Originally Posted by JCE

I just got out of the body shop last week after my 13th Angiogram and 4th coronary artery stent in the last 10 years. During my stay in the cardiac telemetry unit, the cardio-pulmonary rehab people stopped by on several occasions and brought me up to date on current thinking on the role of diet in heart disease. (Obviously my decades long adherence to vegies, whole wheat carbs, and fish/poultry wasn't doing enough!).

They gave me a copy of a recent Mayo Clinic Proceedings article on diet, which summarized points from over 150 recent research papers on diet and heart disease. The paper is titled: 'Cardiovascular Disease Resulting From a Diet and Lifestyle at Odds With Our Paleolithic Genome: How to Become a 2lst-Century Hunter-Gatherer.'

It is long, technical, and has 75 references, but on the topic of protein basically says that modern man's health problems began when he stopped eating a diet made up of about about 50% animal protien. The research indicates that even red meat (lean cuts) are cardio-protective, and that "Diets high in lean protein can improve lipid proflles and overall health, especially if care is taken to trim any visible fat from the meats and to allow the fat to drain when cooking. Lean animal protein eaten at regular intervals (with each meal) improves satiety levels, increases dietary thermogenesis, improves insulin sensitivity, and thereby facilitates weight loss while providing many essential nutients."

There is more, mostly on the need to seek lean cuts of meat, high omega-3 content, no trans fats, moderate temp cooking, low carb/no processed carbs, minimal cereals, high fruit/fresh vegetable/nuts consumption, and varied exercise (aerobic, strength, and stretching programs).

If there is any interest in the article, I can create a pdf page with the article and place it on my web site. But the main point I am trying to convey is that in 20 years of dealing with this issue, none of the cardio people I have seen at 4 hospitals (including a UC teaching hospital/med school) have indicated that it would help, and most felt it would probably hurt my treatment to become completely vegetarian. Doesn't sound to me as if a meat free diet is a long term survival characteristic for humans.