DR. DEAN ORNISH AND ANNE ORNISH: HOW LIFESTYLE CHANGES CAN REVERSE MOST CHRONIC DISEASES

good evening everyone welcome to the Commonwealth  Club you can find the Commonwealth Club online   at Commonwealth Club org and also on Facebook  and Twitter and on the club's YouTube channel   tonight's program is part of the club's food  lit series underwritten by the Bernard Osher   foundation it's also being held in connection  with the club's health and medicine forum mark   sitter chair of the zetas map project a member of  the Commonwealth clubs board of governors and of   course your moderator for tonight's program it's  my pleasure to introduce our distinguished guests   for this evening dr. Dean Ornish founder and  president of the preventive medicine Institute and   an Ornish vice president of program development  at the preventive medicine Institute yes they're   married to each other they also are co-authors  of the new book undo it how simple lifestyle   changes can reverse most chronic diseases  and as of today this is a book that is now   on the USA Today bestseller list it's dr. Ornish  seventh book and all seven have been bestsellers   so congratulations on that thank you for more  than 30 years dr. Ornish and his colleagues at   the nonprofit preventive medicine Institute in  collaboration with the University of California   San Francisco and other leading academic  institutions have conducted a series of research   studies showing that changes in diet and lifestyle  can make a powerful difference in our health and   well-being as a health care systems guy it's  also impressed me that his work has influenced   and impressed some of the most hard-nosed skeptics  around health insurance companies in fact since   1993 his program became the first non-surgical  non-pharmaceutical therapy for heart disease that   qualifies for insurance reimbursement dr. Ornish  began conducting his research in 1977 when he was   a second-year medical student at Baylor College  of Medicine in Houston while studying heart bypass   surgery with the famed heart surgeon Michael  DeBakey he wondered what might happen if people   address the underlying lifestyle that often caused  coronary heart disease rather than just literally   or figuratively bypassing the problem with  surgery or medications for their whole lives after   finishing his internship and residency in internal  medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and   Harvard Medical School dr. Ornish moved to San  Francisco and founded the preventive medicine   Research Institute an Ornish created and directs  Ornish lifestyle medicines digital platform known   as empowered which is an online ecosystem for  providers participants and alumni of Ornish   lifestyle medicine programs and has over 20 years  of advanced training in yoga and meditation she is   a certified integrative health and spirituality  practitioner through the California Pacific   Medical Center and also received professional  training in mindfulness based stress reduction   so today we're pleased to be joined by these  two pioneers in the health field to see how we   can all significantly improve our health please  help me welcome dr. Dean Ornish and Ian Ornish it's very nice to have you here so do you know  going to start with you book number seven and   the first one with your wife I understand that's  right right you've written a lot of books why this   one and what does it add to your body of work  good question well I'm especially proud of this   book because it allows me to integrate 40 years of  work and to really make it simple it begins with a   quote from Albert Einstein that says if you can't  make it simple you don't understand it well enough   and so we try to make it radically simple eat well  move more stress less love more boom that's it and   the more diseases we study and the more underlying  biological mechanisms we look at the more reasons   we have to explain why these simple changes are so  powerful and how quickly people can get better and   I also present a new unifying theory in this book  which is that you know I was trained like most   doctors to view heart disease is a very different  disease than prostate cancer or breast cancer or   diabetes or Alzheimer's disease but the radical  theory that I'm presenting here is that they're   really the same disease masquerading in different  forms because they all share the same underlying   biological things like chronic inflammation  oxidative stress changes in the microbiome in   telomeres and gene expression and angiogenesis and  so on and each one of these mechanism in turn is   directly influenced by what we eat how we respond  to stress how much exercise we get and how much   love and support we have and the more diseases  we study and the more mechanisms we look at the   more powerful we find these simple changes can  be so we found these same changes you know with   all this talking about personalized medicine it  was the same lifestyle changes can reverse heart   disease type we were there at first to show that  it actually be reversed when when we started doing   this work that was thought impossible in fact  everything we've done was thought impossible at   the time and that's part of the value of doing  research is we can redefine what's possible and   by doing that give many people new hope and  new choices they didn't have before wonderful   wonderful well I think that you won't find a lot  of people in this audience who would argue about   we should be better we should move more and so  forth all those things but it's hard to do very   often right so and I know part of your expertise  and what you write a lot about in the book is is   why we do these things and I thought you asked a  very powerful question in fact you talked about   the power of the question which is why do I want  to live longer and why do you find that a valuable   question and getting people to actually actualize  some of the things you're talking about so it's a   very personal question you know only each of  us can answer for ourselves but once we have   identified why we want to personally live longer  so for each of you right now if you reflect on   what are the most cherished special moments and  people in your life that inspire you to to live   longer to be healthy to thrive if you can identify  those moments those peak moments those cherished   moments and people especially the people then  that is a much more sustainable driver for why   we make these choices and continue to make them  overtime so to the extent that we can invoke that   motivation as we navigate through our daily life  then we have we're much it's much easier to make   the healthy choice whenever possible because it's  imbued with meaning and to the extent that we can   identify by what those motivations are we all  really only need one we probably have many but   to the extent that we identify one and it's sort  of like in our quiver and then we can anchor in   that during a moment of temptation which we all  have is to just take a deep breath to reconnect   with those seeds of motivations that we've planted  for ourselves then it's much becomes much easier   to make the healthy choice over and over yeah  and to build on