jimbo2012
02-27-2013, 09:11 PM
By Lilia Bonilla 2/26
In November of 2010, 56-year-old Sherry Shrallow was getting ready to head home from work when a sudden illness swept her. She began to sweat profusely and felt nauseous, and in a few seconds she was laying unconscious in her office.
As she began to regain consciousness, she became acutely aware that she was having a heart attack and called her husband.
Shrallow had locked the office door earlier that day, so she had to crawl to the door and unlock it to let the paramedics in.
She was promptly taken to Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, where a cardiologist took an unconscious Shrallow to the catheter lab and examined for any blockage.
Her right artery was 99 percent blocked.
Although this could have been easily solved with a stunt, Shrallow’s life was about to get extremely complicated from that moment on.
“I hadn’t been sick to my stomach since fifth grade, but I chose that very moment to vomit on the table,” Shrallow explained.
“That caused the catheter to move from my right artery into my aorta and it dissected it.”
As she was rushed to surgery, the head surgeon told Shrallow’s husband that there was only a 20 percent chance she would survive.
But Shrallow beat the odds. After surgery, she was placed in rehabilitation in Memorial Hermann Katy for about a month, where she was hooked to a machine that would be working as a heart while her own regained strength to work on its own.
After she had been home for about two months, Shrallow’s sister, a nurse practitioner at The Cleveland Clinic, told her about Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s research on heart disease and the benefits of a plant-based diet.
Esselstyn is a surgeon who has done a 20-year study of cardiac patients who change to a plant-based diet.
The patients have not only survived, but their heart disease was reversed completely.
Although a complete change in diet was not an easy task, Shrallows became determined to do anything to improve her health. She read Esselstyn’s book, “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure” and watched the film “Forks over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health” to learn more.
She also reviewed Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s “China Study,” which shows the benefits a plant-based diet yielded for a small Chinese community.
“I’ve been on this diet for about two years,” Shrallow said. “My cholesterol dropped from 176, which is considered normal even if it isn’t, to 105. My echocardiograms show no damage to my heart and completely healthy arteries.”
Her coworker Dawn Nelson decided to join Shrallow’s vegan lifestyle and has greatly benefited by the decision.
Now, Shrallow and Nelson are on a mission to tell the world how their lives were changed by the plant-based diet. They have put together a small cookbook to help ease the transition into a vegan lifestyle.
The diet’s basic guidelines for are to avoid all foods with animal components, including derivatives like cheese and milk. Another rule is to use as little salt as possible, since sodium is a contributor of heart disease.
More importantly perhaps is the complete avoidance of oils, even olive oil or vegetable oil. Any oil has some, if very little, saturated fat, which is what helps plaque build up in arteries and cause heart disease. This guideline is so important it even translates to some foods a regular vegan diet would allow, such as avocado or coconuts.
Shrallow says the most common objection to the plant-based diet stems from the apparent absence of protein. However, it is important to remember that grains and vegetables are full of protein, and some studies have shown the human body needs less of this natural protein for sustenance compared to animal protein.
Although not commonly known, a study with 300 cardiac patients who changed to a Mediterranean or other “heart healthy” diet did show some improvement at first, but studies show 25 percent of patients had another major cardiac event or died four years later. This diet allows consumption of healthier oils, such as olive oil or canola oil.
Dr. Esselstyn conducted a smaller study in which 17 patients with end-stage cardiovascular disease changed to a plant-based diet. For 20 years, all 17 of them remain alive and well, without any new cardiac events since they changed their eating habits. It is important to note that five of the patients in this study were given less than one year to live, according to their world-renowned doctors at The Cleveland Clinic.
Although followers of the oil-free plant-based diet are a minority group, word is starting to spread. Shrallow spoke at a recent event at Memorial Hermann, and more events surrounding this lifestyle are being scheduled around the country.
Sherry Shrallow has challenged me to try this diet. For the next three months, I will to eat only plant-based foods and will avoid all oils. For updates on my adventure, follow me on Twitter at @HCN_Lilia or on Facebook at facebook.com/lilia.bonilla.hcn.
