Written by Vegetarian Star on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 in Food & Drink, Nutrition-Health-Fitness, Politicians.
Barack Obama doesn’t want to hear a lecture about his cholesterol, but Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, has given him one anyway.
Besides the gentle nudge to give up cigarettes, Dr. Barnard explains that the best way for the President of the United States to get his numbers to an acceptable range is to accept more vegetables–and less meat.
Dr. Barnard points out that going vegetarian, even part time, will impact Obama’s cholesterol more than genes and exercise.
“First, exercise won’t lower your cholesterol. It may bump up “good” cholesterol slightly and improve your basketball game or your stride, but you definitely can’t count on it to lower your “bad” cholesterol. It won’t.”
“Second, we almost certainly cannot blame genes. For the vast majority of people, high cholesterol comes down to diet.”
And while less red meat is great, you really need to go veg all the way to get the full benefits of diet on cholesterol.
“Third, switching from beef to chicken and fish has almost no effect on cholesterol. It lowers “bad” cholesterol only about 5 percent–and that’s not enough.”
“The answer is behind your house, in the White House garden. Foods from plants have essentially no cholesterol and are free of the animal fat that causes the body to make cholesterol. If you skipped meat, dairy products, and eggs for even a few weeks, chances are your cholesterol would drop right into the normal range.”
Hope Obama is convinced.
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