Product Description

"Whether or not you think you'll ever be concerned about your heart, this is likely to be the most useful book about health you'll read this year, maybe ever."
ESQUIRE
In this breakthrough book, Dr. Dean Ornish presents dramatic evidence that heart disease can be halted or even reversed simply by changing your life-style. Step-by-step he will guide you through the extraordinary Opening Your Heart program that takes you beyond the purely physical side of health care to include the psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspects so vital to healing. This book represents the best modern medicine has to offer. It can inspire you to open your heart to a longer, better, happier life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186153 in Books
• Published on: 1992-01-13
• Released on: 1992-01-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

From Library Journal
Ornish, author of the popular Stress, Diet, and Your Heart ( LJ 1/1/83), bases his book on an extensive study that found his "Opening Your Heart" program resulted in the reversal of coronary artery blockage. He gives thorough background to his study, backing up his claims with scientific evidence, and provides case histories of people who have followed the program. In describing ways to reverse heart disease, he offers suggestions on how to control diet (with helpful recipes from noted chef Wolfgang Puck), as well as on how to quit smoking and how to exercise. Recommended for general collections.
- Barbara Kormelink, Bay Medical Ctr. Lib., Bay City, Mich.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Advance praise for Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease

"Revolutionary results...By the standards of conventional medicine the impossible has happened. Dr. Ornish's work could change the lives of millions." -- Newsweek

"Dr. Ornish's research offers strong scientific evidence that lifestyle changes alone can actually reverse the progression of atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries. These lifestyle changes can begin to reverse even severe coronary artery disease after only one year, without the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs."

-- Claude Lenfant, M.D., director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health

"This is more than a book on reversing heart disease; it is a powerful and wise prescription for opening the heart in its deepest sense. Dr. Ornish's humanity, wit and integrity shine through on every page, affirming the best of what medicine has to offer. You don't have to have heart disease to be healed through this extraordinary book and program."

-- Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., author of Minding the Body, Mending the Mind

"In his groundbreaking book, Dr. Dean Ornish demonstrates that even severe coronary heart disease can be reversed. He shows us that when we begin healing our lives, then our hearts begin to heal as well. Dr. Ornish shows us what we are all capable of in this exciting new book. I cannot recommend it highly enough."

-- Bernard S. Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine & Miracles

"Dr. Ornish's book will be good news for many patients with severe coronary heart disease. As one of his earliest mentors, I am very proud of Dr. Ornish's achievements."

-- Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., M.D., president, American Heart Association (1984)

"Whether or not you think you'll ever be concerned about your heart, this is likely to be the most useful book about health you'll read this year, maybe ever." -- John Poppy, Esquire

"This is an epochal book. It sets a new standard in our understanding of heart disease, and it is the template against which all other books on any disease whatsoever should be judged. For the purity of the science on which it rests, and for the majesty of its spiritual wisdom, this book has no equal in the literature of medicine and health."

-- Larry Dossey, M.D., author, Space, Time and Medicine and Recovering the Soul


From the Hardcover edition.

Ingram
Presents a program to prevent or reverse heart disease without the use of drugs or surgery, including two hundred recipes, an exercise regimen, and stress-reduction techniques. Reprint. Tour.

Customer Reviews

worth careful consideration
I have not read this book, however I have read most of these reviews. I am an RN and would just like to point out that each individual is bound to have his or her own unique experience with this diet. To any who adamantly state this should never be tried, for whatever your reasons (selling your own book, or solely considering your own health concerns) shame on you. To attempt to black list this book for people it MAY help is well, despicable. I am personally buying this book both for family members and myself who are having atherosclerotic problems. The key is, if there are potential problems, to insist on getting those things checked regularly with your doctor, which we will do and post more in the future with our personal results.

This program really works! Read this testimonial!
First of all, one thing I have noticed is that some people seem to hate this book and base their judgment on the fact that this promotes a vegetarian diet; like that's a bad thing! Please, check the latest literature about vegetarian diets before [deciding] I have friends who believe in high protein diets and since I have known them, they believe it is working, but they are not losing weight. At any rate, this book contains a much more complex program than just diet. It is simple to read and even more simple to follow. This time I will follow through with it despite my busy schedule. A busy schedule is no excuse for not eating healthy and exercising.

A change in the way of thinking about things
Dean Ornish's (1995) clinical medical research, for example, shows that heart disease, the biggest cause of death presently in the United States and in many developed countries, and potentially many other conditions - e.g. he's doing clinical trials presently on prostate cancer with positive results so far - are reversible through lifestyle changes, especially a nutritionally-sound, low-fat, grain-, vegetable-, bean- (including soy bean products) and fruit-centered diet; exercise, e.g. 30 minutes of walking per day; relaxation; and community.

His work originates from a yoga perspective.

People in the U.S. consume 30% of their calories in the form of fat, which contributes to putting a significant part of the population at risk for heart disease. By contrast, a heart disease-reversing diet involves consuming about 10% of one's daily calories in the form of fat, - aim for very, very little fat intake using the very useful Food and Drug Administration labels on all U.S. food (labels in the UK are not nearly as informative), get exercise and have fun with friends. In general, try to eat less than 3 grams of fat per serving.