Why should I follow a program for reversing heart disease?

In an article reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Castelli and his colleagues estimated the relative risk of various groups of people based on the total cholesterol/HDL data from the Framingham Heart Study. Long-term vegetarians had the lowest risk of any identifiable group, much lower even than Boston marathon runners, with a total cholesterol/HDL ratio of only 2.8.

Exercise raises HDL (high-density lipoprotein), whereas smoking lowers it. Stress management training will lower LDL (low-density lipoprotein) independent of diet. So the best combination for reversing heart disease is to exercise, stop smoking, eat a vegetarian diet, and practice stress management techniques - in other words, to follow the program described in this book.