A lot of people say “it’s just bad genes”, but Dean Ornish has a special diet he’s been practicing on people for decades.
Here are details on Dean Ornish’s diet also called “The Last Chance Diet”:
* Consume 10% of calories as fat, with a ratio of polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat that is greater than 1
* Consume 70-75% of calories as complex carbohydrates and 15-20% of calories as protein
* Limit cholesterol intake to less than 5 mg per day
* Consume whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes in unlimited quantities
* Exclude all meat and dairy products, except egg whites, nonfat milk and nonfat yogurt
* Eliminate caffeine from the diet and consume sugar, salt, and alcohol in moderationIn addition to these dietary recommendations, the Ornish Program involves comprehensive lifestyle changes including moderate aerobic exercise, stress reduction techniques (such as stretching, meditation, and imagery), peer support, smoking cessation, and nutritional supplementation (with folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B12, fish oil, flaxseed oil, and selenium).
Foods Emphasized
Individuals following the Ornish Program are encouraged to eat whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and soybean products in unlimited quantities.Foods Avoided
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.
Nutrient Excesses/Deficiencies
The Ornish Diet may be deficient in calcium, iron, vitamin B12, and essential fatty acids. Dr. Ornish recommends supplementation with these nutrients.
Who Benefits
Research indicates that individuals with existing heart disease can reverse their disease process and reduce their risk of dying from heart disease by following the Ornish Program. This diet is also beneficial for people who want to prevent the onset of heart disease.
Who is Harmed
The Ornish Diet is low in fat and calories and may be deficient in calcium, vitamin B12, and iron. Therefore, this diet is not recommended for individuals with increased caloric and nutrient needs, such as pregnant and lactating women, children, adolescents and the elderly.
Menu Ideas
The following menu ideas are taken from Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease, and are representative of the type and quantities of food eaten during the various phases of the diet.
Breakfast
* Oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon
* Nonfat milk
* Grapefruit half
* Brewed teaOR
* Buckwheat pancakes
* Nonfat yogurt
* Sliced bananas and kiwi
* Fresh berries
* Orange juiceLunch
* Black bean chili
* Toasted corn tortillas
* Green pea “guacamole”
* Tossed green sala
* Fresh fruitOR
* Tomato and lentil soup
* Zucchini salad
* Bread
* Fresh fruitDinner
* Spanish chick-pea and garlic soup
* Linguini with roasted red pepper and herbed tomato sauce
* Onion confit with croutons
* Watercress, fennel and orange salad
* Poached pearsOR
* Ratatouille
* Polenta with tomato sauce
* French lentil salad
* Tossed green salad
* Banana breadResources
Dr. Ornish has written several books, including:* Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease: The Only System Scientifically Proven to Reverse Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery
* Everyday Cooking With Dr. Dean Ornish: 150 Easy, Low-Fat, High-Flavor Recipes
* Eat More, Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish’s Life Choice Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly
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In this study, 28 patients followed the Ornish program (as described in the Principles section above), while a control group of 20 patients followed conventional dietary guidelines for heart disease (including restriction of fat intake to 30% of calories and cholesterol intake to 200-300 mg per day). After one year, the patients in the Ornish program showed a significant overall regression of coronary atherosclerosis (as measured by quantitative coronary arteriography), while, in the control group, atherosclerosis progressed. Patients in the Ornish group reported near complete relief from angina (chest pain), a likely result of increased blood flow to the heart. (Ornish, 1990) Studies published in 1992 and 1995, which used different diagnostic procedures for measuring the progression and regression of atherosclerosis than those used in the original Lifestyle Heart Trial, also showed the effectiveness of the Ornish Program (Gould and Ornish, 1992 and 1995). It is interesting to note that in each of the studies mentioned above, the amount of regression of atherosclerosis experienced by patients in the Ornish group was associated with the extent of lifestyle change, indicating that although small changes in lifestyle may slow the progression of heart disease, a complete change in lifestyle is required to reverse or halt the disease process.
