The Dean Ornish Program; Does It Really Work?

The other day I was getting ready to leave work and I noticed a guy looking at the pamphlets and handouts on my desk. Whenever I see customers looking at the information on my desk I go up and introduce myself. The man asked if I could help him find foods that were less than 10% fat. Right away I thought he was referring to the Daily Value (10% of the Daily Value for fat), and I thought "this will be easy....". I soon realized he meant less than 10% of the total calories. Yikes. That's difficult. I soon found out this man was following the Dean Ornish program.

When following this program the key is to look at the calories from fat (listed next to the total calories), and make sure they are 10% or less of the total calories. Obviously high fat foods, such as the almonds below, would not make the cut (150 total calories, 120 from fat, so almost 100% of the calories in these almonds are from fat.)


Nut, legume, and seed butters such as the soy butter below would not make the cut either.


What about a popcorn snack that is given a name that signifies "health", such as the popcorn snack below (sorry, can't give brand names on my blog, boo)? The total calories is 120, but the calories from fat is 20, which is almost 20%. Failure. On this diet you'd have to pop your own popcorn, with very little oil.


And what about fish? The fish below is orange roughy, which is a lighter white fish. Sadly the calories from fat make up more than 10% of the total calories, so this is out too.


What about this sports bar, below? Nope, too much fat.


And you better believe that salad dressings are not allowed, unless they are fat free (fat free and also loaded with sugar and sodium......).

Have we finally found something we can eat? I think so! Cereal. The calories from fat are about 5%, so this is allowed.

You can read more about the Dean Ornish Program here (source: WHFoods) and here (source: WebMD). Dean Ornish's website does provide a very detailed list of the foods you can eat on this plan, which is helpful (it includes hummus made without oil or tahini. Yuck).


In short, these are the foods to emphasize and avoid on this program (source);

Individuals following the Ornish Program are encouraged to eat whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and soybean products in unlimited quantities.

Individuals following the Ornish Program must avoid all meat and dairy products, except egg whites, nonfat milk, and nonfat yogurt. To adhere to the strict limitation on dietary fat intake, individuals on the Ornish diet must restrict the consumption of plant foods that contain high amounts of fat, including all vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and avocados. All caffeinated beverages must be eliminated, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages is discouraged.

His website provides a food pyramid that is very helpful, and it indicates that fish such as salmon and mackerel are allowed on occasion, as well as healthy oils, nuts, and flaxseed. So lots of grains and fresh fruits and veggies, and a few almonds, every now and then.

If you check out his website you will see he does provide some of his clinical research. I find it strange, however, that he only provides one heart disease study, and it's weak, at best. There weren't many people in the study, most of them were males, and the control group (the group not following the plan) was simply asked to follow the recommendations of their doctor (why not an RD? The control group should at least be somewhat realistic). The results of the experimental group's labs and cardiac events were compared to the control group at 1 and 5 years. There was a "greater improvement with the experimental group as compared with the control group". Well, no crap! This study would have been much more valid had he added a third group; a "high fat" group, or a "high protein" group. If the Dean Ornish (experimental) group had done better after 5 years compared to a control, a high fat, and a high protein group, then perhaps this study would have effectively convinced me of the benefits of this program.

I'm sure there is other evidence to support this (although I could not find it, in regards to heart health), but what about evidence that suggests that carbohydrates are really what's making us so unhealthy? According to the book Good Calories, Bad Calories carbohydrates are mainly to blame for the obesity epidemic. Gary Taubes, the author of this book, provides pages and pages of research that suggests carbohydrates are mainly to blame for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and some other chronic diseases. In his book, he writes;

On a diet of 10% fat, two out of every three men will have small, dense LDL and, as a result, a predicted threefold higher risk of heart disease. The same pattern holds true in women and in children, but the percentages with small, dense LDL are lower. Some research suggests that the more saturated fat in the diet, the larger and fluffier the LDL-a beneficial effect.

Did you know that when you get labs from your doctor, which indicate your LDL levels ("bad cholesterol") it's really just telling you how much cholesterol is packed into your LDL particles? More and more research is saying that the better test is one that measures the size of your LDL particles. Smaller and more dense LDL seems to be worse than larger and fluffier LDL.


And what about the Mediterranean diet? This diet has been shown over and over again to have a beneficial effect on heart health, and it's 25-35% fat. Enough said.

Who is to say that the intense restrictions of the Dean Ornish plan aren't what really makes the person following the plan "healthier"? You can't really eat out at restaurants, and you can't eat at other people's house for dinner (or any other meal) without being a major burden. You are restricted from the gravitational pull that is our "unhealthy eating environment". You are shielded from society's ability to grab your appetite and rouse it all day long with food photos and smells and noises. While you still may see those pictures and hear those noises and smell those smells, you can't have them, so they don't really effect you (and if they do effect you still, you probably won't be able to follow this plan for too long).

