Day 033 - 10 Oct 94 - Page 12
1 Q. Can I move on to page 6 of your statement? On this page,
2 before we get on to cancer, you talk about analysing
3 cholesterol levels, is it, in the blood?
4 A. That is correct.
5
6 Q. Do you want to explain some of the points you have put
7 down there?
8 A. Yes. Let me simply review my statement for a minute,
9 if I may? To demonstrate the effect of dietary changes it
10 is sometimes helpful to look at groups that have made more
11 sweeping changes. Vegetarians, for example, who eat no
12 meat and perhaps very little animal products or none at
13 all, have marked reductions in their cholesterol level.
14
15 In 1982 a researcher named Cooper took a group of subjects
16 whose average age was 28. They were health conscious
17 young people who were already following a low fat diet,
18 and by beginning a vegetarian diet their average
19 cholesterol level dropped from 160 milligrams per
20 decilitre in three weeks to 140 milligrams per decilitre.
21 Other researchers have found similar findings, and
22 Dr. Dean Ornish -- the researcher I mentioned earlier with
23 whom I have done and am doing some research -- showed
24 really quite dramatic reductions in serum cholesterol
25 levels as a result of using a vegetarian diet. That does
26 not mean that one cannot reduce cholesterol levels with
27 diets that are not vegetarian.
28
29 It simply shows the value of reducing fat and of reducing
30 cholesterol, and eliminating meat is one of the ways of
31 doing that. I might say, by the way, these researchers
32 used vegetarian diets and they used helpful vegetarian
33 diets. They also reduced vegetable oil, which I think is
34 important.
35
36 I have been a critic of those vegetarians who might say,
37 "Eat large amounts of french fries and salad oils, onion
38 rings or processed cakes and things", where the -- the
39 point that I am making is that a vegetarian diet overall
40 can be a very very healthy thing. But it is possible to
41 ruin any kind of diet, including a vegetarian diet, by
42 adding fat or sugar or large amounts of salt to it. But
43 when one uses a vegetarian diet or through other means
44 reduces fat and cholesterol and reduces meat, one will see
45 a benefit in terms of a lower cholesterol level and a
46 reduced risk of heart disease later.
47
48 Q. Can a change of diet have an immediate effect on blood
49 cholesterol levels and other processes?
50 A. The effect is seen quite promptly. The research
51 I mentioned earlier by Cooper showed a 20 milligramme per
52 decilitre change in cholesterol levels in three weeks;
53 that is not unusual. Many other studies have shown much
54 the same sort of thing.
55
56 The reversal of the atherosclerotic plaques has been
57 demonstrable, at least in some changes -- the initial
58 changes are demonstrable within 12 months. When one
59 continues on such a diet the atheromas continue to
60 regress.
