For those of you who watched Mairi and Mel, and Jonna’s video or listened to Paul’s podcast but do not have insurance that will pay for the program, you can do it yourself with this book!
In this book, Dr. Ornish shares how his experience with depression led him to mindfulness and meditation. He also talks about his research studies and years of experience with reversing heart disease through changes in lifestyle. He has a few very moving patient testimonials as well.
Dr. Ornish delineates the different causes of heart disease which include high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, and nicotine. He talks about how most of the people who are treated with cholesterol-lowering drug and anti-hypertensive drugs unfortunately do not benefit from the treatment of their problems with these medications. Lifestyle is far more effective than medication as treatment for heart disease. Fortunately, most people who followed his lifestyle program were able to decrease or discontinue their blood pressure medications.
Dr. Ornish states that lifestyle factors can activate all mechanisms known to bring about heart disease. He explains how the lifestyle factors (diet, nicotine, stimulants, exercise, and stress) can cause heart disease. He also talks about isolation leads to chronic stress and can promote illness, including heart disease.
Dr Ornish’s “Opening your Heart Program” includes techniques for increasing intimacy and managing stress, a diet low in fat and cholesterol, a program for moderate exercise, and a system to help people stop smoking. His stress management techniques include stretches, relaxation techniques, meditation, and directed or receptive imagery. He has two different diets, a “Reversal Diet” (which is more strict) and a “Prevention Diet” with somewhat higher fat and cholesterol content.
Dr. Ornish delineates different components of his program in the last few chapters of his book. In the chapter about exercise, Dr. Ornish talks about studies showing that the effects moderate exercise on longevity are similar to the effects of strenuous exercise. Since people have less risk of sudden death during moderate exercise, he recommends moderate exercise (over strenuous exercise) in his program. The last section of the book includes recipes and common ingredients. He also tells you how to adapt recipes to make them more heart-friendly.
I highly recommend this book! I learned a lot about how isolation and stress can affect disease that I did not know prior to reading this book.