Dr. Dean Ornish created the Ornish Diet, a very low-fat diet, as a tool to reverse heart disease. While the diet was originally created to help cardiac patients, Ornish discovered that over the course of the year, patients following the diet lost an average of 25 pounds. After this discovery, Ornish wrote a book titled "Eat More, Weigh Less" in which he promoted his diet as a successful weight loss plan.
Diet Basics
The Ornish diet is a completely vegetarian diet that focuses on fat restriction. The diet allows 70 to 75 percent of calories to come from carbohydrates, 15 to 20 percent of calories from protein and less than 10 percent of calories to come from fat. The Ornish diet excludes most foods from animal sources, although it does permit egg whites and nonfat dairy products. Nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, coconuts, chocolate and most oils, which are all high-fat foods, are excluded from the Ornish diet plan. The diet allows you to use a small amount of canola oil for cooking purposes only. The Ornish diet permits small amounts of salt and alcohol, but completely eliminates caffeine. White carbohydrates, processed foods and refined foods are not allowed on the Ornish diet.
Foods to Eat
Most of your calorie intake should come from fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, beans, legumes and whole grains, such as oats, brown rice, wheat, barley, millet and buckwheat. You may consume nonfat (skim) milk, nonfat yogurt and nonfat cheese, although dairy products should be consumed in moderation. Ornish suggests eating these foods regularly throughout the course of the day, rather than consuming three large meals. Doing this helps keep you full and can prevent overeating and the consumption of excess calories. The Ornish diet does not place restrictions on portion sizes or the amount of calories you can eat.
Other Recommendations
In addition to restrictions on food, the Ornish diet also suggests engaging in regular exercise. The Ornish diet recommends 30 minutes of exercise on each day of the week or an hour of exercise three times per week. The Ornish diet also recommends engaging in stress-reduction exercises, such as yoga or meditation, to complement cardiovascular exercises.
Quitting smoking is also an important aspect of the Ornish diet. The diet program includes smoking cessation education and referrals to a variety of books and other resources to help you quit.
Considerations
Wellness.com notes that while the Ornish diet has been shown to be successful in promoting weight loss and reversing heart disease, it is also one of the most difficult diets to follow for the long term because of its severe diet and lifestyle restrictions. Extremely restrictive diets are also generally low in essential vitamins and minerals, and can increase the risk of developing nutrient deficiencies. The healthy fats in nuts, seeds and avocados have also been linked to lowered risk of heart disease and proper body function, so completely restricting them might not be beneficial.
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