The "low fat" part of this program always puzzles me. Low fat means high carbohydrate. But high carbohydrate means increased triglycerides with palmitic acid as the main fatty acid. It sounds unreasonable to treat (or prevent) heart disease with a diet that, despite other very positive effects, leads to an increase of one of the most atherogenic fatty acids.
Rather than low fat, isn't it better to choose good fats, namely rich in MUFA (olive, canola) and omega-3 PUFA (flax)? Raw, of course!
By the way, I am vegan, I do not need to be convinced of the health effects of a plant-based diet.

Well, I got the book today and immediately read chapter 10. I am sorry to say that I find it far from convincing. There are statements of what one may call "case studies", but in other books we find quite the opposite statements, see for example the books by Artemis Simonopoulos.
On the other hand we have number of clinical studies published in peer-reviewed international journals consistently showing that a high-carb diet increases tryglicerides and lowers HDL-cholesterol, without significantly affecting the total cholesterol (which means TC/HC increases). This and the conversion of excess carbs to palmitic acid are two critical points that proponents of a low fat diet should address explicitly, instead of just contenting themselves with observational studies. If memory serves, I haven't find a discussion of these aspects in the China Study (I also wrote to the Campbell foundation, no answer).
Don't get me wrong, I am ready to accept the thesis of the low fat, if a convincing explanation of what currently looks like a striking contradiction is given. If someone has references to some studies addressing these points I would be most happy to study them.

What is your definition of a processed food? Removing all the fiber and protein, and extracting pure fat, tossing away the rest, that is a processed food in my book. Eat an olive, that is a whole food.

If you're going to watch Dr. Esselstyn's presentations, great. He does a great job explaining why you want to eliminate all added fats from your diet, as well as refined carbs. He also limits nuts and seeds because of their high fat content. His diet is to aggressively reverse heart disease and open up clogged arteries, making you heart attack-proof within a couple of weeks of starting to follow his diet.

I would say whatever effect you believe palitic acid has on raising cholesterol, if it is a byproduct of a starch-based whole foods diet, it is negligible. People switching to Dr. Esselstyn's diet get off of cholesterol meds and are able to achieve excellent numbers. After you watch his talk, I'm sure you could contact Dr. Esselstyn directly with further questions.

Cheers.

In addition to the suggestions from Jeff, read up on the work of Dr. Dean Ornish in reversing heart disease as well as Dr. Neal Barnard. That should pretty much put any doubts to rest. The science and the evidence is as solid as it gets.