Research of Dr. Dean Ornish

The best-known research of Dr. Ornish is the Lifestyle Heart Trial, in which he treated twenty-eight heart disease patients with lifestyle changes alone. He put these patients on an experimental treatment plan and twenty additional patients on the standard treatment plan. He followed both groups carefully and measured several health indicators, including artery blockages, cholesterol levels and weight.

Dr. Ornish’s treatment plan was very different from the standards of high-tech modern medicine. He put the 28 patients in a hotel for the first week of treatment and told them what they had to do to take control of their health. He asked them to eat a low-fat, plant-based diet for at least a year.

Only about 10% of their calories were to come from fat. They could eat as much food as they wanted, as long as it was on the acceptable food list, which included fruits, vegetables and grains. As researched noted, “No animal products were allowed except egg white and one cup per day of non-fat milk or yogurt.” In addition to the diet, the group was to practice various forms of stress management, including mediation, breathing exercises and relaxation exercises three hours per week at levels customized to the severity of their disease. To help the patients make these lifestyle changes, the group met twice a week for four hours at a time for mutual support. Dr. Ornish and his research group did not use any drugs, surgery or technology to treat these patients.

The experimental patients adhered to pretty much everything that the researchers asked of them and were rewarded with improved health and vitality. On average their totoal cholesterol dropped from 227 mg/dL to 172 mg/dL, and their “bad” LDL cholesterol dropped from 152 mg/dL to 95 mg/dL. And after one year, the frequency, duration and severity of their chest pains plummeted. Further, it was clear that the closer the patients adhered to the lifestyle recommendations, the more their hearts healed. The patients who had the best adherence over the course of the year saw the blockages in their arteries diminish by over 4%. Four percent may seem like a small number, but remember that heart disease builds up over time, so a 4% change in only a year is a fantastic result. In all, 82% of the patients in the experimental group had regression in their heart disease over the course of a year.

The control group did not fare so well, despite the fact that they had received the usual care. Their chest pain became worse in terms of frequency, duration and severity. For example, although the experimental group experienced a 91% reduction in the frequency of chest pain, the control groupexperienced a 165% rise in the frequency of chest pain.

– The China Study by Dr. Campbell (2006); pages 129 – 130