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‘Rock star of the health movement’ to speak at YSU
YOUNGSTOWN
A world-renowned Cleveland Clinic doctor who treats cardiovascular disease with a plant-based diet will speak at Youngstown State University on Wednesday, but the event is full.
Carrie Clyde, YSU’s wellness coordinator, said a waiting list has been started for people who want to hear Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn speak. The free program will be at 7 p.m. in the Ohio Room in Kilcawley Center, which holds 240 people.
“We would love to be able to accommodate more people, but at the moment we’re not having any luck,” she said.
All larger venues on campus are booked, and Clyde said the doctor’s busy schedule prevents them from looking at other dates.
Clyde said her phone has “been ringing off the hook” by people who are interested in attending. A few people lucky enough to get on the list have been successfully following the doctor’s program to prevent and reverse cardiovascular disease, she said.
Jim and Ely Pugh, owners of Ely’s To Go, a vegan eatery on Western Reserve Road in Boardman, were instrumental in Dr. Esselstyn’s visit. They are familiar with his work in the documentary “Forks Over Knives” and have a few customers who are patients of Dr. Esselstyn.
Jim Pugh described the doctor as “a rock star of the health movement that says diet can be your medicine.”
Former President Bill Clinton has credited Dr. Esselstyn’s program for changing his life after bypass surgery. Clinton announced last year he had become vegan, lost 24 pounds and improved his heart function.
The doctor’s approach bucks trends in the medical community, which he has said focuses on treating diseases rather than preventing them.
Dr. Esselstyn, a former Olympic gold medalist rower, was recently named the top living Cleveland Clinic doctor by MedCityNews.com, which covers the health-care industry. The site says Dr. Esselstyn’s work “could, decades from now, be considered one of the most important innovations of this era.”
Dr. Esselstyn garnered attention in the last year due to his involvement in “Forks Over Knives.” The documentary is based on a 20-year study that found heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers can be prevented, even reversed, by eschewing animal-based and processed foods.
He directs the cardiovascular prevention and reversal program at The Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. For more information on Dr. Esselstyn, go to www.heartattackproof.com.