In November of 2010, 56-year-old Sherry Shrallow was getting ready to head home from work when a sudden illness swept her. She began to sweat profusely and felt nauseous, and in a few seconds she was laying unconscious in her office.
As she began to regain consciousness, she became acutely aware that she was having a heart attack and called her husband.
Shrallow had locked the office door earlier that day, so she had to crawl to the door and unlock it to let the paramedics in.
She was promptly taken to Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, where a cardiologist took an unconscious Shrallow to the catheter lab and examined for any blockage.
Her right artery was 99 percent blocked.
Although this could have been easily solved with a stunt, Shrallow’s life was about to get extremely complicated from that moment on.
“I hadn’t been sick to my stomach since fifth grade, but I chose that very moment to vomit on the table,” Shrallow explained.
“That caused the catheter to move from my right artery into my aorta and it dissected it.”
As she was rushed to surgery, the head surgeon told Shrallow’s husband that there was only a 20 percent chance she would survive.
But Shrallow beat the odds. After surgery, she was placed in rehabilitation in Memorial Hermann Katy for about a month, where she was hooked to a machine that would be working as a heart while her own regained strength to work on its own.
After she had been home for about two months, Shrallow’s sister, a nurse practitioner at The Cleveland Clinic, told her about Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s research on heart disease and the benefits of a plant-based diet.
Esselstyn is a surgeon who has done a 20-year study of cardiac patients who change to a plant-based diet.
The patients have not only survived, but their heart disease was reversed completely.
Although a complete change in diet was not an easy task, Shrallows became determined to do anything to improve her health. She read Esselstyn’s book, “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure” and watched the film “Forks over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health” to learn more.
She also reviewed Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s “China Study,” which shows the benefits a plant-based diet yielded for a small Chinese community.
“I’ve been on this diet for about two years,” Shrallow said. “My cholesterol dropped from 176, which is considered normal even if it isn’t, to 105. My echocardiograms show no damage to my heart and completely healthy arteries.”
Her coworker Dawn Nelson decided to join Shrallow’s vegan lifestyle and has greatly benefited by the decision.
Now, Shrallow and Nelson are on a mission to tell the world how their lives were changed by the plant-based diet. They have put together a small cookbook to help ease the transition into a vegan lifestyle.
The diet’s basic guidelines for are to avoid all foods with animal components, including derivatives like cheese and milk. Another rule is to use as little salt as possible, since sodium is a contributor of heart disease.
More importantly perhaps is the complete avoidance of oils, even olive oil or vegetable oil. Any oil has some, if very little, saturated fat, which is what helps plaque build up in arteries and cause heart disease. This guideline is so important it even translates to some foods a regular vegan diet would allow, such as avocado or coconuts.
Shrallow says the most common objection to the plant-based diet stems from the apparent absence of protein. However, it is important to remember that grains and vegetables are full of protein, and some studies have shown the human body needs less of this natural protein for sustenance compared to animal protein.
Although not commonly known, a study with 300 cardiac patients who changed to a Mediterranean or other “heart healthy” diet did show some improvement at first, but studies show 25 percent of patients had another major cardiac event or died four years later. This diet allows consumption of healthier oils, such as olive oil or canola oil.
Dr. Esselstyn conducted a smaller study in which 17 patients with end-stage cardiovascular disease changed to a plant-based diet. For 20 years, all 17 of them remain alive and well, without any new cardiac events since they changed their eating habits. It is important to note that five of the patients in this study were given less than one year to live, according to their world-renowned doctors at The Cleveland Clinic.
Although followers of the oil-free plant-based diet are a minority group, word is starting to spread. Shrallow spoke at a recent event at Memorial Hermann, and more events surrounding this lifestyle are being scheduled around the country.
Sherry Shrallow has challenged me to try this diet. For the next three months, I will to eat only plant-based foods and will avoid all oils. For updates on my adventure, follow me on Twitter at @HCN_Lilia or on Facebook at facebook.com/lilia.bonilla.hcn.