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Dean Ornish

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**Background and Education**:
Dean Ornish is a native of Dallas, Texas.
– He graduated from Dallas’s Hillcrest High School.
– Ornish holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin.
– He earned his MD from Baylor College of Medicine.
– Completed his medical internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

**Professional Achievements**:
– Ornish is known for his lifestyle-driven approach to controlling coronary artery disease.
– His Program for Reversing Heart Disease combines diet, meditation, exercise, and support groups.
– He helped create a new coverage category called intensive cardiac rehabilitation.
– Ornish has served as a physician consultant to former President Bill Clinton.
– He was appointed to the Advisory Group on Prevention by Barack Obama.

**The Ornish Diet**:
– Promotes a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet.
– Forbids meat, fish, poultry, high-fat dairy products, nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, and cooking oils.
– Very low in fat, low in cholesterol, and emphasizes fruits, legumes, vegetables, and whole grains.
– Part of Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease.
– Authorized as a cardiac rehabilitation program by Medicare.

**Contributions and Impact**:
– Developed lifestyle modification programs for heart disease reversal.
– Notable for advocating yoga and meditation for heart disease.
– Bill Clinton adopted Ornish’s diet for weight loss and heart health.
– Ornish’s program endorsed by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
– President Obama acknowledged Ornish’s contributions to healthcare.

**Academic Recognition and Critiques**:
– Ornish’s work cited in various medical journals and publications.
– Contributions to preventive cardiology and cardiovascular disease treatment.
– Mentioned in textbooks on nutrition and fitness.
– Ornish’s views on high-protein diets critiqued in The New York Times.
– Scientific American published a debate on Ornish’s nutrition recommendations.

Dean Ornish (Wikipedia)

Dean Michael Ornish (born July 16, 1953) is an American physician and researcher. He is the president and founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. The author of Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, Eat More, Weigh Less and The Spectrum, he is an advocate for using diet and lifestyle changes to treat and prevent heart disease.

Dean Ornish
Born (1953-07-16) July 16, 1953 (age 70)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Education
Occupations
Years active1984–present
Known forDr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease
Eat More, Weigh Less
The Spectrum'
Medical career
ProfessionMedical doctor, health advocate
Websitewww.deanornish.com
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