that this goes back to Victor   Frankel's work of you know man search for meaning  50 years ago a concentration camp survivors and   it wasn't the strongest or the healthiest that  survived it was usually the ones who have the   strongest sense of meaning and purpose I have to  survive so that I can whatever be reunited with my   loved ones bear witness and so on but to put your  question in a larger context if it's meaningful   if it's it's sustainable and if it's pleasurable  and sustainable you know the old joke am I going   to live longer they're just gonna seem longer  you know if I eat and live healthfully it turns   out not to be true that precisely because these  underlying biological mechanisms that we talked   about a moment ago are so dynamic when you make  changes in lifestyle to the degree that you make   them at any age most people find they feel so  much better so quickly it reframes the reason   for making these changes from fear of dying or  if you're something bad happening which is not   sustainable to joy and pleasure and love and  feeling good and meaning and pleasure which   really are so your brain in just a few hours  can get more blood flow you think more clear   that you have more energy you can actually grow  some of the new brain neurons in a process called   neurogenesis your brain can get measurably bigger  in fact we're now doing in collaboration with with   dr. Bruce Miller at UCSF and joel kramer there  and Catherine Madison at CPMC and others we're   actually doing the first randomized trial to see  we can reverse the progression of early stage   Alzheimer's disease because it shares the same  underlying mechanisms my mom died of Alzheimer's   she was a true genius and it was so devastating  to see her lose that and there are no good drugs   for either treating it or for preventing it so if  we can show that and I think we will it'll really   give millions of people new hope and new choices  your skin gets more blood you you don't age as   quickly your heart gets more blood you can reverse  heart disease your sexual organs actually get more   blood flow in the same way viagra works and so  it's not about living longer it's about living   better we found these same lifestyle changes we  did a study with craig Venter where we found we   could change your genes turning on the good genes  turning off the bad genes over 500 genes in just   3 months you know we people think I've just got  bad genes there's nothing I can do about it and   actually can do quite a lot I've been working with  Bill Clinton since 1993 when Hillary Clinton asked   me to work with the chefs who cooked for them at  the White House and then later Camp David and Air   Force One became one of his consulting doctors  and 9 years ago when his bypass has clogged up he   was told oh it was all in his genes and his dying  life slide nothing to do with it and I sent him an   email I said it has everything to do with it again  not to blame it to empower and that's when he   began making these changes now we did a study with  Elizabeth Blackburn who got the Nobel Prize so I   think we've spoken here for discovering telomeres  the ends of our chromosomes that control aging and   as we get older our telomeres get shorter and as  our telomeres get shorter our lives get shorter   and the risk of premature death from everything  including Alzheimer's goes up we found one for the   first time we could actually lengthen telomeres  and when The Lancet published this they called   it reversing aging at a cellular level so the more  diseases we study and the more mechanisms we look   at these simple changes you know people think it  has to be a new drug a new laser something really   high-tech and I think our unique contribution  has been to use these very high-tech expensive   state-of-the-art scientific measures to prove  how powerful these very simple and low tech and   low-cost interventions can be and how quickly  you can feel better when you make these changes   so I think a lot of people say well ok this this  sounds good and but but isn't isn't it hard to do   in some ways and your system is not just a diet  it's about diet it's about exercise it's about   stress reduction and it's about social connections  ok and I think most of us would think well those   are all important they're all sort of different  and I have to do different things to make each   of those things happen so part of my question is  like do I got to do them all can I pick just a   couple of them of reversing aging sounds great do  I need to do it all so what's the the mix and the   synergies with it but let me just kind of give  an overview and I'd like to Antep take it from   there the more you change the more you improve at  any age that was the I mean I thought when I was   first doing these studies at the young patients  who had less severe disease would do better but   I was wrong it turns out it wasn't how old they  were it wasn't how sick they were it was simply   a function of the more you change the more you  improve both in how you feel which makes you want   to do more it's like oh when I do this I feel good  when I do that I don't feel so good so let me do   more of this and less of that and it comes out of  your own experience but also the more you change   the more you improve in every way we can measure  whether it's your telomeres whether it's your   blood pressure your cholesterol and so on so if  you have heart disease where you have Alzheimer's   or if you have you know a chronic early stage  prostate cancer we did a study with Peter Carroll   who's the chair of urology here at UCSF and bill  fair when he was the chair at sloan-kettering   we found that these same lifestyle changes could  slow stop reverse the progression of early-stage   prostate cancer so if you're trying to reverse a  life-threatening condition like prostate cancer or   heart disease or Alzheimer's that's the pound of  cure it really does take big changes that's why we   were the first to prove that because most people  didn't go far enough but if you're just trying to   lose a few pounds or get your cholesterol down a  few points or whatever then it's more the more you   change the more you improve you want to just take  it from there and build on that well I agree that   really this you can follow our advice because  we've done the research which is comforting   and at the same time what's most important is to  begin experimenting with just a few days you might   feel like stress is the number one thing for  you and so you might want to start with really   emphasizing making time for to manage your stress  for say 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes   before bed so you might have a sense of what  needs the most attention and you might want to   start there and Dean says to the extent that you  can find time for each one of these four equally   weighted pillars of your lifestyle it's going to  be so much more beneficial and then from your own   direct experience to the extent that you can say  gosh I have always felt chest pain whenever I walk   up this hill in San Francisco and by just doing  a little bit more exercise stress management you   feel like I don't have that chest pain so then  you just