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

by Dean Ornish

The more you change your lifestyle, the more you improve in how you feel and in everything you measure. So when you make really big changes in your diet and lifestyle, you are likely to feel so much better (usually within days) that it reframes the reason for making these changes from fear of dying (which is not sustainable) to joy in living (which is).

Blood vessel problems are the leading cause of erectile dysfunction. That’s why Harvard’s Dr. Michael P. O’Leary writes that erections “serve as a barometer for overall health” and that erectile dysfunction (impotence) can be an early warning sign of trouble in the heart or elsewhere. Erectile dysfunction affects at least 18 million men, probably many more. Over half of men with type 2 diabetes also have erectile dysfunction.

(It turns out that Roman gladiators were vegetarian because it gave them more strength and endurance that enabled them to survive in extreme battle.)

When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need. —Ayurvedic proverb

The best things in life make you sweaty. —Anonymous

For every hour you spend running, you gain seven hours in your life expectancy—up to three additional years of life.

There’s an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.”

As Benjamin Franklin is thought to have wisely advised, “Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”

If you had no fears, no limits, and no constraints and could live the life you most deeply desire, what would that life look like? If you let go of everything that doesn’t align with your happiness and well-being, what would that feel like? Allow the insight and wisdom of your heart to guide you like a compass, to support you in living your optimal existence.

“Peace comes not from doing, but from undoing; not from getting, but from letting go. It’s there already until you disturb it. The purpose of all spiritual practices is to stop disturbing what you already have.”

Chasing happiness is like chasing your shadow—the faster you run after it, the more it eludes you. When you stop running after your shadow, turn around, and begin walking toward the light, the shadow you were chasing is now following you.