A Food-Borne Illness

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As an Emergency Medicine physician, when I hear the term “food-borne illness,” it immediately conjures images of people with vomiting and diarrhea secondary to consuming undercooked or spoiled food contaminated with bacteria or their toxins. However, I recently learned of a new usage of this term. In his article, “Is the Present Therapy for Coronary Artery Disease the Radical Mastectomy of the Twenty-First Century?” Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn ascribes a new meaning to the phrase “food-borne illness,” referring to coronary artery disease as this type of illness. According to the CDC, coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease in the United States. It is the narrowing and blockage of blood vessels supplying blood to the heart, which can eventually lead to heart attacks. The CDC also states that in the United States, over 20 million adults over age 20 have CAD and that someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds.

Those are some pretty frightening statistics. But luckily, doctors have treatments for heart disease. We have an armamentarium of medications as well as procedures such as coronary stents and coronary artery bypass surgeries. These are remarkable advances that are lifesaving for those that are having a heart attack. However, as Dr. Esselstyn states, “…none of the present therapies targets the cause: the Western diet.” Yes, our Western diet—filled with processed foods, fried foods, meats, oils, and dairy. He describes cultures that consume a plant-based diet in which CAD is almost non-existent. Moreover, the converse is also true. When plant-based cultures adopt a Western diet, guess what? Yes, that’s right, they develop CAD. Thus, it seems as though heart disease really is a food-borne illness. 

History also teaches us this lesson. Between 1939 and 1945, Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany. During this time, the Germans removed all animal livestock, forcing the population to subsist on whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. Following this, deaths from heart attacks and strokes fell. When the war ended, and animal products became available again, deaths from these illnesses rose to prewar levels. Thought-provoking, isn’t it?

In his article, Dr. Esselstyn mentions a study he conducted on very ill patients with CAD that he placed on a plant-based diet. These patients have thus far been followed for twenty years, and the results are fascinating. A plant-based diet not only stopped the progression of heart disease but even reversed it! Yes, reversed it. Furthermore, this study and its follow-up showed that people with CAD would stick with dietary changes for decades. If provided with an understanding of the link between diet and disease, I believe that people will want to take control of their own health and give themselves the opportunity to be better.

Consequences

Ham Burger With Vegetables

Cheeseburgers and chocolate cake are delicious. Eat a cheeseburger for lunch, and you will likely feel really good. And that piece of rich chocolate cake—definitely mouthwatering. The same goes for pizza dripping with cheese, juicy porterhouse steaks, hot dogs with all the fixins, moist frosted creme donuts, and many others. Undoubtedly tasty and gratifying. 

Eating such foods on infrequent occasions is pleasurable and will probably cause no harm. However, filling your plate with these types of foods on most days of the week is an entirely different story—one whose ending is difficult to visualize in the present moment. 

Many of us are probably aware that foods high in sugars, fats, and cholesterol are not the healthiest options. They increase the risk of developing many chronic diseases, including heart disease. Moreover, this risk increases the more often these foods are consumed. I’d bet that countless people who understand the dangers of eating these foods consistently still do so. Why would this be?

The likely answer is that the consequences of regularly eating unhealthy foods do not occur right away. As a matter of fact, the results of these actions will typically take years to manifest. If you knew that eating cheeseburgers a few times every week would increase your risk of suffering a heart attack ten or fifteen years down the road, it might not bother you too much. However, if you knew that eating a cheeseburger on Monday would cause you to have a heart attack on Tuesday, I’ll bet that you’d think twice about it. 

The converse is also true. Eating a vegetable salad on Monday will not turn you into a picture of good health on Tuesday. But eat lots of fruits and vegetables every day, and you will undoubtedly see and feel the difference in the following months and years. Again, when there is a lot of time separating actions and consequences, people will oftentimes only care about the immediate or near-term results without giving much regard to the long-term effects of their choices. 

This concept was explained very well by Ray Dalio in his book Principles. He refers to near-term effects as first-order consequences and long-term effects as second- and subsequent-order consequences. As Mr. Dalio says, “Quite often the first-order consequences are the temptations that cost us what we really want, and sometimes they are the barriers that stand in our way.”

The next time you are about to order that cheeseburger, don’t just think about how it will make you feel as you’re eating it. Consider how it may affect you a few years into the future. After all, it is still you that will bear the consequences.