I'm not saying that I disagree with the Dean Ornish program, but to me it just sounds like another strict diet plan that "works" because you end up eating less crap and you have less food from which to choose (read Lauren's post about "Boring Yourself Thin") If you make anyone actually stop and think about every single thing they put in their mouth (such as with this diet) they are going to most likely eat healthier. The man I was talking to at work left with a cart full of brown rice, figs, and canned beans. As this man said, "these are my staple foods, because most everything else has too much fat".

QUESTION: Have you read about Dean Ornish? What are your thoughts?

The Chicago Tribune recently published this great article about fat. Check it out if you're unsure about good vs. bad fats, and their sources.

Dr. Oz Vs. Gary Taubes and the High Protein Diet

** To be fair to Gary Taubes, about an hour after I published the following post I received a comment from Tyler who told me about this post on Gary's blog. I sort of figured the producers of Dr. Oz had sensationalized Gary's views a bit, but this article really made me feel better about Gary.....thanks Tyler!!! **


Do you watch Dr. Oz? I usually tape it and then watch it only if the topic really interests me (that's typically about once out of every five episodes). Several weeks ago I saw the title "The Man Who Disagrees With Everything Dr. Oz Says". I was enticed! I pushed "play" and quickly realized the "man" was the author of one of my favorite books; Gary Taubes, who wrote the book Good Calories, Bad Calories. If you've read the book, or have heard of the book, you might be thinking, "this is the Atkins diet that this man is promoting! Gina...why do you like this book?!".

In the book Gary Taubes, a writer for the New York Times, discusses years and years worth of literature and research on nutrition, diets, heart disease and obesity, and concludes that sugar and refined carbohydrates are making us fat and putting us at higher risk for chronic diseases (especially heart disease).

Source: iStockPhoto

The book goes into great detail about our endocrine system and I was truly amazed with all that I learned. The book talks about how sugar and refined carbohydrates spike our insulin levels and therefore makes us store more fat (this was not news to me). He discusses how some people store fat more efficiently than others. You may have heard some people say, "I eat a piece of bread and it goes right to my thighs". There is actually some truth to that statement, for certain individuals.

As I read the book it didn't seem like Gary was promoting an Adkins-like diet. In fact, Gary is not a doctor or a dietitian, and he does not talk about any suggestions for a special diet at all (that I can recall). The book is simply scientific evidence that explains how our highly refined carbohydrate diet really is killing us.

Source: iStockPhoto

As I read the book I envisioned Gary's own diet being very healthy, and somewhat low in carbohydrates; lean proteins, plenty of healthy fats, whole grains, and lots of fresh vegetables (and some fruits). As I watched the episode of Dr. Oz I was appalled. Gary Taubes really angered me (if you want to see the video, click here)! He pretty much said we should all be eating a diet that is high in meat, poultry, eggs, and cheese, and the only other foods we should consume are the occasional green vegetable (such as spinach and kale, which are very low carbohydrate foods).

Here Are My Questions For Gary
(many of which were answered in his blog post)!

- What about fish as a protein? Why, on the Dr. Oz show, did you only focus on chicken, beef and even pork rinds?!

- What about other low carbohydrate vegetables such as pumpkin, mushrooms, turnips, tomatoes, onions, spaghetti squash and zucchini?? We need to vary the colors of produce we consume. Green veggies are great, but orange, purple, red and white are important too!

Source: iStockPhoto

- Why can't we eat more than just one serving of those green vegetables, per day? Where is the research that says only eating one serving of green veggies (with NO OTHER COLORS) is actually healthy?!

- Why did you refuse to share your cholesterol levels with Dr. Oz? He asked you, but you refused to report the numbers. Is there something you are hiding?? Is it possible that the long-term effects of such a crazy and unbalanced diet are actually worse than you envisioned?

- How could you go on the Dr. Oz show and not at least mention that you should be supplementing essential nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D if you decide to do such a diet? You know that many Dr. Oz fans are women are in their 40s and 50s, desperate to lose weight, and willing to try whatever they can to lose it. If they try this pathetic diet they will likely be deficient in many nutrients that are especially important for their age group (hello...where's the milk?!). At least tell them the facts! And don't tell them they will get their calcium from the green leafy vegetables, that just doesn't cut it.

Bottom Line

- I agree that refined carbohydrates are bad, but I don't agree that you're better off eating zero carbohydrates. I happen to believe that the fiber found in whole grains can actually help people lose weight. Did you find any research on that??!!

- I agree that eating less carbohydrates will help you lose weight, but if you're going to decrease your carbohydrate intake don't substitute high fat processed meats. You may lose weight, but your chances of getting cancer will skyrocket.

- If you decide to take Gary's advice, do yourself a favor and eat better sources of protein, such as fish, grass-fed beef and fresh poultry. Also, include some more of those low carbohydrate vegetables that I listed above! And please, get at least once decent serving of whole grains. One serving of oatmeal (not instant) will provide about 45 grams of whole grain. And of course, take some extra calcium and vitamin D.


QUESTION: Did you watch this episode of Dr. Oz? What are your thoughts about Gary Taubes and his extreme views? Please read Gary's post (in response to the show I just wrote about) if you can! It really makes me lose respect for Dr. Oz and his producers.