Henry Ornish Diets

“Eating for Health, Not Weight” by Dean Ornish talks about understanding how diets work. Ornish, an American physician, has written many books and articles, such as this one, on how a healthier lifestyle can help “slow, stop, or reverse the progression of early stage prostate cancer, as well as reverse the progression of Type 2 diabetes.” Founding the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, he uses the example of how his thirty-five year-long research program proved that people who ate mainly plant-based meals and engaged in moderate exercise had improved their health. His argument follows mainly on how some diets focus on weight loss instead of long-term condition. However, Ornish fails to realize that many of his strategies, although they may help prevent heart disease, causes other illnesses such as eating disorders.

Recently, I met with Amy Ornelas, a registered dietitian nutritionist who specializes in eating disorders, intuitive eating, and non-diet weight management, and asked her to answer the question as to why people crave foods. She stated, “The body craves food that it feels it is lacking.” In fact, the body sends hunger cues like a growling stomach or the forming of saliva in the mouth to signal when it needs food. By ignoring these signals and choosing to eat the “healthier option,” the body will hold onto its fats until given what it needs, causing the body to gain weight instead of lose