Arteries

Vegetable oils were, in Aajonus's description, the singular dietary cause of arteriosclerosis and arterial hardening in modern populations. The analogy he used repeatedly was concrete: pour vegetable oil into dirt and within six to ten months the soil becomes rock. Pour animal fat into dirt and it molds, enriching the earth. The same process occurs inside the body. When vegetable oils are incorporated into arterial cells or any other tissue at human body temperature, they crystallize over a period of one to five years. Hydrogenated vegetable oils accelerate this process and carry the additional problem of sharing the same molecular structure as plastic. He stated directly that hydrolyzed and hydrogenated vegetable oils are the same molecular structure as plastic, which is why they solidify the arterial walls and cause hardened, congested lymphatics and hardened membranes throughout the system.

He traced the epidemic of heart disease and arteriosclerosis to a precise historical moment. Before margarine and pressed vegetable oils entered the food supply, hardening of the arteries was a rarity, appearing occasionally in people who worked in coal mines or smoldering factories and dried out internally from environmental toxins, but not as a population-level phenomenon. There was very little MS, very little arteriosclerosis in general. The 1940s and earlier were dominated by butter and lard as the primary cooking fats. Then in 1957, the hydrogenation process was refined enough to produce a substance that was functionally plastic, initially as a lubricating oil before being redirected into the food supply as margarine. By the early 1960s, the marketing campaign claiming that animal fats caused heart disease was fully operational, coinciding precisely with the introduction of the products that actually did cause the damage.

Even raw vegetable oils, Aajonus noted, will crystallize in the human body if they become part of a cell's structure, simply because the body temperature is insufficient to keep them fluid. Cooked vegetable oils compound this problem significantly. He specifically named safflower oil, olive oil, flax oil, Crisco, and margarine as substances that solidify and harden within the human system. He said he did not want people consuming olive oil, flax oil, or similar plant-derived oils precisely because they operate on the order of vegetable oils, often using glycerin molecules in ways that cause hardening rather than lubrication.

Animal fats, by contrast, remain fluid in the human body even when cooked, because they are biologically compatible with human body temperature. The body has the enzymatic and thermal conditions needed to keep animal fats liquid and metabolically active within the arterial walls and surrounding tissues. Aajonus pointed to the cooked-meat tribes of New Guinea and Borneo as the clearest available evidence. These people ate all the fat of animals, all cooked, including lard from pigs and every variety of animal fat available. They had no arteriosclerosis and no heart disease. Their disease burden was limited to gout, arthritis, rheumatism, some osteoporosis, dental decay, and in cannibalistic communities, CJD, but hardening of the arteries and hardening of the heart were absent entirely. Animal fats did not harden in their arterial walls because animal fats do not crystallize at human body temperature.

He extended this to the Eskimos, noting that tribes eating nothing but raw meats and raw fat, like the Eskimos, had no hardening of the arteries and no congestion or plaque in the heart. The plaque phenomenon, in his framework, is entirely a product of vegetable oil introduction into the modern diet, and the populations eating traditional animal-based diets are the proof. He said flatly that the claim that animal fat causes arteriosclerosis is "an absolute lie" and that the tribes eating cooked meat with all that cooked animal fat have nil, zero, none of that condition.

He also addressed butter and cooked animal fat directly: even cooked animal fat will not solidify in the artery, because it stays fluid at human body temperature. Pasteurized butter is cooked, but it still does not cause arterial hardening in the way vegetable oils do.

Aajonus observed that in nature, it is vegetative animals, chimpanzees and gorillas, that show more hardening of the tissues and shorter lifespans, because they consume more vegetable matter. This was consistent with his broader claim that vegetarian tribes showed more arterial and tissue hardening than meat-eating tribes. He referenced tribal comparisons to make this point: tribes eating cooked vegetables had arteriosclerosis, while tribes eating cooked meats did not. The disease profile was predictable and followed dietary fat type, not dietary fat quantity.

He also noted that the Harvard medical establishment eventually acknowledged an error, publishing findings that people on fat-free diets experienced 36 percent more disease. However, he found the revised recommendation, to eat fat at only one meal per day, equally unsupported by any real trial, and he rejected it as another arbitrary pronouncement without proper evidence.

