The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, and Gain Health

Dr Ornish offers sane scientific advice based on several decades of scientific and clinical research. With this diet program, he makes his original Ornish diet accessible to everyone. One of the major problems with the traditional Ornish diet was that some would consider it strict. Maybe too strict for segments of the population without evident heart disease, for example 20-year-olds. In this diet, foods are arranged in 5 groups from most healthy to least healthy. You measure cholestorol, sugar etc and try to get the best blood test by improving your diet in a stepwise manner. So if you are 20 and you don't suffer from anything, you may just avoid the most unhealthy foods only. On the contrary, if you are a heart patient trying to hit <70 LDL, you should stick only to the most heathyful foods. Simple as that.

This is an excellent book, the best I have read which comprehensively explains its objective, to explain how the body reacts to the food you eat and why (my interest) plaque builds up on arteries and how this problem, if severe, can be reversed or improved, diabetes and high blood pressure and how these can be reversed or tempered. We are not talking about miracles in a week but improvements in a month or so if the changes in what you eat can be adhered to. My husband and I have changed from meat eaters to vegans overnight with incredible ease and I am learning a new way of cooking really tasty food. We live in mid rural France (Limousin) and stuff like Quorn can't be purchased (but can be delivered from UK), but the rest of the food suggested in the book is easily enough acquired. If anyone has one of the major health problems mentioned above, or is just interested in why eating a better diet which will see you and your family into a healthy mid or old age then this is the book to read.

An interesting and engaging - if occasionally repetitive - explanation of a complex subject suitable for a wide audience.The meal suggestions are varied and helpful: a minor criticism is the number of ingredients not available on UK supermarket shelves; but with a bit of imagination, they can substituted for others that are. On the other hand, Amazon clearly indicate this is a US book, so it shouldn't cause too much surprise: plus the meal suggestions are almost incidental in the overall scheme of the book. And the chart of food groups is comprehensive and clearly laid out; once you've read and understood the theory, it's probably the most useful section. Recommended.

Using this book I have managed to drastically improve my diet and overall well being. Highly recommended! To summarise the main philosophy of the book: The key to being healthy is not a temporary change in diet (one lasting a few weeks or months and then going back to status quo) but instead a permanent change in lifestyle. Admittedly the latter does require a lot of will power in the beginning but very soon the new healthy habits become automatic.

This is a really well presented book which i keep returning to. It has a very good section outlining the thinking behind it and lots of really good recipes It also has ideas for meditation and exercise amongst lots of information. .

its an interesting read but does not tell you much more other nutritional books eat fruit , veg and grains and lay off caffeine and alcohol

An amazing book, backed by actual studies by the author. In this age of unclear diets and motivations this book is an amazing read. I strongly recommend it for everyone looking to improve the quality of their life. This is not just a diet book!

Excellent detailed data, yet to correlate to English recipes and looking positively to the future from this system.

I had to get my cholesterol down or go on statins.I did it with the information applied in this book alone. FANTASTIC.It's life changing, teaches you the truth about food and their labels, how to read them and apply easy basic principles for better food choices for your health, along with many other excellent strategies.I lost weight at a healthy rate, and in a totally healthy way.My heart is a happy super healthy heart now..

