Bill Clinton has become vegan, reversed his heart disease and is sharing his recipes!

[DFW]

72. He and I had the same cardiac near-miss

I was lucky--mine was treatable with stents. His needed a huge bypass operation. People who get those things feel like they have been run over by a truck for months afterward and need rehab.

We got read the same riot act from our cardiologists about diet after the "incidents." He has been stricter about his than I have, but my wife is a brilliant chef, and takes very good care of me--no more butter, only olive oil, no eggs, cheese, ice cream or red meat. But she still cooks a lot of fish (though almost never shellfish) and occasional poultry and vegan dish. Also the usual flax seed and grain stew for breakfast. My cholesterol is way down, and I feel OK, although he is in a lot better shape than I am (should be anyway--I haven't met up with him in 5 years). But he is 6 years older than I am, and he looks it.

If you want another example of someone who has slimmed down, look at Howard Dean. While not embracing any super-healthy diet, gone are the days when Howard was eating at fatty campaign and/or fundraising dinners every night. Howard was downright chunky after his Presidential run, but is now slim and trim. He loves chocolate, but sticks to high-purity (usually 70% or higher) dark chocolate. I send him care packages regularly, as I'm in Belgium and France once a week for work. He likes the good stuff. It's been said that the high-purity stuff is good for you. It sure is GOOD, anyway, so we're only too ready to believe it.

It's difficult to make the adjustment to healthy eating, but it can be done, and it's true that you have a chance of looking and feeling better for it (no guarantees, though!!)