The Dean Ornish Diet

The Dean Ornish diet focuses on maintaining a healthy weight, boosting energy, and keeping blood sugar balanced. A guiding principle of Ornish Lifestyle Medicine is that nutrition is about feeling good, experiencing a joy of living, not a fear of dying. In the Ornish diet, what you include in your diet is as important as what you exclude.  

Meals should be nutritious, but also flavorful and enjoyable so that they are enticing and can be permanently added to one’s diet. Flavoring the food with herbs and spices is an effective way to enhance the flavor. A low-dose multivitamin and mineral supplement with vitamin B-12 and omega-3 can be added to the diet.  

Most proteins in the diet come from plants in their natural state. Foods that are rich in good carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are emphasized, as are non-dairy alternatives. Meat, poultry, and fish are not included in the diet. Stimulants like caffeine are discouraged in order to maintain a sense of calm. Other foods that are allowed in smaller amounts, occasionally, or in moderation include nuts, low-fat foods, low-fat packaged foods, salt, non-fat dairy foods, egg whites, maple syrup, agave, honey, white sugar, brown sugar, and alcohol.

Up to 10% of calories from fat are permitted and 4 g of good fats are permitted per day. Up to 10 mg of cholesterol are permitted per day. Many smaller meals throughout the day are encouraged to appease appetite.  

Research has shown that Ornish Lifestyle Medicine may reverse progression of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and early-state prostate cancer.