Science-Based Medicine on Bill Clinton’s Diet

Posted By elissa on Nov 29, 2010 | 2 comments

In the wake of his well-publicized bout with cardiovascular disease,  Bill Clinton has given up McDonald’s (good) for a mostly-vegan diet. The former prez has lost 24 lbs. and is now approx. the same weight as he was in high school.

His current diet is quite restrictive, though: fruits, veggies, legumes and – once in a while – a little fish.

Why is he on such a severe diet? According to Dr. Harriet Hall, of Science-Based Medicine, he was inspired by Dean Ornish, T. Colin Campbell and Caldwell Essylsten.

Dr. Hall’s deconstruction of the studies performed by these three is worth a read…

Ornish, Campbell, and Esselstyn are all certain that they have found a dietary solution for coronary artery disease, but they have not found the same solution. If you look closely you will realize that their programs are far from identical. And the evidence to support any of their programs is pretty skimpy. And others disagree strongly: Gary Taubes wrote the huge, extensively referenced tome Good Calories, Bad Calories to debunk the alleged certainty that dietary fat has anything to do with cardiovascular disease, and also to expose the colorful history of nutrition science and how surprisingly little good diet research has actually yet been done.

…Most sources of diet advice agree that eating more fruits and vegetables, less red meat, and fewer calories is a good idea. Total avoidance of meat is not supported by any reliable evidence. Esselstyn quotes Roberts, agreeing with him that the only true risk factor for coronary artery disease is a total cholesterol above 150 mg/dI. This is debatable to say the least!

I don’t imagine he’s doing himself any harm… although – as Dr. Hall points out – there’s very little good evidence that such an extreme, low-fat diet is needed to prevent, let alone reverse, CVD. As she concludes:

I think Bill Clinton’s diet is based more on hope and desperation than on solid scientific evidence. I have to admire his self-discipline in sticking to a difficult diet; I only wish he had displayed the same level of self-discipline in his encounters with White House interns.

LOL!