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The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, and Gain Health
by
Dean Ornish
In THE SPECTRUM, Dr. Ornish shows us how to personalize a way of eating and a way of living based on your own health goals, needs, and preferences. Here’s how it works:
Since THE SPECTRUM is about freedom of choice, there is no diet to get on and no diet to get off. Nothing is forbidden. No guilt, no shame, no pressure. THE SPECTRUM is based on love–joyof living, not fear o
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
December 26th 2007
by Ballantine Books
(first published 2007)
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Few months ago I decided to eat more healthy. As a scientist I started from searching the scientifically proved way to improve my diet and I found this book. It is well explained material to create your very own special diet. Author says that everyone is different and so everyone needs different food to sustain his needs. I like to have choose other than either follow the instructions or die and this book gave me exactly this. Almost all advices are confirmed by scientific data which is great be...more
Dr. Dean Ornish is a nationally renowned cardiac rehabilitation researcher. He first got in the limelight for a study in the early 1990s where he use a clinic setting to keep 13 patients on a strict diet and exercise regimen. Although one of the overly competitive patients died while rowing a "virtual boat," the study was deemed a success. Ornish said he is in basic agreement with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn on a plant-based diet though Ornish would add 3, 1,000-mg capsults of fish oil a day.
While Es...more
While Es...more
The Spectrum by Dean Ornish, M.D. details the research Dr. Ornish and others have done regarding maintaining health and preventing disease. Dr. Ornish delves into the effects of food, stress, exercise, and attitude on health. He explains that the research reveals that while general healthy eating works for everyone, there are aspects of any diet that won't. Some people respond differently to different things based on their genetic makeup and other factors. Ornish provides insight into the idea o...more
Listed as one of the top ten books on diet/fitness 'ever'. Dean Ornish always previously struck me as being extreme in his efforts to reverse heart disease, etc., but this is a pleasant read that is almost surprisingly well-rounded and personal. This covers stress, meditation, yoga, and more in its efforts to take a holistic approach to creating health. While recipes and medical info are included, his emphasis is that there is a whole range of foods, exercises, and activities that can be explore...more
Clear, convincing, practical. Covers nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction. Everything is based on current health science. While the goal is to maintain good health with minimal medications, Dr. Ornish makes it clear that there are definitely appropriate situations where medications are beneficial. The good doctor encourages readers to realistically assess the state of their health and then determine where they want to be. He then offers guidance on how readers can achieve their health goals...more
Dr. Dean Ornish is very easy to read. He has a light hearted manner and seems like a genuinely nice person with a good sense of humor. He doesn't inform with a heavy hand, but lays out all the facts for you to choose just how healthy you want or need to be. He speaks in layman's terms and if I ever have a chance, I would definitely like to meet him. The book has a bunch of recipes with a few color photos, but they looked very tofu/ack to me, which is why I gave 4 stars instead of 5.
Sep 12, 2011
Eve
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in improving one's health
Recommended to Eve by:
A friend
A friend of mine had mentioned Dean Ornish on various occasions, but it was President Bill Clinton's interview with Wolf Blitzer that inspired me to pick it up at last. Lower my cholesterol, prevent heart disease and maybe lose some weight? Sign me up! This book has made it easy for me to eat healthier (and meat free), although I still have some ways to go regarding cutting down my fats.
The first half of the book is very readable and positive, and the second half is comprised of recipes I actual...more
The first half of the book is very readable and positive, and the second half is comprised of recipes I actual...more
This book is fantastic! I find it comforting to know that it's not inevitable that I wind up with heart disease like my father. I've always exercised fairly regularly, I've been careful about diet, but I've always delighted in a LOT of sugar. This book really helped guide me. I've been eating a LOT more fruit, more veggies and just feel pretty danged good in general. I had cake a few days back and you know what? I could feel that it wasn't good for me.
Ornish is amazing. The recipes, in this boo...more
Ornish is amazing. The recipes, in this boo...more
This is an excellent book--I gave it 4 stars because it tends to be repetitious in places. Ornish talks about the relationship of diet and lifestyle to health, mapping out a spectrum of healthy food choices as well as lifestyle choices, and encourages you to determine where you are and where you want to be.
Interesting concepts. I like Dr. Ornish's idea of the spectrum rather than just "good food/bad food". This book seems geared more towards people who are already suffering from serious diseases. But I learned a lot about what causes heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Also feel more inspired to eat even more nutritionally.
As with any book on nutrition however, it is important to be well-informed and not take one single book as the one and only bible.
As with any book on nutrition however, it is important to be well-informed and not take one single book as the one and only bible.
