The 5 CH Lifestyle
Lower Your Cholesterol Without Medication, Reduce Your Risk of Heart Attack and Achieve Long-term Wellness
Addressing multiple interconnected factors related to cardiovascular health, The 5 CH Lifestyle is an edifying health and wellness manual.
Clinical cardiologist Stephen Fenton’s compelling health and wellness guide The 5 CH Lifestyle is about self-protecting against heart disease.
Introducing heart disease as the world’s leading cause of death, this book emphasizes the importance of preventative action and regular testing, including through coronary artery calcium scans to determine the amount of calcified plaque in one’s arteries. It also identifies risk markers after which scans should be pursued—both traditional ones, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and nontraditional ones, including family history, obstructive sleep apnea, and a history of depression, high stress, or social isolation. It also considers how circumstances like being transgender could impact a person’s cardiovascular health; in this way, its work is inclusive and welcoming throughout.
At the book’s core, though, are its proposals of particular lifestyle changes, factored in under the name 5 CH Lifestyle. Here, it proposes a holistic approach to cardiac health. This involves limiting the consumption of certain foods (including chocolate and cheese), increasing one’s exercise, improving one’s sleep patterns, and meditative practices. This program is presented in easy-to-follow and practical terms, with the need to incorporate all of its elements stressed more than once.
The book’s use of medical terminology is frequent, but all instances are accompanied by sufficient context to facilitate lay understanding. Indeed, the book’s approach overall is quite accessible and emphatic. Its advice somewhat repetitive, though, including where it self-promotes its 5 CH diet and lifestyle program as a way to “a happier, healthier, and longer life” (a statement that is made twice within two pages). Further, its persuasiveness is somewhat undermined by apparent contradictions, as when it states “50 percent of the population will die of cardiovascular disease,” then a few pages later states, “In the 1940s, cardiovascular disease accounted for one in two deaths” without explaining the implied changes over time or the significance of the referenced period.
Further, the book’s illustrations are sometimes superfluous. However, its explanations of how cardiovascular disease and heart attacks happen are thorough and clear, aided by case studies, direct hypothetical scenarios, and strong metaphors that maximize its clarity. It closes with a condensed summary of its information and a lofty, optimistic promise that those who follow its guidelines are bound to see improvements to their cardiovascular health.
The 5 CH Lifestyle is a clear, encouraging guide to attaining cardiovascular health.
Reviewed by
Carolina Ciucci
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
