Rating: 
Summary: Listen to this man
Review: I have been using this book for about 3 years, and have just ordered a copy for my brother. If I could, I would give a copy to everyone I know who has a weight and health issue, if only because of his concept of "meditative eating".When I reflect on this book, the element that impresses me the most is the compassion with which the book is written. Ornish clearly wants to help people be healthy, and be happy in their lives. He does not promote extreme goals or unattainable body images- he talks about real people who want to feel better, have more energy and be able to do the things in life that they want to do. He encourages the reader to be mindful of what they are eating and doing, to eat with joy and pleasure, to savor and meditate upon the experience of nourishing themselves in a healthy manner. Many people looking for a make-over book look for not just a diet plan, but an exercise plan, an journaling plan, a food log, and a lot of rules. Ornish is not presenting a weight-loss, get fit fast plan, to remodel your outer body by Christmas. This book is about remodelling your inner self so you want to make better choices about what you eat and do. He recommends a healthy diet, and a moderate amount of exercise, things that you will do ALL your life. This is not a short-term project, it's a life-style retraining guide that treats you gently. I love to cook, and I'm partial to the vegetarian life choice, so I found the recipes not only delicious, but inspiring. Over time, I have been able to convert almost my old fat-laden favorites to his guidelines. Also found that my tastes changed over time, and I desired less fat and salt and sugar in foods. This has been a slow process, as Ornish no doubt intended, a gentle metamorphosis into a more mindful life. In addition to the excellent recipes, which are fun to make, there are simple and helpful hints that you can use in your everyday cooking, hints that don't add any more prep time to your cooking but add flavor and cut down on fats. And what I really love are his simply stated general guidelines about what you can eat, and how much. With those guidelines in mind, you don't need to diet or follow a food plan, just remember what you're eating. For those who regret the absence of meat in this eating style, well, I don't think Ornish intends for you to give up every single thing you love. I dearly love avocados- and have them now and then. You learn to have those things less often, but to enjoy them so much more. Far from giving up the things you love, following Ornish's advice allows you to make room for them in a way that does you no harm. It's all about balance and paying attention to yourself.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Healthy-Eating, Healthy-Living Guide Ever
Review: I have been using this book for about 3 years, and have just ordered a copy for my brother. If I could, I would give a copy to everyone I know who has a weight and health issue, if only because of his concept of "meditative eating". When I reflect on this book, the element that impresses me the most is the compassion with which the book is written. Ornish clearly wants to help people be healthy, and be happy in their lives. He does not promote extreme goals or unattainable body images- he talks about real people who want to feel better, have more energy and be able to do the things in life that they want to do. He encourages the reader to be mindful of what they are eating and doing, to eat with joy and pleasure, to savor and meditate upon the experience of nourishing themselves in a healthy manner. Many people looking for a make-over book look for not just a diet plan, but an exercise plan, an journaling plan, a food log, and a lot of rules. Ornish is not presenting a weight-loss, get fit fast plan, to remodel your outer body by Christmas. This book is about remodelling your inner self so you want to make better choices about what you eat and do. He recommends a healthy diet, and a moderate amount of exercise, things that you will do ALL your life. This is not a short-term project, it's a life-style retraining guide that treats you gently. I love to cook, and I'm partial to the vegetarian life choice, so I found the recipes not only delicious, but inspiring. Over time, I have been able to convert almost my old fat-laden favorites to his guidelines. Also found that my tastes changed over time, and I desired less fat and salt and sugar in foods. This has been a slow process, as Ornish no doubt intended, a gentle metamorphosis into a more mindful life. In addition to the excellent recipes, which are fun to make, there are simple and helpful hints that you can use in your everyday cooking, hints that don't add any more prep time to your cooking but add flavor and cut down on fats. And what I really love are his simply stated general guidelines about what you can eat, and how much. With those guidelines in mind, you don't need to diet or follow a food plan, just remember what you're eating. For those who regret the absence of meat in this eating style, well, I don't think Ornish intends for you to give up every single thing you love. I dearly love avocados- and have them now and then. You learn to have those things less often, but to enjoy them so much more. Far from giving up the things you love, following Ornish's advice allows you to make room for them in a way that does you no harm. It's all about balance and paying attention to yourself.
Rating:
Summary: The Beneteau Perspective
Review: I have read the many books written by Dean Ornish, MD, as well as those by Barry Sears, MD, Nathan Pritikin, PhD., and Robert Atkins, MD, and others on the general topic of eating for heart health. I've incorporated their recommendations, variously. I used the Pritikin program in l973 to deal with hypertension and weight gain. That plan, together with jogging exercise, brought good health until I unwittingly lapsed into eating too many simple carbohydrates, against which Ornish warns. Wrongly thinking that the Pritikin plan was at fault for my weight gain, I launched into the Atkins regime and experienced good weight loss, but bad breath, very high lipid profiles, constipation, and fainting spells. Recent scans reveal some kidney involvement not at all present in the years prior to using the Atkins approach. I discontinued Atkins, and fed ad litum until some heart concerns brought me to the Ornish 'clarification'of the Pritikin theory. The Ornish program brought my cholesterol to about 160, LDL 90,and HDL 45, to the astonishment of my (reluctant) family doctor. Recently, I have been reading Barry Sears work dealing with insulin, ecosinoids, and fish oil. Continuing my quest for truth as a human guinea pig, I have undertaken some of the Sears recommendations. Combining now the Ornish and the Sears viewpoints, my TC is l93, LDL l0l, HDL 80, and TG 55. I exercise at tennis for great fun, about seven to ten hours a week. However, I'm newly concerned that including two to three ounces weekly of Salmon and/or Sardines, plus fish oil, as well as including walnuts and avacados, might over time bring TC and LDL out of line with those under the Ornish plan alone. I must say that the doctors here in Lansing and Detroit don't really help with prescriptions for frequent blood tests. I must go to the county health department (free but cursory) and Life Extension Foundation (uninsured)to keep frequent track of my blood profiles. I should have another test now, with the introduction of the Sears elements into my eating plan. Just to put everything into the picture, one of my tennis partners, an MD, told me that he has never seen a male patient whose HDL is 80 mg/dl. (I take about 3 Mg. Vasotec daily for hypertension, and 0.2 Mg Clonazepam, a declining dose, for some gradually clearing PTSD symptoms). I wonder if the daily 1 or 2 grams of pharmaceutical grade fish oil together with tocotrienols and CoQ10, might impact on the HDL and TG, and what effect the prescription drugs might have as well. I'm very pleased with the Ornish program, having some positive experience with Pritikin before. My weight, BMI, blood pressure, and lipids are well under control, and I eat till I'm reasonably satisfied. Altogether with the views expressed about love, meditation, and excercise, as well as diet, Dean Ornish has covered all the bases. His latest as well as earlier publications express the gold standard of a dietary approach to heart health currently. It is gratifying that Dean Ornish has brought this confusing, and often obfuscated, topic into public debate for a little sunlight. I would like to hear some comments about the elements that Sears brings to the subject, because I'm astonished at my reading of 56 Mg/dl for triglycerides, and the 80 HDL which Sears specifically targets. I don't remember that Ornish addresses triglycerides exhaustively, even though he prudently covers the area. Notwithstanding all the elements at play in this global problem, I'm willing to say that Dean Ornish saved my health, if not my life in l999, and I'm greatly thankful.
Rating:
Summary: Listen to this man
Review: I myself think Dr. Ornish is the greatest. I recently became a vegetarian, sometimes I eat fish, so I guess I am only a semi-vegetarian. Dr. Atkins diet put me in the hospital literally for a week, my cholestrol was sky high, I had no energy and was fat as a pig. I have been following Dr. Ornish plan for 1 month and have already lost 12 pounds and feel great. I have no more migraine headaches, or any of the other ailments that used to bother me. Follow this book and it will help you to.
