- "Instead of trying to motivate [patients] with the 'fear of dying,' Ornish reframes the issue. He inspires a new vision of the 'joy of living' -- convincing them they can feel better, not just live longer." - Fast Company

by Dr. Dean Ornish: Physician, author 

Dr. Dean Ornish wants you to live longer, and have more fun while you’re at it. He's one of the leading voices in the medical community promoting a balanced, holistic approach to health, and proving that it works. The author of Eat More, Weigh Less and several other best-selling books, Ornish is best known for his lifestyle-based approach to fighting heart disease.

His research at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute (the nonprofit he founded) clinically demonstrated that cardiovascular illnesses -- and, most recently prostate cancer -- can be treated and even reversed through diet and exercise. These findings (once thought to be physiologically implausible) have been widely chronicled in the US media, including Newsweek, for which Ornish writes a column. The fifty-something physician, who's received many honors and awards, was chosen by LIFE Magazine as one of the most influential members of his generation. Among his many pursuits, Ornish is now working with food corporations to help stop America's obesity pandemic from spreading around the globe.

Related: HARVARD STUDY

Prof. Walter Willet of Harvard University in Boston carried out two twelve-year mammoth studies with 40,000 men and 88,000 women. He determined that the real reason for cardiac and circulatory disease, cancer, diabetes and overweight was the intake of too many foods with too high a glycemic index and not, as has been erroneously believed, the quality of fat ingested.

The team from Harvard University found out that ‘bad’ carbohydrates are just as damaging to the blood vessels as excess fat. These results demonstrated the decisive role of insulin: the more ‘insulin-resistant’ a person is, the more harmful are the ‘bad’ carbohydrates.

It was also established that people who eat foods with a high qlycemic index have an increased risk of diabetes 50%. But the studies also showed that the fiber of grains possess a protective potential, which decreases the diabetes risk by 30%. As soon as ‘bad’ carbohydrates are ingested and simultaneously a low amount of fiber consumption is identified, the diabetes risk has increased 2.7 times in men and 2.5 times in women.

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Reproduced with kind permission – TED, Nov 2008.