The Ornish diet

Several years ago a blood test showed quite high levels of cholesterol in my blood, and the Dr wanted to put me on medication, an idea I rejected out of hand. To my mind, the fewer drugs circulating in my bloodstream, the better. I wanted to improve my health through more natural means and promptly started a healthier diet with less fat and more veg.

A few years down the line, I have relapsed and am back to scarfing down obscene amounts of cake, cookies, chocolate, roasted duck, rich pastas etc. I still can't give up coffee, wine and a few drinks on a Friday night. I don't even want to know what my blood cholesterol reading is now.

But this morning I came across the Ornish diet, which unlike Atkins and other diet programs, has been proved to actually reduce bad cholesterol in the diet, as opposed to merely raising the levels of good cholesterol. However, it's just as much of a challenge to follow, if not more so. It's simpler in the sense that the moment you cut out all meat (red, white, fish, fowl) from your diet, and eat more veg, legumes and fruit, you are guaranteed a healthier heart and to lose weight besides.

But giving up things like olives, ice cream, alcohol, coffee, choccy...!

* * *

Ornish counsels that we will find success not by restricting calories, but by watching the ones we eat. He breaks this down into foods that should be eaten all of the time, some of the time, and none of the time.

Eat whenever you are hungry, until you are full:
- Beans and legumes (kidney beans, lentils, peas, pinto, garbanzo, black)
- Fruits: anything from apples to watermelon, from raspberries to pineapples
- Grains (rice, whole wheat, oats)
- Vegetables

Eat in moderation:
- Nonfat dairy products (skim milk, nonfat yogurt, nonfat cheeses, nonfat sour cream, and egg whites)
- Nonfat or very low-fat commercially available products, from frozen dinners to frozen yogurt bars and fat-free desserts (unless sugar is among the first few ingredients listed)

Avoid:
- Meat of all kinds -- red and white, fish and fowl (if we can't give up meat, we should at least eat as little as possible)
- Oils and oil-containing products, such as margarine and most salad dressings
- Avocados
- Olives
- Nuts and seeds
- Dairy products (other than the nonfat ones above)
- Sugar and simple sugar derivatives -- honey, molasses, corn syrup, and high-fructose syrup
- Alcohol
- Anything commercially prepared that has more than 2 grams of fat per serving


I think I will need to restock my fridge and cupboards from the ground up! Ah well (resignedly goes to microwave a bowl of oatmeal)