How to Cure Heart Disease With Dean Ornish's Program

Scientific studies that I have directed show that severe heart disease often can begin to reverse when people make big changes in diet and lifestyle. The essence of my program begins with a whole-foods, plant-based diet.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Lowering your fat intake to 10 percent of your total daily calories is essential to reverse the effects of heart disease and to lower your cholesterol.
2. Make sure that you do not consume more than 10 milligrams of dietary cholesterol a day. Egg whites and nonfat dairy foods are acceptable in low amounts.
3. Target your protein intake at 15 percent of your total daily calories. Soy products are high in protein and rich in genistein, which lowers cholesterol and reduces the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer.
4. Have complex carbohydrates make up 75 percent of your total daily caloric intake. Complex carbohydrates are absorbed slowly and keep your blood sugar down, thus keeping your body fat down as well.
5. Avoid salt and caffeine. Both cause your body to retain fluid, which makes it difficult to lose weight.
6. Abstain from simple carbohydrates, which include sugar, other sweeteners, white flour products. Simple sugars convert easily into fat.
7. Limit your alcohol intake to no more than 2 oz. per day.
8. Exercise 30 minutes a day. Walking is a good form of exercise, as it lowers your risk for injury while still having an impact on your weight, your health and your overall well-being.
9. Quit smoking. Smoking causes the arteries leading to your heart and brain to constrict, resulting in heart attacks and strokes, to name a few symptoms.
10. Join a support group. People who are lonely and depressed are three to five times more likely to get sick or die prematurely than those who have strong intimate ties with others.
11. Employ regular stress management techniques that incorporate stretching, progressive relaxation, imagery, breathing exercises and meditation. Chronic stress can contribute to heart disease.

Tips & Warnings

• Know that in an emergency, or if an individual cannot make significant lifestyle changes, surgery or drugs may be appropriate interventions for heart disease.
• Remember that when you eat a meat-based diet that is high in fat, you stimulate the enzyme in your liver that stimulates your liver to make more cholesterol. Red meat, which is high in saturated fat, converts into oxidants such as iron, which changes cholesterol to a dangerous form.
• Despite all the good press, avoid olive oil. It is just as high in fat as the other oils.
• Check with your doctor before you partake in this program. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.