start reaffirming that benefit that   you're getting from a particular lifestyle choice  that you're making and it becomes so filling and   that's what really is most meaningful because  we have well-intended spouses physicians friends   colleagues that say this is what you should  do but to the extent that it comes from the   inside out and then gets reinforced with your own  personal experience that's that's the name of the   game yeah and what matters most is your overall  way of eating and living if you're just trying to   stay healthy if you indulge yourself one day eat  healthier the next you don't have time to exercise   one day do a little more than X you'd have  time to meditate for an hour do it for a minute   whatever you do but you know the whole language  of behavioral change has this kind of moralistic   judgmental shaming you know what I call fascist  quality you know I I cheated on my diet you know   once you call foods good or bad it's a small  step to saying I'm a bad person because I bad   food might as well just finish the burger at that  point you know and even more than being healthy   people want to feel free and in control and as  soon as I tell somebody you know eat this don't   eat that do this under that they immediately want  to do the opposite you know it goes back to the   first dietary intervention you know when God said  don't eat the Apple and that didn't go so well and   that was God talking and we also have teenagers  so we know so you know be compassionate with   yourself and what matter you know just the overall  direction is good now if you're trying to reverse   disease it really does take big changes but if  you don't have a life-threatening illness just   to the degree you make these changes you're gonna  feel better and as you feel better it's gonna want   to make you do more and as you know there usually  is an overemphasis on the diet this way of eating   because that's I call it the Trojan horse because  it's the one of the four pillars that you have to   do we have to eat a couple times a day at least  so to the extent that we can address that find our   our tricks or ways of making this way of eating  easier and more flavorful and fun then we get on   this moving sidewalk and it gets easier but like  now I'm feeling better with my energy from what   I'm eating and I want to get up and move more  now that I'm moving more gosh I really realized   that my mind is really busy and not as clear  as I'd like it to be so then there's becomes   more of an opening for the stress management  techniques and to the extent that we gain more   clarity more inner wisdom access then it leads  us to opening our hearts more and so the love   more come opponent is usually the component that  as people are entering the program they think is   this really important I mean this isn't I don't  don't hear about this in mainstream medicine   what how important it really is this and and  honestly it becomes the most important the most   trans not the most important but really a more  sustainable way of transforming your life over   time because it's the though it's it's a little  bit more subtle but highly significant in really   moving the behavioral needle yeah well I think  something we all hear lots of advice about diet   and lifestyle from everybody from our grandmother  to crazy doctors and the fact is an awful lot of   it really doesn't have scientific evidence behind  and I think good the impressive part about your   work is that it does have that evidence behind it  so it's harder to argue with data than with your   your grandmother's well that's why I think that is  what set our that's our work apart from everyone   else's is for most people is that it has the signs  to back it up and to me that's the whole point of   science is to say you know what's real what's what  you know what's what works what doesn't for whom   and under what circumstances and so you know all  of our studies have been published in the leading   peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals  presented the the major scientific meetings   Medicare is now covering our program it took 16  years for them to review it and we've gone through   the whole gauntlet we're training hospitals and  clinics and physician groups around the country   and it's working and we're getting bigger changes  in lifestyle better clinical outcomes bigger cost   savings and better adherence than anyone's ever  shown and we're even finding that one of the cases   that we talked about in our new book is a guy who  went through our program at UCLA for reversing   heart disease who was a doctor himself and he was  told he had such a massive heart attack that his   heart was pumping so poorly he was totally needed  a heart transplant and while waiting for a donor   he went through our nine week program in nine  weeks his heart got so much better he didn't   need a heart transplant anymore so like what's the  more radical intervention here a heart transplant   or and eat well move more stress last love more  yeah yeah well I was very taken with some of the   some of the dramatic examples in your book and one  of the interesting facts you mentioned was that   some people think that a good barometer for men in  terms of overall health is erections yes and you   tell a very interesting anecdote about making  of a documentary called the game-changers by   James Cameron of the Titanic and so what tell us  about that little anecdote well Lois I Hollyoaks   actually made that is here tonight and so Louie  can you stand up just for a second are you here   you're blind you're here so Louise I think the  premier documentary filmmaker in the world and   I'm not just saying that because he's here he made  the cove which his first documentary The Cove got   an Academy Award for the of about the dolphin  slaughter in Japan and it showed the power of   raising awareness in this ways and he's totally  committed to that and then he made a film called   raising extinctions which was seen by 4 billion  4.4 billion people around the world I mean it's   crazy and the third one was called game changers  and it was done in collaboration with James   Cameron the legendary filmmaker who did you know  avatar and Titanic and terminate all those great   movies and the Cameron's he and his wife Suzy  became vegan about nine years ago because he's   not only a filmmaker he's also an explorer and  he learned that more global warming is caused by   eating livestock than all forms of transportation  combined and so and I used to get an arguments   friendly arguments of Al Gore about that and  Al Gore actually became a vegan even though   he's a cattle rancher not just because of me but  because he realized that you know that's where   you can really make a difference so the biggest  misconception the most people have about eating a   plant-based diet is that you're a wimp and you  don't get enough protein right so he got all   these elite athletes he and and and Louie got all  these elite athletes and they raised their game   that you know bodybuilders a mixed martial artists  heavyweight boxing champions Olympic medalists NFL   players and so on but there's a one great scene  in there that has these three athletes in