In the words of Dean Ornish, M.D., author of The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, Gain Health authored by Dean Ornish, M.D., Over the past several months, we have explored the book: The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, Gain Health, by Dean Ornish, M.D. Rather than try to interpret what Dr. Ornish has to say, I use his own words from the book. Read the book and see!
I’m writing to help you understand that you have a broad spectrum of choices -- what you eat, how much you exercise, how you manage stress, and how you live. It’s not all or nothing. It works! Because it’s based on pleasure, not pain; abundance, not deprivation; science, not myth; freedom and power, not restriction and manipulation. Joy of living is sustainable; fear of dying is not. This is about how to enjoy life more fully while enhancing your health and well-being. You can actually change how your genes are expressed just by changing what you eat and how you live.
Reversing a disease does require the stricter version of the program. However, for people who aren’t sick, I recommended a spectrum of choices. This program is grounded in science, and it’s been proven to work: -- to help prevent and to slow, stop, and even reverse common deadly diseases, including coronary heart disease, prostate cancer, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, arthritis, and many other chronic diseases. -- turning on good genes and turning off harmful ones. -- improve how quickly your cells age. -- motivate people to make and maintain comprehensive lifestyle changes in the real world.
When people make the changes I recommend, they feel so much better so quickly that it reframes the reason for changing from fear of dying to joy of living. How much you change is up to you ... know your options so you can choose wisely. Pay attention, notice how different foods affect you, for better or worse. To the degree that you move in a healthy direction, [you will] look better, feel better, smell, taste, and love better. Make small, gradual changes or make comprehensive lifestyle changes all at once -- your choice.
Here are the basic principles of a healthy diet. Consume omega 3 fats every day. Eat more good carbs and fewer bad carbs. Avoid bad fats. Energy balance is important - calories count. What you include in your diet is as important as what you exclude. Anti-inflammatory changes are beneficial. Choose foods that are nutrient-dense. Choose quality over quantity. Eat less salt. Drink more tea.
You are unique. Personalized medicine is available to you right now. We respond differently to changes in diet and lifestyle, and to medications. How much you may need to change is a function of how much improvement you want. If you’re trying to stop or reverse serious chronic disease, eat most from the healthiest end of the spectrum. Your genes are a predisposition toward various conditions [that] can be overcome by making changes in diet and lifestyle. The more people changed, the more their heart disease improved.
What matters most is your overall way of eating. When we eat more of our foods on the healthier end of the Spectrum, it makes us feel better. Only you can decide what’s right for you. Only then is it sustainable. Exercise is good for you, beneficially affecting your genes, helping reverse aging, giving you more energy, making you smarter, and may even help you grow new brain cells. Do what you enjoy, make it fun, and do it regularly. As always, I welcome your questions and comments, by email, phone or personal contact.
The Lord Provides Myron Remington myron62@juno.com http://wmremington.com