The arterial wall cells have a replacement cycle of approximately six years. Vegetable oils, when incorporated into those cells, begin crystallizing within the first three years. Because the body cannot dissolve or break down these hardened crystals at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and because fevers are infrequent and brief enough that they do not generate sustained temperatures sufficient to melt the crystallized material, the body progressively builds thicker arterial walls around the crystals. This is the mechanism Aajonus described for progressive plaque accumulation. The crystals can grow, cause bone spurs, cause stones, and contribute to arteriosclerosis and hardening of the heart.

He described what these crystals look like structurally: they are finite crystals requiring an electronic high-powered microscope to see, but they become part of the cell wall of the artery or the heart tissue. This is distinct from the inflammatory or cholesterol-deposit model of plaque that conventional medicine uses. In his framework, the material hardening the arterial wall is crystallized vegetable oil, not cholesterol, and cholesterol itself is not a problem. He manufactured 65 varieties of cholesterol in the body, all advantageous, and the source of the cholesterol determines its function, not the quantity.

There is a secondary mechanism Aajonus described for cooked fats generally. When a fat molecule is cooked at high temperature, it loses its capacity for ion exchange. Over a period of ten to fifty or sixty years in the body, a cooked fat that is no longer capable of ion exchange hardens like crystal, comparable to glass or fired clay. This progressive brittleness inside arterial walls leads to cracked veins, aneurysms, and the splitting of brain cell integrity. Where these hardened cooked fat molecules have been part of the elasticity or lubrication within the arterial cell, the tissues develop lesions. This process is distinct from the vegetable oil crystallization mechanism but operates alongside it, particularly in people eating large quantities of cooked plant-based fats.

Aajonus's position on blood pressure in the context of arterial congestion was that high blood pressure is not the enemy, it is the appropriate biological response to an obstructed system. If a person has congested arteries, hardened arterial walls, or excess weight creating pressure on the veins and capillaries, the body must develop high blood pressure to force blood through the constricted channels. Without elevated pressure, the blood would not reach the body's tissues, would fail to deliver oxygen and nutrients, and would risk coagulating. The body, in his view, generates high blood pressure precisely because it needs it, and suppressing that pressure with medication while leaving the arterial obstruction in place removes a protective mechanism.

He cited a UK study of approximately 11,000 to 12,000 people, in which those with systolic pressures of 160 to 170 had no heart attacks, while those with lower blood pressure resulting from medication had all the heart attacks. He referenced a second study from England involving 45,000 people tracked over approximately eight years, which found that people with low blood pressure had all the heart attacks and that those with higher blood pressure had none. His interpretation was straightforward: if you have congestive arteries, congested veins, or a congested heart, you need high blood pressure to keep those channels open. Medicating that pressure away is the dangerous intervention, not the elevated pressure itself.

He specified the cholesterol angle as well: the body's cholesterol level is not a meaningful predictor of arterial disease in his framework. His own cholesterol was described as "sky high" during Washington University Medical School testing, and that same examination found no hardening of the arteries and no arterial problems. A Hall of Fame basketball player he worked with maintained a cholesterol level of 675 during peak performance, and another client, an Olympic gymnast, maintained hers at 375. These numbers were not pathological in his reading; they reflected what those bodies needed.

Aajonus documented his own arterial history extensively across multiple workshops and newsletters. By age 15.5, testing confirmed plaque in his right internal carotid artery, with PSV (Peak Systolic blood flow velocity) of 223 cm/sec and EDV (End-diastolic velocity) of 76 cm/sec. These readings indicated significant plaque buildup and obstructed blood flow. He developed angina pectoris within ten days of his third polio vaccine injection. The angina was severe enough that he would sometimes pass out from the pain. Doctors and his nurse mother never connected the vaccine to the immediate onset of angina because, he noted, they were conditioned not to make that association.

He carried this arterial plaque from age 15 onward without attempting to address it directly for decades. He attributed the original buildup substantially to his consumption of chocolates made with hydrogenated vegetable oils instead of butter. After becoming diabetic as a teenager, he ate a large quantity of chocolates, which by that time were being manufactured with hydrogenated vegetable oils rather than butter to extend shelf life, meaning he was consuming plastic-structured fats in quantity during a formative period.

