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.

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