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The Dean Ornish Diet

The Dean Ornish diet is a very low-fat, whole-food, plant-based lifestyle program designed to help prevent and, in some cases, reverse chronic disease. Unlike some other plant-based approaches, it combines nutrition with exercise, stress management, and emotional support.

• Very low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet
  • Emphasis on fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and soy foods
• Very low fat intake
  • Fat is typically limited to about 10% of total daily calories in the strict version
• Little or no animal products
  • Avoids or greatly limits meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs
• Minimize processed foods
  • Choose whole or minimally processed foods whenever possible
• Limit refined sugars and flours
  • Avoid heavily processed packaged foods, sweets, white bread, and other refined carbohydrates
• Very low saturated fat and cholesterol
  • Designed to greatly reduce dietary cholesterol and saturated fat intake
• Regular moderate exercise
  • Encourages daily walking or other moderate aerobic activity with an emphasis on consistency
• Stress management
  • Daily meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, or other relaxation techniques are considered essential parts of the program
• Emotional and social support
  • Encourages group support, counseling, and healthy relationships to promote long-term success
• Lifestyle approach
  • Focuses on combining nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and emotional well-being rather than diet alone
• Goal: disease prevention and reversal
  • Developed to help prevent and potentially reverse coronary artery disease and improve overall health
• Scientific foundation
  • Based on clinical research conducted through the Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease and later studies involving prostate cancer and other chronic diseases.

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Other Ornish books:

Ornish Diet Cookbook: Delicious, Heart-Healthy Recipes That Can Help You Lose Weight, Reduce Cholesterol, and Feel Better All Around

The New Ornish Diet Guide and Cookbook to Reverse Heart and Most Chronic Diseases, Improve Weight Loss and Longevity with 21 Day Hearty Diet Plans and Recipes

Ornish Diet Made Easy⁹: A Simple, Low-Fat, Plant-Based Approach to Losing Weight Naturally and Improving Your Health — and a Clear Answer to the Question: What Is an Ornish Diet?

Undo It!: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases

Love and Survival: 8 Pathways to Intimacy and Health

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The T. Colin Campbell Diet

The T. Colin Campbell diet (often called the Whole Food, Plant-Based (WFPB) diet) is based largely on Dr. Campbell’s research summarized in The China Study. It emphasizes eating whole, unrefined plant foods while avoiding animal products and highly processed foods.

• Whole, unrefined plant foods
  • Emphasis on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds
• No animal products
  • No meat, poultry, fish, dairy, or eggs
• Low-fat approach
  • Minimize added fats and high-fat processed foods
• No added oils
  • Avoid oils such as olive, coconut, canola, and other added oils whenever possible
• Minimize processed foods
  • Choose foods in their natural or minimally processed form
• Limit refined sugars
  • Avoid added sugars and heavily processed packaged foods
• Limit refined grains
  • Prefer whole grains over refined products such as white bread and, in stricter versions, white rice
• Whole-food carbohydrates as staples
  • Meals commonly center around potatoes, brown rice, oats, beans, lentils, corn, and other whole plant foods
• Legumes as a primary protein source
  • Beans, lentils, peas, and chickpeas provide most of the protein
• Nuts and seeds are allowed
  • Unlike the Esselstyn program, moderate amounts of nuts and seeds are generally encouraged
• Typical meals
  • Oatmeal with fruit, bean and vegetable stews, brown rice with lentils and greens, baked potatoes, and fruit-and-greens smoothies
• Goal: long-term disease prevention and health promotion
  • Designed to reduce the risk of chronic diseases by replacing animal foods with whole plant foods
• Scientific foundation
  • Based on epidemiological and nutritional research, including Dr. Campbell’s work in China in collaboration with Cornell University and other research institutions, suggesting that diets rich in whole plant foods are associated with lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

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More Campbell books:

The China Study SOLUTION: The Simple Way to Lose Weight and Reverse Illness, Using a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet

The PlantPure Nation Cookbook: The Official Companion Cookbook to the Breakthrough Film…with over 150 Plant-Based Recipes

The PlantPure Kitchen: 130 Mouthwatering, Whole Food Recipes and Tips for a Plant-Based Life

The Low Carb Fraud: where (and how) the low-carb proponents get it wrong

The Future of Nutrition: An Insider’s Look at the Science, Why We Keep Getting It Wrong, and How to Start Getting It Right

The Whole Truth: The Hidden Agendas Behind Decades of Health Misinformation―and What to Do About It

 

The John McDougall diet is a low-fat, starch-centered, whole-food plant-based eating pattern developed by Dr. John McDougall and his wife Mary McDougall.

Here are the main points:

• Starch-based foundation
  • Built around whole starch foods like potatoes, rice, oats, corn, beans, and whole grains
  • These foods provide most daily calories
• Very low fat intake
  • Avoids all added oils (olive oil, coconut oil, etc.)
  • Keeps fat intake naturally low from whole plant foods only
• Fully plant-based
  • Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains
  • Excludes all animal products
• No meat, dairy, or eggs
  • Completely eliminates animal-derived foods
• Minimal processed foods
  • Limits refined sugar, refined flour, and heavily processed packaged items
• High fiber intake
  • Whole plant foods naturally create a high-fiber diet, supporting digestion and fullness
• Sodium and sugar moderation (varies by version)
  • Some versions reduce salt and added sweeteners for health reasons
• Weight management focus
  • Promotes low-calorie-density eating for easier weight loss or maintenance
• “Eat to satiety” principle
  • Encourages eating large portions of approved foods without calorie counting

Other McDougall books:

The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook: Over 300 Delicious Low-Fat Recipes You Can Prepare in Fifteen Minutes or Less

The Healthiest Diet on the Planet: Why the Foods You Love-Pizza, Pancakes, Potatoes, Pasta, and More-Are the Solution to Preventing Disease and Looking and Feeling Your Best

The New McDougall Cookbook: 300 Delicious Low-Fat, Plant-Based Recipes

All-You-Can-Eat Vegetarian Cookbook (John and Mary McDougall)

AND MANY MORE…