Ornish Diet Review
Ornish Diet
Review
Dr
. Dean Ornish is a cardiologist
who has written two books about losing weight - Dr. Dean
Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease and Eat More,
Weigh Less. His plan began as a treatment plan for heart
patients who desperately needed to get their dieting habits on
track. The results were both lowered cholesterol and a
healthier heart, but also weight loss.
The Ornish Diet is almost completely vegetarian. Ornish
concentrates on removing fats and cholesterol from your diet by
consuming mostly whole grains, legumes, fruits and
vegetables. The Ornish plan recommends 10% fat, 20%
protein and 70% carbs. Exercise is important if you plan on
losing the weight and keeping off, as this plan claims to
do.
Dr. Ornish's diet also removes
many empty calories from sugars and fats. Combine both of
these with the exercise as recommended and it would be
difficult not to lose weight.Ornish diet lists "Eat Freely" foods, "Eat
Moderately" foods and "Banned" foods.
Providing you follow these guidelines, you can eat all you want
without counting calories or portion sizes. (Note: Banned foods
include, all fats and oils, nuts, seeds, avocados, as well as
refined carbs like sugar, white flour and white
rice.) The book
comes with hundreds of satisfying and innovative vegetarian
recipes.
What
we like about this diet
It
promotes the consumption of whole, organic foods. The diet is
abundant in carbohydrates, which is a no no in many of today’s
modern diets. There is no calorie counting. The
book provides plenty of recipes for great meals. The cost
of the diet is reasonable. The food is not overly
expensive, probably due to the lack of stopping in the meat
department.
What we dislike about this diet
The diet is very strict to follow. It is mostly all
vegetarian, which makes you wonder about the lack of amino
acids required for muscle building. The omission of nuts,
a valuable healthy fat, which critics believe are heart
protectors, seems to extreme. These restrictions make it
very hard to eat out, which adds prep work time and brown
bagging to your day.
How
healthy is this plan? Dr. Ornish is an expert in his field
and his plan has been proven with both heart disease and weight
loss patients. A vegetarian lifestyle isn't easy for most
people, but some health conditions could dictate a need to make
this lifestyle change. Exercise should be an important
part of any diet or lifestyle and Ornish has not overlooked
this. Since fish and meats have been almost banished from
this plan a supplement of Omega-3 Fatty Acids might be needed
while following this plan. While the plan is hard to follow,
you will lose weight in a reasonably healthy
manner.
The Bottom Line
This diet is quite a challenge to stick to, which could mean a
high failure rate. If you are one who can make extreme cut
backs on meats, fish you will enjoy and get fit on this
plan. Any diet that
strictly excludes any single group of food makes a
lifestyle change a rocky road. There are nutrients
in all foods that your body depends on. A plan with all
nutrients in moderation appears to be a better way to
go.
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