McGregor, Texas (KWTX) – According to the American Heart Association, one in five people who have a heart attack will have another heart attack and be hospitalized over the next five years.

When blood flow is reduced or stopped, muscles may suffer minimal or severe damage.

A central Texas man started making some important changes to help himself avoid heart attacks. Then he suffered one anyway. But he continued on his journey to health, and along the way he discovered something that truly helped him experience a change of heart.

McGregor’s Russell Battles has drastically improved his health habits since he entered his 40s and thought he was doing everything right.

“I changed my diet. I lost 35 pounds. I went from 215 pounds to 170 pounds, and I was very disciplined and worked out hard, trying to reverse years of neglect I had done to myself. ” he said.

His fitness journey started in January 2020 and by the following year he had made amazing progress. However, he felt dizzy and weak during a workout on August 9, 2021, lost consciousness and had to go to the hospital. And after all his lifestyle changes, he was shocked by the words of his doctor.

“I was in shock and in denial. I had been in the best shape of my life since high school and then I had a heart attack,” he said.

The fighting caused a blockage in an artery in his heart, and doctors placed a stent in it to relieve the blockage and aid blood flow. After that, he started making more changes, increasing the amount of cardio and running 5 kilometers. However, during one race he encountered further problems.

“After 800 meters I can’t breathe. I go to the cardiologist and it seems like there’s more blockage, this time it’s Widow Maker and he says it’s 80 percent blocked.”

So doctors placed a stent there as well, and found that there was an additional 40 percent blockage. Not only that, but his LDL cholesterol levels were elevated, even though he was on medication. LDL is the so-called “bad cholesterol.” When it accumulates in blood vessels, it narrows the blood vessel walls and restricts blood flow.

So how did it happen? What did he do wrong? And why did it get worse?

We spoke with Battles in February 2022 to talk about her weight loss journey and recovery from a heart attack. At that point, he still made fitness a big part of his life. But soon after making another significant change, he said he had changed.

“When I thought about it, the only thing I didn’t change in my diet was meat. So in March of 2022, I thought there’s no better time than now, and in 90 days my cholesterol started to go down… In 90 days,” Battles said.

So what’s his diet like now?

He told us, “I eat fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and I still eat eggs, cheese, and ice cream.”

Study after study has linked plant-based diets, or plant-based diets with small amounts of animal-based diets, to many health benefits, especially when it comes to cardiovascular health. A Stanford University study published in JAMA Network in November compared omnivorous and vegan diets in a set of identical twins over an eight-week period.

“They made huge changes in a lot of nutrients, a lot of foods, and even omnivores,” said twin study author Christopher Gardner. “LDL cholesterol decreased by 14 milligrams per deciliter, which is more than a 10% reduction.” They didn’t have high insulin levels to begin with, but the vegan group had lower insulin levels and also lost a little weight. . ”

This Stanford study was the subject of a Netflix documentary that reveals additional health benefits. And another study published in the European Heart Journal last May looked at the effects of vegan and vegetarian diets. This shows it can prevent or slow the progression of atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque inside arteries that thickens and hardens over time and can lead to heart attacks.

Chris Rosser is the manager who oversees cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation at Baylor Scott & White’s Getterman Wellness Center in Waco. The effects of a heart attack can be devastating at first, he says.

“They feel like they can’t go back to where they were. They feel that life as they knew it is over, and there’s a lot of grief going on,” he told us. .

Rosser said there is a very good chance of recovery from a heart attack, but people have to make big changes to protect themselves and that’s what rehabilitation programs focus on. I am. Health education on cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure, etc. Include more fruits and vegetables in your diet.

“We need to transition to foods that grow out of the soil. In addition to being rich in nutrients and free of preservatives, these foods are also high in fiber,” says Rosser.

The American Heart Association says dietary fiber helps lower cholesterol. Additionally, Rosser says you’ll feel fuller, so you’ll eat less. Antioxidants found in many fruits and vegetables also lower your risk of heart disease.

“It’s not that you shouldn’t eat meat, it’s just that you’re not eating as much and you want to cut down on it,” Rosser said.

And the benefits of all these changes not only reduce your risk of having another heart attack, but also improve your quality of life.

“By exercising and moving my body and avoiding inflammatory foods, I can reduce my arthritis and just feel younger,” Rosser said.

Russell Battles says he’s grateful he started taking care of his body. And not only do you have more energy and better rest, especially after switching to a vegetarian diet, but your blood tests show that your blood pressure and cholesterol levels are within healthy ranges and more consistent. Masu. He is still taking medication to regulate his levels, but at lower doses. And doctors told him that without the stent, the blockage in his only remaining heart artery had actually decreased from 40% to about 36-37%.

And here something happens that we did not expect. Battles said it was only about a year after he started eating plant-based foods, eggs and dairy that he visited an eye doctor to get his eyeglass prescription checked.

“He compared that prescription to my eyes and wrote a weaker one, and my vision has improved since I started a vegetarian diet,” Battles said.

Battles said the change was a big decision, but he will do everything in his power to prevent another heart attack. He wants to be here for his family as much as possible, and he encourages others to take care of themselves as well.

Ms Battles said: “The biggest surprise for me was when I was lying on the stretcher they put a paddle over me and said unfortunately they had to use the paddle. I started to see how precious life is for me.”

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