their   probably mid-20s and I've been riding for years  that even a single meal that's high in animal   protein and fat and cholesterol can reduce blood  flow to your heart but that didn't really get   people's attention but what they found was that  they gave these three athletes a single meat based   meal and it was high-quality meat it was grass-fed  beef and organic chicken and so on and then at   night a urologist named Erin Spitz wrote measured  with this device we would talk about later yeah   frequency and the hardness of their erections at  night because when guys sleep they get erections   it's just a normal phenomenon and then they  repeated that the next day with a with a single   plant-based meal and what they found to everyone's  surprise was that after the plant-based meal they   had three to five hundred percent more frequent  erections and ten to fifteen percent harder   erections after one meal in fact the according to  Lilly the film crew became vegan after shooting   this season but it's a perfect example and I  talked about this in the book because it shows   again most people think like you know why would  I want to change my diet I want to have fun and   you know if I live to be 86 instead of 85 you know  who cares you know but to me there's no point in   giving up something that you enjoy unless you get  something back that's better and quickly and when   you realize that okay I like eating me but boy I  like having sex even more you know as Aaron Smith   said you know what's good for your meat is good  for your meat your meat or the meats not good   for your meat sorry then it really reframes that  but again is and also when people have erectile   dysfunction which is really epidemic in this  country that's one of the most predictive things   of having heart disease because it's a systemic  illness it's already throughout your body and in   your brain it causes dementia or even Alzheimer's  you know because of the inflammation so when it's   just a microcosm of what's happening in your body  as a whole when you eat well move more stress less   love more everything works better in the ways that  often matter most and this is really important for   the younger generations as we've been out talking  about the book and people say well I don't have   a disease that I'm looking to reverse I feel  like I'm young I'm healthy and so two things   that Dean just said one is what's good for you is  good for the planet and feeling like in this this   time where it feels so overwhelming to think about  what can I one person do to contribute to climate   change and actually the way you eat is them is way  more powerful than even the form of Transportation   so that is very empowering at any age and secondly  is the the way that's these underlying mechanisms   affect blood flow and whether it's your sexual  function and it's really any age but especially   even at a younger age when you don't when you feel  like you're bulletproof those are the kinds of   things that because these changes and the benefits  occur so quickly that's for somebody who's even   young that these elite athletes are getting their  competitive edge with their performance whether   it's athletic it's the same with students it's  well documented how children who just exercise   at school they perform better in school they learn  better they have better test grades so it's it's   as well as depression you know I think that's the  other thing that's earlier on the curve towards   chronic diseases we see depression and exercise  again but overall our lifestyle has shown that   it's not only it can help prevent depression  but also treat it I think it cuts depression   scores in half his works actually better than  any depressants but the only side effects here   like all these things are good ones I was on the  board of the San Francisco Food Bank for several   years and I was shocked because I was shocked to  hear that one out of five kids in the bay area   goes to bed hungry you in this affluent country  the affluent city that we live in now that's just   pitiful but it turns out that it takes 14 times  more resources to make a pound of meat based   protein than plant-based protein so if more people  were to not become vegan necessarily but just you   know I have a meatless Monday you know or just  you know meal or two as Ann was saying it frees   up so many more resources there's enough food to  feed everybody no one need go hungry and so as Ann   said you know when you can imbue those choices  with meaning like oh I'm choosing not to eat   meat today so I can feed the hungry so I can help  global warming there's something I can do about   that as well as helping my family and my erectile  dysfunction or whatever people have it imbues   those choice of meaning so instead of saying oh I  can't have that I'm feeling deprived you're saying   I'm choosing not to eat certain foods because this  is the act of choosing not to do that amuse those   choices with meaning that's why all spiritual  traditions and all religions have dietary   guidelines even though they're often in conflict  with each other because whatever the intrinsic   benefit is of either you're not eating certain  foods just reframing that to say I'm choosing   not to eat certain foods because it makes my life  more meaningful makes it much more sustainable all   right well you're you're you're persuading me that  I get better and there's a lot of reasons for it   you know but it's hard to do it's a little story  about guy walks into a bar orders three beers and   the bartender says you want all three at once and  the guy says yeah I just just moved here from out   of town and I used to do construction with my  brothers and I we'd always for beer afterwards   I miss him so this one's for Danny it's one's  for Bobbi this one's for me barter just plain   he pours the three beers next day same thing  next day six months goes on same thing one   day the guy walks into the bar the bartender  starts pouring his beers and the guy says just   two beers today Joe I think I turned to dance as  well what happened what's wrong and the guy says   I'll don't worry nothing's wrong my brothers  are fine I just decided to give up drinking and that really hit home for me because I'm  really good at fooling myself about food and   you know it's not so bad I'm not eating that  much I can exercise later something like that   and and you had some great things in the book  about really practical tactical strategies for   eating better if you're at someone's house if  you're at a restaurant and other people aren't   eating well what do you do and you had some good  ideas about well I'm sure if many people who have   read the book or are just sitting here right now  are thinking well okay this all sounds good but   what am I need to do when I go out to eat with my  colleagues my friends my family and so one of my   favorite parts of the book is how to order from  any restaurant any menu and eat well and it's   actually to keep it simple what I'd like to do is  just look at the menu and of course it's you know   almost 2020 and most restaurants even in the most  rural areas have vegetarian and vegan a option on   the menu and when there's not or you don't