Dean Ornish: Eating for Health Not Weight

Last Saturday, I was incredibly please to read Dr. Dean Ornish’s opinion piece in the New Your Times entitled Eating for Health, Not Weight

In this piece, Ornish talks about one of the biggest dieting myths today:  it doesn’t matter what you eat as along as you lose pounds. Many of us equate thin and healthy; but it ain’t necessarily so! The food you eat matters.

In other words the difference between eating a plant based diet or the Aitkins diet is significant. Sure, you might lose weight eating either one but there is a vast difference in how they effect your body over time. Based on his research he advocates a plant based diet:

In 35 years of medical research, conducted at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute, which I founded, we have seen that patients who ate mostly plant-based meals, with dishes like black bean vegetarian chili and whole wheat penne pasta with roasted vegetables, achieved reversal of even severe coronary artery disease. They also engaged in moderate exercise and stress-management techniques, and participated in a support group. The program also led to improved blood flow and significantly less inflammation which matters because chronic inflammation is an underlying cause of heart disease and many forms of cancer. We found that this program may also slow, stop or reverse the progression of early stage prostate cancer, as well as reverse the progression of Type 2 diabetes.

One of the most compelling pieces of information is about the cost of chronic disease — 75 percent of the $2.8 trillion in annual health care costs in the United States. That is an almost incomprehensible $2,100,000,000,000! The real tragedy is that most of these diseases can be prevented or cured by diet and exercise! And the worst part is that all the political wrangling about Medicare doesn’t even mention diet, exercise and life style support.

What’s wrong with this picture!!

His article is an elegant argument for a more sane approach to health, health care and Medicare. Please take the time to read it! Here is the link written out: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/opinion/sunday/the-optimal-diet.html?_r=0

 

About Genene Cote

Genene Coté -- Nutrition Advocate, Counselor and Coach who is also a Whole Food Plant Based Eater (vegetarian/vegan), cook and gardener.
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