I get a lot of questions about calling my book, “Heart Healthy Pizza: Over 100 Plant-Based Recipes for the Most Nutritious Pizza in the World.” Primary among them are “why are they “heart healthy” and something about the arrogance of calling them the “most nutritious pizza in the world.” To that end, it’s gratifying to read of this new international study of some 30,000 people in 14 countries, that states, in summary:“A new study shows older people with established heart disease who ate the most heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts had a much lower risk of dying or having another heart attack or stroke than those who ate the unhealthiest diet.”
From: “Healthy Diet Helps Damaged Hearts:”
...wouldn’t it be wonderful it they went a step further, following the 20+years of peer-reviewed research by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., that demonstrated that following a no-added oil/fat plant-based diet could not only reverse heart disease, but in theory, prevent it? Unfortunately, the study only recorded what people ate and not tested what would happen if they eliminated any animal proteins, dairy, or oil in their diet (for people without heart disease issues,eliminating nuts for those who don't). As such, the study was, “gee whiz, this is what transpired” rather than any advance in nutritional science by attempting to determine what would happen with deliberate changes in diet, specifically, eliminating all animal products, dairy, and oil.
Still, it’s comforting to see the phrase “heart healthy” in the context of the dietary descriptions they used.
Back to my cookbook, the 1st vegan pizza cookbook. Why did I call it “Heart Healthy Pizza?” Simple. It was inspired by and follows Dr. Esselstyn’s dietary recommendations. He PROVED they work. He reversed and, in theory, prevented heart disease. In the study above, the researchers but noted that people approaching a no-fat plant-based diet, who’ve had heart issues in the past, had less future occurrences. Wonderful, but by no means any solution. They ate fish and consumed free oils. The survival percentages would have been higher without the fish and added oil.
Now, the “most nutritious pizza in the world” phrase has gotten me some flack, but, without going into great detail, let me excerpt Dr. Michael Greger’s opinion in his review of my book as defense:“Although it might seem arrogant and pretentious to call these the "most nutritious pizzas in the world," one would be hard pressed to think of any others that would be as healthy and beneficial to one's diet. Mark takes full advantage of the abundance of phytochemicals in fresh vegetables and whole grains in these recipes to raise the bar on vegan cooking and demonstrates a unique and creative approach to making one of the most popular foods in the American diet not only a nutritious experience, but a enjoyable and tasty one as well.”
--- Dr. Greger’s review is here:
I’m comfortable knowing that the recipes in my book are heart healthy, mostly gluten-free, and enable one to make the most nutritious pizza in the world. Studies like the one mentioned above are encouraging, despite their narrow and conservative approach. Here’s an excerpt from a review of my book by someone who died, and is now following Esselstyn’s recommendations:
"I dropped dead on a tennis court (and was lucky enough to be playing against a team with a cardiologist who did world class cpr for 12 minutes until a rescue squad arrived to shock me back to life). It took me about 30 seconds post-op from my bypass to adopt Caldwell Esselstyn's vegan cardiac disease reversal program. Though I ate a "good" diet most of the time, I was addicted to cheese pizzas for my whole (almost foreshortened) life. This book is a treasure. The visuals of the pizza are appetizing and valid relative to the finished product. The taste of the recipes I have undertaken is great. The nutrition is miraculous for a so-called comfort food. Thank you, Mark Sutton, for your tour de force collection of no oil vegan gourmet pizza. Incidentally, I run 10 k's, complete duathlons, and play USTA team tennis at the age of 64 on the Esselstyn diet.
- R.S. (Amazon book review)
I wrote this book, with over five years of research and experimentation (would have been years less if I hadn't interviewed Dr. Essy and decided to go "no oil"), to help people be heart healthy and vegetarians or "normal" people get over the "I'd miss pizza" whine." So cool that it has. Over half of men in the US will experience heart disease issues, over one-third of women. It’s about diet, and the sooner the government and mass media recognizes and promotes that realization, the less the number of future deaths. As Dr. Esselstyn notes, “heart disease is a food-borne disease.” This number one killer of people in the world is not just expensively treatable by modern science, but CURABLE and preventable by a dietary no-oil plant-based science approach.
And, you can still have your pizza fix.
Namaste, Mark
(yeah, going to have to make the spine text title text on my book larger.... oh well...)
[Note: The photo above is a shot taken today of the first time I’ve seen my book in a health food bookstore. Wow. In good company!
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