Review: Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease The Only System Scientifically Proven to Reverse Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery

This book is neither small nor new, but it is worth its weight in gold. With copyright date 1990, the book reports on the rigorous research conducted by Dr. Ornish and his staff at Presbyterian Medical Center and the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine beginning 1984. Research findings were published in The Lancet in Summer 1990.

The research approach, “Opening Your Heart”, combined dietary modifications, stress reduction, avoidance of smoking, and regular exercise. Preceding studies had considered individual components, but no one had combined them all in the same study. By the end of one year, 82% of the participants who followed the directions (made the comprehensive lifestyle changes described in the book) demonstrated some measurable average reversal of their coronary artery blockage. Overall the average blockage reversed from 61.1 to 55.8 percent; more severely blocked arteries showed even greater improvement. Improvement was measured by a cardiac PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan; there was nothing subjective about it. That measured improvement was in spite of the universal belief of the time that heart disease could not be reversed.

The components of the Opening Your Heart program are
1.Techniques for increasing intimacy and managing stress more effectively,
2.A diet very low in fat and cholesterol,
3.A system to help the participant stop smoking and let go of other addictions, and
4.A program of moderate exercise.
Details of each of the components are included in separate chapters in great detail.

Part Three, a major portion of the book is devoted to recipes used in the program. The diet supplies vibrant colors, rich flavors and textures, variety of fresh vegetables, tangy herbs, pungent spices, wholesome grains, savory beans, elegant pastas, and sweet, enticing fruit dishes. Vegetables, grains, and dried beans are the backbone of the diet.

I can not do justice to a 631 page book of this magnitude and value in a single page. To realize the full worth, you need to study it for yourself. If you will approach the book with an open mind and a willingness to learn, you will come away in better health than you began.