I can do this! The plan is called the Spectrum because you decide how severe a change you want to make to your diet, your exercise, and your stress-relief techniques.
There are loads of benefits by making changes to one or all of the above mentioned aspects of your life -- from reducing the severity of diabetes, heart disease, prostate cancer, and maybe even breast cancer.
This particular edition carries with it healthful recipes, necessary kitchen equipment, different names for similar ingredient...more
There are loads of benefits by making changes to one or all of the above mentioned aspects of your life -- from reducing the severity of diabetes, heart disease, prostate cancer, and maybe even breast cancer.
This particular edition carries with it healthful recipes, necessary kitchen equipment, different names for similar ingredient...more
The audio book is very concise especially after you move out of the first 40-60 minutes. It sounds very simple and basic. I'm thinking with 400 pages in the hard copy format, there are plenty of details, but I liked the "cliffs' notes version"
My Fav book on healthy eating, a well respected Dr. with proven science sets this book apart. When you learn that what you eat and how you move can actually repair your DNA, thats powerful highly recommend.
Bought this book after seeing an interview with Bill Clinton. I love that there is a lot of info and the diet (lifestyle) choices are up to you. Now, if I can follow it the way I want & need to...
To be honest, I skimmed most of this book...I am not a bid self-help book reader. The science behind why and what we should eat got a little bit much, so I picked out the things I didn't know that much about to read, and skipped the rest. I did like the charts on how there isn't food that is off limits, just food that is on the better end of the spectrum (fruits and veggies) and food that is on the poorer end of the spectrum (bacon..bummer, and things high in fats and sugars)...most of it common...more
It's a really good book that offers a lot of food for thought, not only in what to eat (plant-centered, unrefined foods) but also in how we deal with stress, connection, and activity.
Nov 15, 2009
Patricia
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone
Recommended to Patricia by:
I saw this book at Costco and bought it
Based on extensive scientific research on thousands of subjects, and quoting results of other's research, Dean Ornish's methods and findings held enough credibility for me that I don't think I will buy another nutrition/diet book (unless it is one of his). His program incorporates nutrition, exercise and stress-reduction to stay healthy, lose weight and prevent or reverse diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The book held a few surprises (chutney is ok, chic...more
Good review of a program to improve health via healthier eating, exercise, and stress reduction. Excellent recipes. I've put many of the suggestions into practice.
Book is a bit hokey in parts but he has good, solid nutrition advice and a fair number of healthy recipes. I ended up buying this one to keep on my shelf.
Almost done with this book, although it will probably be a book I'll be picking up often to refresh my memory. Much up-to-date information on health topics.
started reading tjis after my dad had a heart attack...and now wish i had read it before thensince i knew about Ornish and Esselstyn. This book is a bit easier to read than Esselstyn, though I think more of the recipes in Esselstyn's book appealed to me. It is nice to think of everything you eat as being on a spectrum and just trying to eat on the healthiest end as often as you can, so that nothing you eat is "bad." (unless you already have heart disease, in which case you pretty much have to ea...more
Honestly, his work is fantastic and has helped me a lot but this approach seems like bit of a cop out trying to appeal to a broader audience
I would have given this book 5 stars ... its very informational, very interesting, and you don't get the feeling he's talking down to you, like a lot of other health books. I really liked the 5 Groups of food and the other well researched and documented info.
I didn't give it 5 stars because there is no diet. Yes, yes, I know that may be the main appeal of the book to many people ... but I already know which foods are more healthy, and "try" to eat that way ... but I don't! I grabbed this book be...more
I didn't give it 5 stars because there is no diet. Yes, yes, I know that may be the main appeal of the book to many people ... but I already know which foods are more healthy, and "try" to eat that way ... but I don't! I grabbed this book be...more
Excellent advice for good health... eat a plant based diet, exercise, meditate and have love in your life!
Mar 07, 2013
Avis Brown
added it
Excellent book. Well written and easy to navigate.
This was a re-read - interesting book. He seems to get great results for some. Very difficult diet to follow though.
(Abridged version)
Excellent
A very good introduction to the concept of integrative medicine (mind and body, and the nutrition and spirituality that feeds them) and how it has been proven to help fortify people against heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. My only gripe is that the book is quite long and could benefit from a more streamlined organization. I consider testing a good number of Art Smith's recipes my overdue homework. They all sound yummy, superbly healthy, and appear to be quite straightforward to make.
Very interesting. I like the fact that each day is a choice, that eating healthy is a lifestyle and not a "diet."
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Not just another diet book | 1 | 0 | Jan 31, 2008 11:52am |
Apr 04, 2013 08:33pm