Beginning around 2001, as ultrasound-based arterial screening became accessible, he began having his carotid artery checked every three to four years through Life Line Screening. Across four tests over ten years, his right carotid artery consistently showed plaque buildup, with his lowest reading being PSV 168 cm/sec and EDV 49 cm/sec in February 2007, showing a gradual reduction as he continued the Primal Diet. He noted that he was not concerned enough to actively address it, being a non-physically active person, and he disagreed with the pharmaceutical claim that high blood velocity per se indicated heart attack risk. His position was that high velocity is a symptom of obstruction, and the correct response is to eliminate the cause of the obstruction, not to reduce velocity with medication, which he stated was much more likely to cause a stroke than the elevated velocity itself.

He then decided to actively dissolve the remaining plaque. He began consuming raw apple cider vinegar, taking approximately 30 tablespoons total across one year, one tablespoon at a time. He also used clay, sometimes combining clay and vinegar together. After that year of approximately 30 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar, the test results on August 4, 2011 showed: Carotid Artery Left: Normal; Carotid Artery Right: Normal; No Atrial Fibrillation; No Aneurysm; Peripheral Arterial condition Normal. The plaque buildup that had been present since he was at least 15 years old, persisting through his mid-60s, was gone. He had carried it from approximately age 15 to age 62 and removed it in one year using roughly 30 tablespoons of vinegar consumed intermittently.

He described having previously had approximately 20 percent plaque on his arteries in his youth, with ultrasound pictures documenting it. At the separate cardiac testing done at a Washington University Medical School affiliated cardiac ward (which he attended for the study involving his pancreas and diabetes reversal), a world-famous sports cardiologist and his team spent approximately 30 to 45 minutes instead of the standard 10 to 20 minutes scanning his heart and arteries from every angle because they could not find the plaquing they expected given his diet. He ate eight to ten ounces of raw cream daily in spring and summer, and a minimum of one stick of butter per day in fall and winter. His heart was described by those cardiologists as "completely clean" with "not a bit of plaque on it anywhere." The carotid artery still showed some plaque at that point, approximately 2 percent, which the cardiologist could barely see, describing it as speckled film appearing to be dissolving. That finding was not considered dangerous.

Aajonus offered his own interpretation of PSV and EDV measurements that departed from standard medical readings. PSV (Peak Systolic blood flow velocity) indicates how fast blood is being forced through arteries and veins. A high number means blood is being pushed harder, which occurs when the channel is obstructed either by excess weight pressing on arteries or by buildup on arterial walls. Conventionally, a higher PSV indicates greater risk of heart attack. He disagreed with this interpretation, specifying that whether the buildup represents a danger depends on what the plaque is made of. If the buildup consists of hardened fats that could break away from the arterial wall in large enough chunks, those chunks could potentially cause a clot restricting blood flow to the heart or brain. High blood pressure and high blood velocity alone, in his view, do not cause strokes or heart attacks. EDV (End-diastolic velocity) has similar implications to PSV but is measured primarily for propensity toward cerebral stroke.

He noted that his mother was alarmed by his PSV of 223 and EDV of 76 at age 15.5, a condition almost unheard of in adolescents, which categorized him as at risk for both heart attack and cerebral stroke.

The primary protocol Aajonus used and recommended for dissolving arterial plaque was raw apple cider vinegar. His personal protocol for clearing his carotid artery involved approximately 30 tablespoons total across one year, consumed one tablespoon at a time, infrequently and without a rigid schedule. He did not take it daily, often skipping it while traveling or when away from home. He estimated his consumption at roughly 30 times before his clearing test eleven months after beginning.

For a person with significant arterial plaque, he suggested scaling vinegar intake based on body size. He referenced two tablespoons for a larger person as one dosage point, though the primary protocol for another person was one tablespoon.

For a client whose 82-year-old mother had suffered a heart attack and had one 100 percent blocked artery, one 90 percent blocked artery with a stent, and one 60 percent blocked artery with two stents, he recommended a specific formula: one tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar combined with three tablespoons of unheated honey, mixed together and poured into 2.5 ounces of naturally sparkling mineral water, taken three times daily. The timing he specified was between 6 and 8 AM, 1 and 3 PM, and 9 and 11 PM. This three-times-daily protocol was to be maintained for three months at five days per week. After three months, the vinegar was to be reduced to twice daily for another three months. After that, once daily indefinitely. He also recommended eating plenty of eggs alongside this protocol.