even  like that option my go-to is to look at what they   have in the sides because those are usually  their freshest vegetables legumes other kinds   of sides and then I'll say either can I get these  three things on one plate or can you ask the chef   to do whatever they would like with the freshest  vegetables and always laugh because when we're out   with people and they say well I didn't see that  on the menu when it comes out because we try to   be discreet I want to draw a lot of attention to  yourself especially being us people think we're   gonna be the food weeks let go but so we try to  keep it discreet and then when they bring out   the plates they'll be like what what did you  order I didn't see that on the menu and it's   like When Harry Met Sally for like oh can I just  get one more of what she has so it really it's it   actually is a lot of fun and it's a it makes  dining out always new and exciting so that's   one of the things I think the other I think it's  so important is to set yourself up for success   so in all the lifestyle pillars to the extent  that you can incorporate blocks of time in your   daily schedule in your calendar to support your  lifestyle goals so for me like 15 to 30 minutes   of meditation in the morning and that was amending  my day has not just become a nice to have but it's   become a need to have in order for me to function  the way that I need to I've become to really rely   on that and so likewise the walk in the middle  of the day or in that kind of mid-afternoon when   I start to have a slump I come to have relied on  it was might have been hard in the beginning to   pull myself out and sometimes it is from work to  to extract myself and to swivel but it's always   a silver warding so the first time you know I  felt like okay I'm actually I have more energy   to go back and resume work and it keeps getting  more and more so that it's it's like okay is it   time for my walk yet okay five minutes okay two  minutes one minute and now it's you know even the   people around you are like aren't you supposed  to be taking that walk right now cuz you're a   lot easier to get along with in the afternoon or a  lot more creative so I think that scheduling these   blocks of time is it just it sounds obvious but  actually if you make the time and then you protect   it just like any other meeting or appointments  then you're that much more likely to succeed   so creating a habit yes exactly right same time  same you know each day now I know going back to   diet it's interesting when I talk to people about  diet I hear people talk about diet it seems that   most people when they think about diet it's face  it it's for weight control right people want to   weigh less and there's generally an assumption  which is stated or unconscious or whatever that   that's also healthier but I read in the book that  it's not necessarily true you can have a diet that   helps you lose weight that actually might be not  healthy for you yeah well I mean I debated dr.   Atkins many times before he died and the autopsy  report which has made public show that he died of   heart failure and the diets that have happened  since then are just Atkins redox you know the   Paleo diet the keto diet yeah you can lose weight  on them because but you can lose weight in lots   of ways that aren't really healthy you can lose  weight by smoking cigarettes or chemotherapy or   amphetamines are all good ways of losing weight  getting severely depressed is a good way to lose   weight but I don't recommend it because what you  want to do is lose weight in a way that enhances   your health rather than mortgaging it and there  was a wonderful study that was in the New England   Journal of Medicine by Steven Smith it would  review this literature and it showed that what   happens in your arteries on different diets not  just in your heart but throughout your body on   a Whole Foods plant-based diet like we recommend  they're clean on a standard American diet they're   partially clogged on an Atkins keto Paleo diet  they're severely clogged even if they lose   weight or even sometimes if their risk factors go  down because the risk factor is only important to   what to determine what's going on in your heart  arees and so you know I'm really done with those   diet Wars now and in the book we're saying look it  works we've been doing this for 40 years and every   way we can measure it works and unfortunately  there are no studies showing that these other   diets can reverse aziz in fact the studies that  have been done show that they significantly   increase your risk and it goes past the fat verses  carbs debate to the animal protein itself that   studies that are showing that diets that are high  in animal protein you have a seventy-five percent   increased risk of premature death from all causes  and a four to five hundred percent increased risk   of premature death from type 2 diabetes prostate  breast and colon cancer independent of the whole   fat versus carbs thing and the other thing that  I think I want just to kind of segue into some   another area because Ann mentioned the love war  is that the real epidemic isn't just obesity or   heart disease it's loneliness and depression and  isolation and study after study have shown that   people who are lonely and depressed and isolated  or three to ten times more likely to get sick and   die prematurely from pretty much everything  when compared to those who have a sense of   love and connection and community and I don't know  anything in medicine that has that kind of impact   in part because of the the breakdown of the social  networks that used to bring this together you know   50 or 60 years ago most people had an extended  family or a neighborhood with two or three   generations of people or a church or synagogue  they went to regularly or or an extended family   that I saw and many people today don't have any  of those things and what we're learning is that   the reason why those things were so protective  is that we we've survived as a species as a way   of learning together but one of the studies that I  quote in the book is that the more time you spend   on Facebook the more depressed you're likely  to be and the reason for that is that it's not   real intimacy you know you everybody looks like  everybody has this perfect life for you you know   it's like because you don't post your demons and  your darkside and your doubts and your you know   all the dead bad stuff that happened whereas  if you grow up in a family with two or three   generations of people it's like oh you know I see  you I I don't just see your Facebook profile and   your biosketch I see where you where you messed up  and you know that they know and they know that you   know that they know and there's still there for  you there's just something really primal about   being seen warts and all and having them there  so in the support groups in our study they're   not just helping people stay on the diet they're  creating we're creating a safe place to recreate   that sense of allowing people to let down their  emotional defenses talk openly and authentically   about what's really going on in their lives  without fear that someone's gonna judge them   