Ornish Diet
How To Eat More & Lose Weight With The Ornish
Diet?
In the year of 1993, Dr. Dean Ornish wrote a book entitled
Eat More, Weigh Less. The major focus of the book was to advise
people to consume more of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables
and at the same time reducing the fat intake.
Ornish then made headlines by becoming a dietary consultant
to McDonald’s, helping the hamburger giant to design
a menu of the fruit and walnut salad which now appears on
the restaurant’s re-vamped menu.
Ornish’s work started in 1977 when he was studying
ways to fight heart attacks. He hypothesized that heart disease
could be successfully treated y reducing the fat consumption
in a patient’s diet, and reducing the amount of unrefined
carbohydrates he or she consumes. Through out his research,
he noticed that his patients lost about 25 pounds each and
managed to maintain the weight loss for five years.
Ornish offers two different types of diets, which are the
Reversal Diet and the Prevention Diet. For the heart disease
patients and who are trying to reduce their risk of another
heart attack would possibly benefit from the Reversal Diet,
while the Prevention Diet is designed for people who have
high cholesterol levels, and yet to develop heart disease.
Both versions are vegetarian, consisting of 10% fat, 20% protein,
and 70% carbs.
When you follow the Ornish diet, you will be eating plenty
of fiber, little fat, and a lot of vegetables. Under the Ornish
program, you can eat as many beans, fruits, grains, and vegetables
as you wish. But, non-fat dairy products such as milk, cheese,
and yogurt should be eaten carefully. The same goes to fat-free
desserts and yogurt bars.
Still, you need to give up a lot under the Ornish plan. For
example, you will not be permitted to eat meat of any kind,
which includes fish and chicken. You also have to strictly
avoid oils, avocados, olives, nuts, sugar, and anything that
consists of more than two grams of fat for each serving. The
diet also bans the consumption of alcohol. The doctor suggests
eating a number of small meals so that you will feel hungry
less often. By following this plan, less than ten percent
of your calories should come from fat.
Ornish suggests at least 30 minutes of exercise each day,
or at least an hour of exercise three times a week. He also
suggests some stress management methods, such as meditation,
massage, or yoga. Why? Ornish writes in his book, “When
your soul is fed, you have less need to overeat. When you
directly experience the fullness of life, then you have less
need to fill the void with food.”
The fans of the Ornish plan are passionate about its effect
on the body. It has helped some people to successfully combat
their heart disease, prevent cancer, alleviate the symptoms
of diabetes, and as well as help to stabilize high blood pressure.
As a matter of fact, there is a doctor who said that the Ornish
program succeeds because it has a clear scientific basis.
Besides, it is also easy to follow since it does not involve
counting calories.
The major disadvantage of the Ornish plan is the fact that
it is highly restrictive. The fact makes it difficult for
others to stay with in a long run. Plenty of dieters may be
uncomfortable eating food that is so low-fat. The diet also
represents an extreme makeover from the typical American meat-and-potatoes
fare.
However, Ornish fails to identify the fact that some types
of fats are actually good for one’s health. For example,
monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils can help to prevent
heart disease. Therefore, Ornish’s prohibitions against
fish and nut consumption would seem to be counter-productive.
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