The scourge of rich countries is high cholesterol,
says Dr. Wareham. According to him, if people followed his advice to give up meat, ischemic heart disease would disappear altogether. “If your cholesterol level is lower than 140, you are insured against heart problems. And the main factor that raises cholesterol is saturated fat, that is, almost all animal fats. Some scientists have found that animal protein also affects cholesterol levels, so even if you drink skim milk, that does not make it useful. Sugar also raises cholesterol,” he believes. And he says that physical exercise is useful for lowering cholesterol levels, but if you eat a lot of fatty animal foods, no amount of physical exercise will help.
“When I was a practicing physician,” the elderly doctor continues, “I tried to explain to patients that animal food was not good for them. But one must be ready to face this problem. It is very difficult to tell a person who is accustomed to eating meat that you intend to deprive him of his usual dishes. The way of eating is too painful a subject. You can talk to people about anything you can think of – about the benefits of sports, about relaxation, about proper psychological exercises. And they will agree with you. But if you talk to them about what they eat, it becomes clear that they are very sensitive on this topic. If the patient is ready to listen to me, I explain why plant food is more useful from a scientific point of view.”