or criticize them or give them glib advice and  just to say let's connect with our feelings you   know and it's it's so easy to make fun of this oh  it's so touchy-feely and I used to get defensive   is I don't know look at our PET scans and our  quantitative arteria grams and our radio declare   ventricular grams and blah blah blah and I thought  one day I said you know it is touchy-feely that's   what makes it work so ho you know we're a touchy  feely creatures we're creatures of community and   I've and I've learned that it's not enough to  give people information and we're drowning in   information you know can do a google search and a  million documents and then like that 0.6 seconds   you know everybody who smoke cigarettes knows it's  bad for them it's on every package of cigarettes   so I'd ask people like why do you smoke or  overeat or drink too much or work too hard   or abuse substances and they'd say because they  help us deal with our depression our loneliness   our unhappiness I've had patients say things like  I've got 20 friends in this pack of cigarettes and   they're always there for me and nobody else is  you're gonna take away my 20 friends what are   you gonna give me or food fills the void or fat  coats my nerves and numbs the pain or opioids we   have a big opioid epidemic there's just a subset  of that numbs the pain or video games or whatever   and so we're presenting these techniques not just  to manage stress although they certainly help you   do that but the ancient Swami's and rabbis and  priests and monks and nuns didn't develop these   techniques just to unclog their arteries or  perform better in sports or whatever it can   do all those things but we presenting something  it's more radical than that in this book that when   you practice meditation in whatever forms secular  religious your mind quiets down and when your mind   quiets down you experience more of an inner sense  of peace and to realize that's our natural state   is to be peaceful and healthy it's not something  we get from outside of ourselves it's who we are   already and not being mindful of that we often  think oh boy if only I had more money more power   more beauty more accomplishment if I like I make  them the bestseller list whatever then I'd be   happy now once you set up that view of the world  if you don't get it you feel bad if someone else   gets it you feel really bad it makes you feel like  we live in the zero-sum game the more you get the   less views from me but ultimately even if you get  it it's really fun for a little bit but then it's   either now what it's never enough or so what big  deal now if you take it even further you get this   transcendent experience that on one level we're  separate and another level we're part of something   larger that connects us all whatever name you give  to that it's the antithesis of the you know the   you know the the other you know that we've seen  unfortunately so much in our political realm now   once you see people that is being separate and  only separate then bad things happen though those   Muslim terrorists those Mexican rapists whatever  just to cite a few examples not to mention any   names and then you can do bad things so because  they're different from you but to me the essence   of all spiritual traditions is love and compassion  and forgiveness and others in yourself and it   naturally comes from having that transcendence say  that you know we are all connected on one level we   are that light behind the projector that manifests  on all these different names and forms and it's   in my limited experience that's where the healing  can be the most powerful and our work is all about   treating the underlying cause and we can talk  about you know diet and behaviors and so on but   ultimately to have that direct experience of that  transcendent oneness is where to me even the word   healing comes from the root to make whole and yoga  from the Sanskrit the Union these are really old   ideas that were rediscovering and to build on that  as far as again what moves the behavior needle so   to the extent that we have self awareness self  care and self love so I'm going to talk the   stress less and the love or the techniques that we  recommend for an hour for some per day for someone   trying to reverse their disease that's when we get  to quiet down and get in touch with what are those   underlying causes that are driving our behaviors  which has maybe led to the chronic diseases in   our family history and perhaps in our own lives  already so that is the kind of pulling back the   layers of the onion the veils of awareness to  get to why am I really doing something that I   know isn't serving me well but the still small  voice within you do that so eloquently thank you   you do it so well but I'll borrow from you well  we all have this still quiet voice inside of us   that's the beautiful thing it's not like my wisdom  is greater than your wisdom this is something that   we're all born with and to the extent that we  can regularly quiet down and get still in our   body that inner wisdom as Dean talks about is  the still quiet voice within I often am very   in touch with it when I wake up at some point in  the middle of the night it's one of my cherished   moments of meditation actually it in a the rush of  a day it might take me 15 20 30 minutes to get to   that insight to that core thing and in the middle  of the night it's right there it's sometimes the   thing that wakes me up and I'm so grateful to then  hold space for it and to ask tell me more what   else am I not paying attention to what else do I  really need to do to attend to it this time in my   life and it's a very intimate relationship that  we can each have with ourselves and to the extent   that we have that intimate authentic relationship  with ourselves then we're opening ourselves up in   the love more component to to be received  and met by others in our lives with a more   authentic connection and then we're more likely  to make lifestyle choices that are life enhancing   than ones that are self-destructive and all of the  studies that I've done came from that little voice   you know it said someone says hey Dean listen up  pay attention you're not doing something so I've   learned at the to ask what am I not paying  attention to that I need to pay attention   to so it'll say I do an Alzheimer's study you  know it's not like this incremental thing and   they're like Eureka it's more like I have this  insight which comes from that inner voice that   still small voice within the Guru within the God  within whatever name you want to give to it even   it doesn't matter I've got some more questions but  I also want to invite the audience to submit your   questions on the question cards so I think it's  it's notable a lot of people say well I can't   meditate for fifteen or thirty or sixty minutes  a day because I'm too busy so I challenge you to   tell me how you're busier than this couple there  were writing books and running around you know   even sometimes I'll say you know I don't have time  to meditate for 20 minutes and I'll say well do   I have time to meditate for a minute and I have  if I have to admit that I don't have time for a   minute