Rating: 
Summary: Great theory of low-fat benefits, terrible recipes
Review: I read this book just recently. I am convinced Ornish is on the right track for losing weight and keeping your heart healthy. He basically advocates a very low fat diet, using natural foods, avoiding meat and highly processed foods such as sugar, white flour, and white rice. Except for his completely wanting to avoid meat, I agree with him. I think some light use of lean meats should be included. What I was not please with were the recipes. I did not find one recipe that I could call quick and easy! Most involved many obscure ingredients and lots of preperation time. Read the book for it's ideas, then go out and look for other more practical low fat "heart healthy" cook books.
Rating: 
Summary: Great REFERENCE- book 2 "Everyday Cooking" better COOKBOOK
Review: I started with this book. I found the introduction THOROUGH & useful. The recipes were VERY educating & VERY VERY TASTY, filling & healthy! There is a social-psychological theory which indicates that increasing EFFORT towards a goal increases ones' chances of reaching the goal. Without regard to whether the effort ACTUALLY relates to the goal. It is the PERCEPTION of that effort which increases one's dedication to the goal. Maybe these complicated recipes do that. I do know they TASTE WONDERFUL & do do what that promise: you lose weight, you don't feel hungry & you have more energy. If you want to FAST TRACK into the diet, buy the second book. You'll end up buying for the fast recipes anyway! Remember: this is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE, so I suggest reading the first book FIRST & putting in the hard work for the first month. When you're feeling that its a lot of effort, buy the second book. It worked for me!!
Rating: 
Summary: Big Misteak!
Review: I tried the diet (and the recipes) recommended in this book. The memory of it burns in my brain like a searing hot poker! The recipes appear to assume that time, expense, and availability of exotic ingredients are no problem. The book does not clearly label the author's program as a vegan diet, so those unaware do not realize what a radical change this diet will be for them (no meat, no milk, no eggs, no cheese, no etc...). Also, this book says that vitamins and other supplements are needed with the program. Doesn't that mean the diet is gravely deficient? Imagine yourself shopping for vitamins and other supplements but you are unable to match the author's recommended dosages with the dosages commercially available in most stores. No fun!
Rating: 
Summary: Where do you buy this stuff anyhow?
Review: I was disappointed in this book. Pick a recipe, any recipe - does anyone REALLY have the time to cook this stuff? I also got some interesting looks at the supermarket when I asked where I might find the "Mace" (as in ½ teaspoon of Mace) or the "Quinoa" or the "Saffron Threads". I must admit, I lost weight on this diet. I had to, I spent all of my time looking for the ingredients and had no time to eat. Come on Doctor Ornish, how about a book for the rest of us?
Rating:
Summary: Vitamin deficiency
Review: I was initially excited by Dr. Ornish's eating plan. For the first several months of following his diet, I felt better, had more energy, and lost 10 pounds. However, after a year or so I became tired, then very tired... When it progressed to exhaustion and I had trouble getting through my workday, I went to see my doctor. Blood work found significant iron and B12 deficiencies. In researching in other books about vegetarian diets, I read that it is almost impossible to get B12 in a vegetarian diet (the only sources are said to be Spirulina and some kinds of kelp) and that supplements should be taken. I also read that it is difficult to get adequate iron and vitamin D on a strictly vegetarian diet. When I went back to Dr. Ornish's book, I could find no references to the need for these supplements or discussion about possible vitamin or mineral deficiencies when on this diet. Since he is an MD, I trusted completely in what he said in this book. I am disappointed now, however, and wish he had included more information about the nutritional needs that might not be met by a vegetarian diet. I still love his recipes, however.
Rating:
Summary: Too extreme for me
Review: I'm sorry, this book is not for those how still like to get their protien by the source of meat. This book is not geered toward tracking weight loss and fitness. Its a complete book on extravagant veggie meals to make without using meat. I guess if I wanted to eat vegetable soup almost everyday, it would work for me. For those of you who want to eat like a "normal person", do not buy this book for weight loss. If you are not committed to becoming a vegetarian, this book is not for you.
| 
