Healthy Food Choices for the Ornish Diet Foods

Video Transcript

MICHELLE COOPER: Next, we're going to talk about the Ornish diet. Dr. Dean Ornish wrote a book called "Eat more and weigh less." Eat more, yes, but basically only fruits and vegetables. This diet strictly resembles a vegetarian or a vegan diet. It basically recommends no meat or poultry. It limits severely the amount of fat that you could have on your diet. It also only allows fat-free milk, egg whites and fat-free cheeses from the dairy group. So basically all you're left with are fruits and vegetables. There's no mention of exercise either. When analyzing a diet for safetyness and efficiency, number one, you want to look at: Is this diet something that you could sustain for a long period of time? This diet is too restrictive in calories, so I don't think that you could sustain this style of eating over a long period of time at least not safely. Number two, does it exclude any foods or food groups? This diet severely restricts the consumption of meats and also fats which can result in essential fatty acid deficiency. You're not going to be getting your omega-3 fatty acids; you're not going to be getting your iron and other things you get from meats. Thirdly, is there an exercise component or activity encouraged? Not on this diet. And lastly, does it promote a safe rate of weight loss? The calories are too restrictive. The weight loss would be too rapid and hard to maintain. Therefore, I do not recommend this diet as a safe and effective way to lose weight.