and I have to admit my life is so out of  balance I'd rather just do it a minute and once   I do the minutes ences aren't going to do more  because you know it's just getting started but   you know even a minute I mean if you ever found  yourself listening to a song on the radio in the   morning and finding yourself humming it later in  the day it's the same thing with meditation even a   minute it carries with you and people say things  like you know I just have a short fuse and I'd   explode easily my fuse is longer now things just  don't bother me as much and so I can actually get   more done without getting stressed in the process  so we can't always change the stressors in our   life we have the same job the same drivers but  we can change how we react to it how we relate   to it and respond we have so much more choice in  fact then we often believe and that's what gets   very empowering it's like driving to work on the  same path every day and hitting that pothole ah   I can't believe I hit again it's like stress can  be very repetitive and again we can become self   judging when we don't evolve in the way that we're  responding to stress it feels like it's it's the   the tail wagging the dog it's happening to us  that you say I can actually drive around that   pothole I don't have to maybe I'll take it so it  actually can become quite playful and fun great   I've got a number of audience questions a lot of  wonderful questions I promise you I won't get to   all of them there's too many but I appreciate the  questions so there's several about specific things   that we might eat or drink in the want commenting  on wow here's three alcohol fish and salt they go   very well together actually his living was Mark  Twain said if if I give up one he said to his   doctor if I give up wine women and song will  I live longer he goes no but it'll seem long   he goes well I may give up singing if I have two  shoes so wine salt and fish alcohol so alcohol we   don't prescribe it we don't prescribe it the  studies used to show that people who had one   or two drinks a day actually live longer than  those who didn't drink at all or he drank more   than that it turns out that whether that was an  artifact that a lot of people who didn't drink at   all didn't drink at all because they were so sick  and when they corrected for that it didn't really   matter but again I think that these are personal  choices clearly if you drink more than two drinks   a day you're increasing the risk of a number of  bad things and and you know here in California   where marijuana is legal I think you know how  many marijuana overdoses were there last year   in the state of California like zero right because  there's been the ratio of thought therapeutic to   toxic is like three hundred and one with alcohol  it's more like ten to one so I think if you had to   choose more people might be considered moving in  that direction salt is not nearly as bad as most   people think unless you have high blood pressure  or kidney failure because salt causes your body to   hold on to water which in turn raises your blood  pressure and if you don't have good kidneys then   it tends to cause you to be more volume overloaded  but for other people it's really not nearly as a   big deal but on the other hand if you eat less  salt you begin to prefer foods that are less   salty you know your palate adapts and that's one  reason why is in some ways it's easier to make big   changes in diet because if you eat healthy most of  the time you prefer foods that taste that way and   the third is fish fish are definitely better than  than chicken or beef in terms of in the hierarchy   of things but there are no clean fish in the  world really all fish are contaminated with   Mercury dioxin PCBs and the bigger the fish the  more of the toxins that they have so if you're   not going to be on a you know purely plant-based  diet now a pescetarian diet would be the next   best thing but if you can move into a plant-based  diet it's even better right we have question here   that there seems to be a lot written these days  about personalized health and myths and the the   polygenic proteomics microbiome things like that  so how important is this personal set of issues   versus the big four things that you mentioned you  know I was on Craig Venters board of his nonprofit   for several years and we've been friends for 20  years and we used to get in these debates about   this friendly debates as well if you're talking  about a personalized treatment for a pancreatic   tumor using immunotherapy that's awesome but  for the vast majority of chronic diseases what   this is goes along with this unifying theory  that we talked about earlier it wasn't like we   found there was one set of diet and lifestyle  recommendations for reversing heart disease a   different one for prostate cancer a different one  for all these different chronic diseases was the   same for all of them because they are really  all the same disease in different forms they   have the same underlying biological mechanisms  and that makes it really radically simple you   don't know you can personalize around the edges  you know if someone is gluten sensitive and so   on but it's one also one of the reasons why you  find these comorbidities people have high blood   pressure and heart disease and high cholesterol  and obesity because they're just doing that but   you know if you look at China fifty or sixty  years ago they had the heart disease was and   these chronic diseases were so much rarer there  even though they have the same genetic diversity   in other words people say well carbs you know I'm  more sensitive to carbs or I'm more sensitive fat   but if you're not eating that much refined carbs  or fat than those differences don't matter Chris   Gardner did a study at Stanford last year in the  Journal of the AMA where he tried to tailor the   diets based on that and found that they actually  lost the same amount of weight it didn't really   matter so you can do a little bit of fine-tuning  but for the vast majority of issues it's really   the same lifestyle changes can reverse and prevent  all of these different conditions now I'm going to   guess it's some people as they listen to what  you're saying are reasonably healthy you want   to stay that way and some people have some serious  diseases and they want to consider truly reversing   them you know which and and the latter might be  more it might be more motivated but still they   might say hmm how am I going to make these  changes and and you write a bit about that   the pros and cons of doing all at once versus a  gradual transition into some of these lifestyle   changes which do you think is a better approach  well it depends the two basic strategies that   we've found enable people to make sustainable  changes and by the way this idea that taking   a pill is easy and everybody can do it and change  the taking changing diet lifestyle is really hard   is not what the data shows studies should've  the pharma companies own data is show that   half to two-thirds of people who are prescribed  cholesterol-lowering drugs like lipitor are not   taking them after just four to six months and a  third of the prescriptions