He ate very low calories in order to keep from gaining weight on the high-carbohydrate diet. He failed to take any vitamins, minerals or other supplements on the false premise that his vegetarian diet could provide them. He undoubtedly suffered from an amino acid deficiency compounded by an essential fatty acid deficiency and further compounded by a refusal to supplement with vitamins and minerals. Amino acids from protein are the building blocks of life, and it is difficult to obtain all of the amino acids required by one's diet outside of eating meat, fish and fowl. The effects of these deficiencies take many years to manifest themselves, and the resultant disease can be just about anything in the book.
People fail to understand that the minimum requirement for carbohydrates in the diet is zero - none.
FATS that HEAL Fats in the diet which are necessary for life are called essential fatty acids. They are essential because the body cannot make these fats from other foods. These fats are in two classes which must be present in our food in a specific ratio to promote health. The excess of one will cause a deficiency in the other and vice versa. A deficiency in either is one of the causes of heart disease and cancer.