Caldwell Esselstyn

What can we do? I have a fairly radical answer to that question: We should aim at eliminating chronic illness. That is not an unattainable goal.

I have an ambitious goal: to annihilate heart disease—to abolish it once and for all... If you do what I ask, your disease is history.

As a physician, I am embarrassed by my profession’s lack of interest in healthier lifestyles. We need to change the way we approach chronic disease.

My nutrition program is quite different from most others. It is not about making moderate changes to slow the progression of heart disease. It is about embarking on a significant change in lifestyle that will actually *arrest* the disease’s progression and selectively *reverse* its effects.

Among the fully compliant patients, during the twelve-year study, there was not one further clinical episode of worsening coronary artery disease after they committed themselves to keeping cholesterol within the safe range.

But he was an intelligent person and what finally won him over was the logic of the program. We were trying to follow the nutritional example of countries where disease was nonexistent.

Remember—I cannot stress this enough—*attention to detail is the key.* If you eat in this wonderful way, you need never develop heart disease. If you already have heart disease, you will conquer it. That is my promise to you, the sum of everything I have learned. Pay attention. You are in control.