Dr. Esselstyn Guidelines Clarifications

These come "straight from the horse's mouth," so to speak.

Mary Pope, owner of the Dr. Esselstyn Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease - Recipes and Discussion FaceBook community, spoke with Dr. Esselstyn's office last week and arrangements were made for members of her group to send questions in to Dr. Esselstyn's secretary, Jackie Frey, and she would submit them to Dr. Esselstyn herself, and send back the answers from the good doctor. The first 10 questions (from a very long list) were sent late last week. Mary posted this today:

Here are the answers to the first 10 questions I sent. I’ll figure out a way to compile them by subject so they can be a reference.
Is it ok to just eat beets everyday for the six servings of greens? - No, Important to mix it up - arugula and kale are powerful
How have you lowered homocysteine? Is methyl folate needed? - Not when you eat plant based
Which Engine 2 foods are ok for someone with heart disease? - Almost all of them. Read ingredients. Rip's big bowl has a very few walnuts which probably don't matter for most.
Since the recommendations for reversal are stricter than those for prevention, it seems intuitive that ideally (to do the best one possibly can), everyone should follow the reversal recommendations. Is it so, or is there some reason why there is little or no advantage for some people (no diagnosis or high risk) to follow the reversal recommendations? - It makes sense, though for healthy, athletic people, nuts and avocado are fine...just no oil, no meat, no dairy for everyone and lots of vegetables and leafy greens
Does the doctor feel that the recommendation for flax seeds is sufficient to meet one's DHA/ALA needs? If not, what else might one need to do? - Flax seed meal and chia seed are excellent for DHA/ALA and the leafy greens as well.
1) Raw verses cooked and if portion sizes should increase with raw. - Some raw is good but some cooked is excellent and for leafy greens you get way more cooked.
2) If spinach/beets/chard should be limited because of the high oxalates/kidney stress? - Use reasonably and not exclusively - variety is good.
3) Does fresh raw cold pressed vegetable or fruit juice damage the endothelial? - NO juicing - do not juice. The fructose, the sugar in fruit is separated from the fiber in juicing. It is then rapidly absorbed and injurious. You lose the benefits of fiber best obtained by eating the whole fruit. Chew your food, especially your greens.
Realizing that the main component in the process of preventing/reversing comes from dietary changes, not supplements, I would like to have your input on any benefits of NATTO-K. Thank you! - It is not something we suggest using.
Clarification on water fasting up to two non-consecutive days per week since I can’t find that ‘update’ on the website. Apparently, he mentioned it recently at a conference in regards to reaching a plateau and/or lowering cholesterol? - Effective for losing weight when at a plateau. Consider doing Monday and Thursday.
Why is caffeinated coffee not allowed but caffeinated tea is ok? - The caffeinating process in tea is different from that of coffee.
Is decaf coffee ok? - Yes