Before everyone and their Aunt Clara wrote books, made films, and hit the lecture, "Program" circuit with their take on plant-based eating, creating a wellness-based lifestyle, preventing and/or reversing preventable diseases, there was this doctor, Dr. Dean Ornish. Almost every book or film I've seen about why to go vegan, eating for health, etc., there has been mention of Dr. Ornish and his ground-breaking work on reversing heart disease by making major, comprehensive lifestyle changes. This book presents Dr. Ornish in proper perspective, with humor and tons of research studies, peer-reviews, and government acknowledgment of his methods - Medicare backed acknowledgment. It boarders on the obscene that a doctor with legitimate research studies/results to support his findings would have to bend over backwards to get the (then) Director of Medicare to see that lifestyle changes can have a more lasting, less deadly consequence for people over 65 than open heart surgery, medications, and even heart transplant surgeries, but it's apparently true. Dr. Ornish is non-judgmental, and states that the degree of lifestyle change is based upon the individual's health, not an across-the-board one-size-fits-all doctrine. He discusses his research findings on the possibilities for living to an active old age, with quality of life, as opposed to remaining alive for as long as possible despite enormous pain, suffering, and expense. We all will die, it's a matter of quality over quantity that he's providing. Being the butt of jokes for 3 decades, seen as pushing a Spartan lifestyle on everyone, controlling, strict, lacking in humor, a food fascist if you will, Dr. Ornish in this book addresses this media message of his work, and talks about his ACTUAL approach to diet/lifestyle. He's not about scare tactics and fear, he's about positive reinforcement, living in the real world, indulging yourself on occasion, and enjoying your life for as long and as deeply as you possible can based on your individual decisions. You know better than anyone that eating certain things, being around certain people, exposing yourself to certain emotions, etc. can either leave you feeling drained and dead, or full of energy and a zest for living. It's your preference, it's your body. His presentation of material is thought-provoking, gentle, packed with information. I have read and watched almost everything on plant-based diets, veganism, vegetarianism, starches, whole-grains, eating fish, Omega-3's, supplementation, exercise, etc. I just wanted to feel better on all levels, and it seemed others were accomplishing this by following somebody's recommendations. I jumped in whole-heartedly, immersing myself in McDougall, Fuhrman, Esselstyne, on and on. I tried my hardest to see lasting results. I was able to stop taking hypertension medication, but my eating disorder, family history of Type 2 Diabetes, shame over not being able to "comply" to a set lifestyle despite my ethics and values just kept pulling me back into a spiral of unhealthy choices. This book is helping me to get a comprehensive picture of who I am and what it is I need to end this cycle. Dr. Ornish addresses the complex yet simple basics for healing. Reading this book is like reading Einstein - original, flexible, influential understanding of something simply beyond the herd mentality. I can now say that I've found what I've been looking for as far as the root of the matter for my improving my quality of life from a health perspective, and additionally a reminder that it isn't just about food. Love and support, understanding the deeper issues impacting our behavior, focusing on the joy of living as a motivator over the fear of dying, there is no bad/good food, how we eat is as important as what we eat, so many ways to refocus thinking. We can actually avoid activating genes for disease potentials, we can actually lengthen the span of our lives by choosing differently, we do have alternatives to developing what seems unavoidable. Our bodies are miracles of design, we really ought to listen to them.I highly recommend reading this book. My library of books is now being donated to a library. I have whittled it down, through trial-and-error, to 3 basic books that cover my lifestyle choices: "The Vegiterranean Diet" by Julieanna Hever, MS, R.D.; "At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen" by Amy Chaplin; and "The Spectrum". I love cookbooks, I love brevity, I love intelligent, well-written, entertaining, thought provoking books backed up with more than marketing/anecdotes/bias/product placement. I love learning that the traditions my great grandparents tried to pass down to their children are still the basics for a long, active, healthy, joyful life - my past relatives all lived into ripe, active 90-plus to 100-plus people with their own vegetable patches, homemade breads, no processed foods, plenty of community support networks, friends, family, spirituality, reflection/meditation, playfulness, wisdom, fresh air and movement. I have seen their achievements disappear and the negative genes take over due to the over-reliance on processed fast foods, supplements, desk jobs, gyms, loss of support due to frequent moves, separation from nature, etc. These three books are like my Kadampa Buddhism books and practice - basics, wisdom, practical steps, change of focus.

Wenn medizinisch etwas sinnvoll ist, dann ist es dieses Buch. Leider nur in englischer Sprache, denn es wäre dringend nötig, es ins Deutsche zu übersetzen. Der amerikanische Klinikprofessor Dr. Dean Ornish hätte als Herzspezialist hier in Deutschland mehr Bekanntheitsgrad verdient, denn seine wissenschaftlich abgesicherte Methode würde hier wie dort nicht nur zigtausenden Menschen helfen, sondern hunderttausend (bei ca. 300.000 Herzinfarkten allein jährlich in Deutschland). Nicht nur koronare Herzkrankheiten kann der Betroffene damit heilen (!), sondern auch Prostata-Krebs im Frühstadium, Diabetes, Rheuma und andere Zivilisationskrankheiten. Das schafft hier kein Operations-Arzt und kein Medikament. Aufgrund der Intervention der Pharma- und Apparate-Medizin-Lobby in Deutschland jedoch kennt kaum ein Mediziner hier Dr. Ornishs Methode. Es wäre ja auch zu einfach: Durch konsequente Lebensführung mit Entspannung, Meditation, Ernährung, moderater Bewegung an der frischen Luft, und der Pflege sozaler Beziehungen gelingt es den Patienten, innerhalb eines Jahres zu genesen. Die Einteilung, welche Lebensmittel förderlich und welche kontraproduktiv sind, ist nur ein Baustein der ganzheitlichen Methode, die jeder selbst anwenden kann, der sein Gesundheit an die erste Stelle seines Lebens zu setzen bereit ist. Ein Wunder? Keineswegs! Eine Krankheit, die lebensstilbedingt erworben ist, kann durch geeignete Lebensführung auch wieder geheilt werden! Auch in einem scheinbar schweren Krankheitsstadium kann man beginnen. Ein verantwortungsvoll praktizierender Arzt in Deutschland, der seine Patienten über Lebensführung detailliert berät und aufklärt, verdient leider nichts. Also werden Medikamente verordnet. So bleibt den Patienten, den Kranken also nur, dieses Buch zu lesen. Und gegebenfalls die wenigen Anlaufstellen im Internet herauszusuchen, um Gleichgesinnte und Gruppen zu finden (Stichworte: Ornish, Wellness). Ich wünsche dem Buch und den Betroffenen auf dem Weg der Genesung oder auch bei der Prävention besten Erfolg!

An excellent book that suggests very practical yet effective changes in the way we live, eat etc. Dr. Ornish backs his suggestions with rigorous scientific findings. A must for those who want to REVERSE life threatening conditions like Diabetes, Heart Disease, Hypertension etc.

Es un libro que se lo recomiendo a todos que quieran cambiar su hábito de vida, es un libro que de verdad cumple con lo que dice, llevaras una vida mas sana, eso si está en ingles.