Comparison of Diets for Weight Loss and Heart Disease Risk Reduction
- Dean Ornish, MD
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dean.ornish@pmri.org
Preventive Medicine Research Institute
Sausalito, Calif
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
To the Editor: The study by Dr Dansinger and colleagues1 suggests that all 4 diets (Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone) are comparable because the changes in risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) are similar. I believe that this would not be a proper conclusion because the study did not distinguish between cardiovascular risk factors and direct measures of cardiovascular disease.
In a randomized controlled trial measuring the effects of the Ornish diet,2 which is a very low-fat diet that predominantly consists of fruits, vegetables, unrefined carbohydrates (ie, whole grains), and legumes, the progression of CHD was reversed as measured by quantitative coronary arteriography, with more regression of CHD after 5 years than after 1 year, and there were 2.5 times fewer cardiac events. These patients lost a mean of 24 lb in year 1 and had kept off more than half that weight 5 years …
