Eating your way to heart health

Famed heart surgeon Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. has long rallied against the overuse of stents, cholesterol drugs and other conventional heart disease treatments. His solution? A diet rich in green, leafy vegetables. Doctors generally agree that a healthy diet is beneficial, but it's usually considered one piece of a larger treatment plan. To Esselstyn, however, heart disease is a "foodborne illness, one that can be prevented, reversed and even abolished by eating a plant-based, oil-free diet, one that eliminates meat, milk, fish, eggs and dairy."

By Julie Deardorff, Tribune Newspapers

January 30, 2013