From Transcend:
Dr. Dean Ornish and his colleages at UCSF and the Preventive Medicine Research Institute recently published two landmark studies showing that changing lifestyle changes our genes. In the first, a combination of improved nutrition, moderate exercise, stress management techniques, and increased social support caused the expression of over 500 genes to be changed in only 3 months–in effect, upregulating or “turning on” disease-preventing genes and downregulating or “turning off” genes that promote heart disease, cancer, inflammation, and oxidative stress. This study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In the second study, they found that these lifestyle changes increase telomerase, an enzyme that repairs and lengthens damaged telomeres.
Telomeres are the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live. This was the first study showing that any intervention can increase telomerase and, thus, telomere length. It was published in The Lancet Oncology in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, who discovered telomerase. Even drugs have not yet been shown to accomplish this.
Although Dean Ornish is often associated with the very low fat school of thought, his Spectrum program is actually quite flexible. Like our TRANSCEND program, he recommends a personalized program that matches your specific health circumstances. For others, Dr. Ornish recommends a program similar to the one in his book that includes a range of healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, and unrefined carbohydrates. Dr. Ornish was actually one of the first to recommend omega-3 fatty acids, which he has been doing for the past 25 years.
Make sure to take a daily B12 supplement, or a daily multivitamin with B12, or eat B12 fortified cereal or you could mess yourself up. I first heard about Ornish’s diet on the Greger superfood videos:
He also put them on a stress-reducing meditative process 
From Wikipedia:
Ornish is widely known for his lifestyle-driven approach to the control of coronary artery disease (CAD). Dr. Ornish and colleagues showed that a lifestyle regimen featuring Yoga, meditation, a low-fat vegetarian diet, smoking cessation, and regular exercise could not only stop the progression of CAD, but could actually reverse it. He has acknowledged his debt to Swami Satchidananda for helping him develop this holistic perspective on preventive health.
The environment you create, like a healthy diet and a little movement to get the arterial and mood-changing brain juices flowing, can change gene expression (for prostate, and breast cancer). I do believe what we put in our mouth is even more important than exercise in America. And portion control is determined by certain foods that satiate hunger (fiber, water, fat, protein), and others create cravings (high glycemic carbohydrates, salt).
I think the Superfood diet videos are the most straight-forward way of explaining what to eat. Remember you need to have some fat with every meal to absorb the carotenoids and fat soluble vitamins. So be sure to add walnuts (the healthiest nut) or some olive-oil based, fatty dressing to your salad 
Sometimes walnuts and olive oil dressing are included in prepackaged salad meals at the grocery store. I got an organic prepackaged salad marked down 50% because the ‘best by’ date was coming up — it still tasted nice and crisp. If they aren’t on sale you can buy a big bag or container of mixed greens and spinach to refrigerate, and forage from them. My prepackaged salad also came with some dried fruit, cranberries and raisins, which you can buy separately in bulk – dried fruits sweeten up an otherwise boring salad. The prepackaged salad came with some croutons — I developed a taste for them — and add some (zero partially hydrogenated fat) croutons to my salad (whatever helps get those veggies down). But here is what should ideally be in your daily salad. Make it interesting and add one new vegetable each week to your daily salad. Maybe invest in a giant 12″ salad bowl to fit all those veggies in — you can even add whole fruit like sliced apples or peeled mandarin oranges for bonus crunch and munch. Try having a salad for breakfast (add pre-cooked, cholesterol lowering beans for added protein and fiber to satiate hunger for long hours).
Ornish talking about heart disease, prostate, breast, and colon cancer:
Cardiologist Dr. Oz moderates a diet debate between M.D. Ornish (Vegetarian, but fish oil supplemented, low-simple carbohydrate, low-fat diet), Ph.D Barbara Howard (American Heart Association, moderate food pyramid diet), and journalist Gary Taubes (Low-carb, but vegetable filled, high-fat diet)
Well they’re all right in their explanations, but for now a well structured vegan diet, is the best proven way to open up arteries for blood flow. This is why Dr. Oz (who now has his own show) put an “85 year old heart” on a vegan diet challenge:
