Esselstyn/Ornish? Caffeine?

[CAHEALTHNUT]

hi, i have both the esselstyn and ornish books. the esselstyn is noticeably stricter. IE no dairy, the ornish seems more forgiving.

esselstyn says nothing about coffee and caffeine in his book. did i miss that?

i do have labile sensitive blood pressure. but i miss my coffee and creamers.

any thoughts? suggestions?

[f1jim1956]

Of course, a lot has to do with our personal issues but caffeine can have a negative effect on both cholesterol and high blood pressure. I'd encourage you to give it up for 30-60 days and see how your body reacts. You might have withdrawl issues early on but most people seem to see it as a positive once past that transition period.
f1jim

[mesquitta]

I would suggest that caffeine is a stimulant and can have the potential to increase erratic heart rhythms as well stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. I suppose some people may be able to tolerate its effects more than others. I believe that Esselstyn refers to caffeine in moderation.

[elgaeb051]

Esselstyn does allow coffee, tea. See "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease", p. 71

Personally, I do not agree with that advice for myself. I follow Dr. Ornish's recommendation for the reversal diet and restrict myself from caffeine including coffee and tea.

If you have any kind of an addiction to caffeine, this can be difficult. It took me a long time to stop the caffeine entirely. However, it was worth the effort!

E

[Dr Hasan Mahmud]

Caffeine is the active ingredient present in coffee and tea,and latter has a bit less in amount.Caffeine can stimulate sympathetic nervous system and can help improve our intellectual work and can improve our alertness by a hormone called adrenaline.On the other hand this hormone can alter the fat metabolism and can cause dyslipidemia which ultimately can worsen coronary heart disease.So Dr Ornish's advice in this regard can be helpful for reversing coronary heart disease and to reduce bad cholesterol(LDL).But those habituated with caffeine can reduce the habit gradually rather abruptly otherwise can experience some sort of discomfort or depression doing mental work.thanks.

[CAHEALTHNUT]

thank you all for your time and response. i am typing this, sipping on my cup of coffee which will help me get to the gym to get on a treadmill and hopefully raise my HDL

i did pose this same question to a brilliant DR who is the head of UCLA's integrative oncology and she said that she didn't want me to give up drinking my green tea because there are so many antioxidants in green tea.

then again, i know the mormons forbid caffeine in all forms and those guys seem to live into their 90s.

sigh...

so is the answer moderation?

thank you all for your time and consideration.

[Sunny CA]

My favorite coffee substitute is Kaffree Roma which I get at Whole Fds. I also enjoy peppermint tea. I also still drink some coffee, generally a single daily morning cup that I make with 2/3 decaf (water processed from Peets) and 1/3 regular. I am not going to give it up completely and feel this is a good compromise and considerably better than the potful a day I drank previously. I have great bloodwork and terrific heart, so I am not working to overcome heart disease. If I had heart trouble I'd quit drinking it.

[ewrightman]

I was in one of the hospital-based Ornish programs in Pgh., CA for 6 months. (I sure wish I still could be!) We were told that drinking caffeine interferes with 'mindfulness', which was a big emphasis in our program re: daily yoga, etc.

[ewrightman]

sorry, I mean Pgh,PA. (I just moved to CA) Also I am new to posting ...