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allow meat and dairy products.
Alzheimer’s Disease
    Although it doesn’t receive as much attention as higher-profile diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease can be the most hellish. Alzheimer’s patients exhibit few, if any, symptoms at first, but the disease slowly turns into full-fledged dementia. Not only do Alzheimer’s patients suffer from the disease, the disease can persist for a very long time, which can be terribly difficult for family members who become caregivers. This is why preventative measures are so crucial.
    Alzheimer’s is another manifestation of poor cardiovascular health. Studies show that even moderately high cholesterol levels in people in their forties can significantly increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life: One study showed that for those with cholesterol levels between 200 and 239, the risk of developing dementia increased by 52 percent, and for those with levels of 240 or higher, the risk was increased by 66 percent.
    Research has yet to produce a cure for Alzheimer’s, but studies have consistently demonstrated the virtues of a preventative plant-based diet. During the July 2000 World Alzheimer’s Congress, for instance, researchers released the results of a study undertaken between 1993 and 1999 that examined 5,395 individuals aged fifty-five years and older. “On average,” the report concluded, “people who remained free from any form of dementia had consumed higher amounts of beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vegetables than the people in the study who developed Alzheimer’s.”

San’Dera
    WHEN SAN’DERA PRUDE * , a hospital administrator in Cleveland, Ohio, was in her late thirties, she came down with nagging symptoms—chills, sweating, dizziness, the shakes—and endured them for several months before she decided to consult a doctor. The physician informed her that she had hypertension (i.e., high blood pressure) and diabetes, then handed her a prescription and told her to “watch what you eat.”
    San’Dera left the doctor’s office with no idea what she was supposed to be “watching”—and in any case, it probably didn’t matter because she was in deep denial about her condition. She relied on her pills to offset any symptoms and continued eating whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it, causing her to gain a great deal of weight, which made her uncomfortable and depressed.
    Struggling to lose her extra pounds, San’Dera tried several crash diets but always ended up going back to her usual fare of scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, bacon, French toast, and fast-food burgers and quick, fatladen meals from the cafeteria at work.
    San’Dera was desperate to break the cycle of overeating caused by the stress of her diagnosis and her depression. One day she prayed, “You’ve got to do something, you’ve got to do something. Lord, help me.” And the next day San’Dera was approached to be part of a documentary about the power of dietary intervention (i.e.,
Forks Over Knives
) and was referred to Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr.
    Dr. Esselstyn recommended that San’Dera give up meat, dairy, and processed foods and start on a whole-food, plant-based diet with no refined sugar or added oils. This was a tall order, given her dietary habits, but San’Dera agreed to do it—and to meet often with Dr. Esselstyn. Within a few weeks, she felt better than she had in years, and her blood-sugar levels had returned to normal. By the time the filming was over, San’Dera’s symptoms had disappeared, and she had discontinued all of her medications. Even better, her new husband has joined her on the diet and not only has lost weight but was able to discontinue his own diabetes medications.
    * Before her marriage, she appeared in the film
Forks Over Knives
as San’Dera Nation.
Erectile Dysfunction
    Unfortunately, more and more men are suffering from erectile dysfunction at younger and younger ages. Drug companies have built a billion-dollar