17 Facts About Dean Ornish

Dean Michael Ornish was born on July 16,1953 and is an American physician and researcher.

Dean Ornish 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.

Dean Ornish earned his MD from the Baylor College of Medicine, completed a medical internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and was a Clinical Fellow in Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dean Ornish takes a lifestyle-driven approach to the control of coronary artery disease and other chronic diseases.

Dean Ornish promotes lifestyle changes including a quasi whole foods, plant-based diet, smoking cessation, moderate exercise, stress management techniques including yoga and meditation, and psychosocial support.

Dean Ornish established the first vegetarian health food store in New York City, in 1972.

In 1986, Dean Ornish wrote the foreword of Satchidananda's vegetarian cookbook, The Healthy Vegetarian.

Dean Ornish worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for 16 years to create a new coverage category called intensive cardiac rehabilitation, which focuses on comprehensive lifestyle changes.

Dean Ornish has been a physician consultant to former President Bill Clinton since 1993, when he was asked by Hillary Clinton to consult with the chefs at The White House, Camp David, and Air Force One.

In 2010, after the former President's cardiac bypass grafts became clogged, Clinton, encouraged by Dean Ornish, followed a mostly plant-based diet.

Dean Ornish has promoted a diet known as the "Dean Ornish diet" to prevent and reverse heart disease.

The Dean Ornish diet is lacto-ovo vegetarian as it includes non-fat dairy products and egg whites in moderation.

The Dean Ornish diet emphasizes consumption of fruits, legumes, vegetables and whole grains.

The Dean Ornish diet is part of Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease which includes exercise, meditation, stress reduction and yoga.

The Dean Ornish diet has been authorized as a cardiac rehabilitation program by Medicare.

Critics have stated that Dean Ornish has not provided sufficient clinical evidence to support his claims and his studies have not been replicated.

Dr Dean Ornish's diet is very low in fat and limits meat and animal product intake to little or none.