats by 33%.
The link between blood cholesterol
and heart attacks is well established by three decades of scientific
research. Although many other factors may play a significant role,
cholesterol is the key villain. In an analysis of more than 4,500
people in the three-week program at the Pritikin Longevity Center,
total cholesterol and LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) dropped on average
23%. Triglyceride fats fell 33%.
(Archives of Internal Medicine, 151: 1389, 1991. New
England Journal of Medicine, 323: 1142, 1990. See also Circulation,
106: 2530, 2002.)
The
Pritikin Program doubled the effectiveness of statin therapy.
Prior to attending the Pritikin Longevity
Center, 93 men and women had reduced their cholesterol about 20%
on statin medications. After two weeks at Pritikin, they demonstrated
an additional 19% decrease in cholesterol levels.
(American Journal of Cardiology, 79: 1112, 1997)
Scientists worldwide agree that the single most important thing
you can do to lower your risk of a heart attack is to lower your
cholesterol, both your total blood cholesterol and your LDL (the
bad cholesterol). The safest, most effective way to lower your
blood cholesterol, numerous studies have found, is by lowering
the cholesterol, saturated fat, and hydrogenated fat in your diet,
and by eating an abundance of natural, whole, high-fiber foods
like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans.
ePerspective Special Report
Lower High Cholesterol
The lower your cholesterol levels, the better. The National Cholesterol
Education Program recently set new lower goals for cholesterol
levels. People at high risk of heart attacks are urged to get their
LDL below 70. Those at moderate risk should lower their LDL below
100. The problem is: it's tough to get your LDL down to 100 and
lower if your eating plan is only moderately low in fat. With a
moderate 30% fat diet, several studies have documented only modest
reductions in total and LDL cholesterol (about 5 to 15%).
But on an eating plan like the Pritikin Program, very low in saturated
and hydrogenated fats and very high in cholesterol-lowering, high-fiber
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans, people achieve phenomenal
cholesterol reductions. In an analysis of 4,587 people attending
the three-week program at the Pritikin Longevity Center, both total
and LDL cholesterol plummeted on average 23%. (Archives of Internal
Medicine, 151:1389, 1991. See also Circulation, 106: 2530, 2002.)
Larger reductions do make a difference--a difference that saves
lives. In a landmark study published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association, Dr. Dean Ornish and colleagues compared heart
patients who had made moderate lifestyle changes (a 30% fat calorie
diet) with patients on a Pritikin-style diet (10% to 15% fat calorie
diet). After five years, those on the 30% fat calorie diet were
2-1/2 times more likely to have suffered a heart attack, undergone
bypass surgery or angioplasty, or entered a hospital for heart-related
problems (JAMA, 280: 2001, 1998).
Of course, in lowering your cholesterol with the Pritikin Program,
all sorts of other wonderful things start to happen, too. Within
one month of graduating from the Pritikin Longevity Center, Ida
Godges's total cholesterol dropped from 206 to 139. And, much to
the delight of this retired airline employee from Seal Beach, California,
her doctor took her off all hypertension medications. She also
lost 25 pounds, and her energy level has soared. She's dancing
three times a week, chasing grandchildren on soccer fields, and
flying back and forth to Iowa to help her sisters with the heavy
chores on their farm. "Today, I have a new life!"
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