For a 60-year-old woman with five years on the raw diet who was experiencing heaviness in the chest, winding on stairs, and pain in the left arm, he responded that the system was most likely not congested but was using the lymphatic system in the chest area to detoxify substances from a period of dietary laxity. To help dissolve any toxins, he suggested two tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar in four ounces of milk once daily for three weeks only, reducing to one tablespoon once daily afterward.

He mentioned a second food for removing plaque from arteries and intestines: citrus, especially pineapple. However, he warned in We Want to Live that eating pineapple daily to remove arterial buildup requires pairing it with raw fat to prevent extreme emotionality from overconsumption. He specified one ounce of pineapple per day with three to four tablespoons of coconut cream and one tablespoon of raw cream, or one teaspoon of no-salt raw butter. Eating raw green foods with a fat-free dressing as the last meal of the day was described as helpful for removing the resins and residues that cause arterial hardening. The preferred dressing was raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar alone, or a mixture of fresh lemon juice and raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. Some people benefited from raw wine combined with raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. Eating raw fat with other foods, especially with a little lemon juice, helps lubricate hardened arteries. Raw coconut cream with cucumbers helps remove hardened resins. Bananas, non-steamed dates, tomatoes, melons, and unripe pineapple with plenty of raw fat, especially raw coconut cream, help relieve lactic acid buildup and soreness from muscle spasms associated with angina.

He also noted that stone-pressed olive oil, raw pineapple, raw fresh onions, and unheated honey very gradually restore heart function in cases of arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis.

Varicose veins and spider veins represent a related but distinct arterial and venous condition in his framework. Varicose veins are fundamentally swollen capillaries. The primary causes are too much insulin, a low level of insulin, improper utilization of sugars in the body, toxic adrenaline, heavy metals accumulating in the capillary and venous walls, or excessive water saturating the tissue. Sugars break down the tissues of the venous and capillary walls; fats then move in to attempt repair; and if those fats are solid fats, they can cause occlusions. But the original cause is the sugar-induced tissue breakdown, not the fat that follows.

He noted that apple cider vinegar applied topically or consumed would help chelate heavy metals that had accumulated in the arteries and capillaries causing them to thicken. Pineapple with coconut cream, and cheese with honey, were useful for addressing varicose conditions. Applying hot water bottles wrapped in a towel to the affected limb, tented loosely so heat concentrates around the area, increases circulation, brings more nutrients in, and supports the healing process.

Angina pectoris, in Aajonus's framework, is cramping of the muscles in or around the heart. He described it as a natural process by which the body attempts to increase circulation and remove toxins and hardened fat from muscles and arteries, analogous to a charley horse in the leg. The cramps themselves are the body working to clear the problem. The primary cause of arterial hardening that precipitates angina is, again, vegetable oils and cooked green foods for which the human body lacks the necessary enzyme mutations to properly digest, assimilate, and utilize. Mercury and formaldehyde from medical interventions, including vaccines, can also bury into muscle tissue and create charley horses in the heart muscle, but the medical profession does not look for this mechanism.

He was explicit that the presence of high cholesterol does not cause chest pain. Chest pain in the context of heart area discomfort is the body increasing circulation to the heart and surrounding areas to cleanse and heal regions where toxins have stored. The swelling and cleansing sometimes cause discomfort, pain, and fatigue, but he described these as always transitory. People who panic about chest pain and attribute it to high cholesterol are, in his words, simply parroting unscientific claims.

His personal experience with angina was severe. From age 15.5, he experienced episodes intense enough to cause him to pass out from pain. He was ripping at his chest and blacking out. This persisted across decades of his life. He made a deliberate decision not to aggressively address the carotid artery plaque until he felt his heart had cleared the vaccine-related tetanus damage, because he considered heart attack episodes traumatic and unpredictable. Only after he believed the cardiac tissue had recovered from that earlier vaccine damage did he begin the vinegar and coconut cream protocol to dissolve carotid plaque.