never even get filled   and people say and yet we're getting you know  we we've been training hospitals and clinics   and physician groups around the country and we're  getting 85 to 90 percent of the people finish the   72 hours and a year later about 85 to 90 percent  of people are still following it and people say   that's crazy you mean it's taking a pill is so  much easier you're getting better results than   that how can that be and the reason is that taking  the pill doesn't make you feel better if you   collect our learning drug but changing lifestyle  does and again it's more fear-based take this pill   it's not gonna make you feel better hopefully it  won't make you feel worse to prevent something   really awful from happening years down the road  like a heart attack or stroke that people don't   want to think about so they generally stopped  doing it but when you change your lifestyle for   someone who can't who's got bad heart disease  and they can't walk across the street without   getting pain or make love with their spouse or  play with their kids or go back to work without   getting chest pain and within a few days to a few  weeks they can do all those things things usually   say things you know I like eating junk food but  not that much because again what I gain is so   much more than when I give up so one strategy is  to make big changes all at once because you feel   so much better so quickly and it comes from your  own experience that really makes it sustainable   the other is to make small gradual changes if you  indulge yourself one day eat healthier the next if   you're just trying to prevent disease that's a  valid approach as well so if you're just trying   to reverse disease the pound of cure you really  do need to make big changes all at once if you're   just trying to stay healthy to the degree you make  these changes your there's a corresponding benefit   but it what matters most is your overall way of  eating and living and again setting yourself up   for success is not only scheduling those blocks  and the recurring blocks on your schedule for this   but also to join forces because life is number  one to be enjoyed and number two to be at least   shared that's how we get the joy out of it so to  the extent that we can each think of somebody in   our lives that we would like to invite to join us  for regular walks or to join for us for a meal we   should to whatever extent is possible to never eat  alone its slows us down it allows us to appreciate   the food have more nourishment and and company  along the way and so for whatever it is this   lifestyle in general if to the extent that you're  able to team up with somebody it's like having a   trainer but you don't have to pay sometimes you  will do things for people that we love that we   wouldn't do for ourselves and so Paul Dudley white  once said walk your dog whether you have one or   not you know in the book that then we mentioned  earlier that the single biggest influence on   loneliness I'm sorry unsurvivable in health and  well-being is loneliness century and that goes to   love more part of your book and you talked about  the need there but what's the prescription what   do we do to love more well I want to make sure  that although it can include romantic love that   this is by no means when we talk about loving more  it really has to start from the inside so it's it   goes beyond first of all it has to happen we have  to have compassion and self-care for ourselves and   that's really the only way we can't hijack that  once we start making choices to love ourself more   we invite in others to meet us there and so to  the extent that you can find a to war start with   where you are what are who the friends the family  members that you have right now of course we can   all go out into our community and find a class  at a community center a yoga Center and we attend   that regularly so we can build community but at  the same time we all have family and friends and   to start there and to think about are there  if there's been a rift or a misunderstanding   taking the time to mend that to hear one another's  feelings you probably need to feel that you need   to be heard I'm sure the other person feels they  need to be heard that elicits healing and men that   then can allow us to reconnect anew with ourselves  and others it's again it seems so subtle like oh I   don't care about that was a long time ago I don't  really care about my parents anymore or whatever   until the next holiday but to the extent that we  can first start with ourselves and love ourselves   then we're really giving people permission around  us to love ourselves and then to start with the   people that we know this is something we can all  do yeah and the heart pumps blood to itself first   so that it can then pump blood to the rest of the  body is that selfish or unselfish you know if you   love yourself you have that much more love to give  you can't give what you don't have I also want to   mention before I forget that as I mentioned we're  doing this Alzheimer's study we're to see if we   can reverse Alzheimer's and we're still recruiting  patients so if anyone's listening to this just go   to Ornish dot-com our website it's all for free  and and Louise is actually making a film on that   so if anybody is interested in supporting that  film we're going to give it away to schools and   training the institutions and so on as a way  of really raising awareness of what a powerful   difference these simple changes can make in  people's lives someone who asked said you want me   for your Alzheimers study so I'll save this card  for you thank you pretty question saying if you   are vegan but occasionally cheat is that okay no  you're going straight to hell okay next question there was actually there's an old joke if  you don't have to ask if someone in this   vegan they will tell you probably true what do  you think about increasing intake of good fats   and limiting carbs well the thing that out dr.  Atkins and I and the Paleo and you know keto and   whatever diets agree on is that Americans need  too many refined carbs too much sugar and white   flour and white rice and things like that and  the reason why those were bad bad in the sense   of unhelpful not in a moral sense is that when  you go from whole wheat flour - white flour or   brown rice to white rice you're removing the  fiber and the bran and the fiber and the bran   fill you up before you get too many calories but  also slow the absorption from food from your gut   into your blood so and so when you eat those foods  your blood sugar goes up slowly goes down slowly   you get a nice constant source of energy but if  you eat sugar or white flour it's like mainlining   sugar your blood sugar just spikes up it gets to  high levels your pancreas senses that your blood   sugar is too high it secretes insulin which makes  your blood sugar go down but it's like a pendulum   if you pull it to one side it doesn't just stop  in the middle it goes to the other and then you   get that low blood sugar you crash and there's  a good cure for that which is more sugary that's   kind of the whole addictive cycle of eating sugar  but also these repeated surges of insulin caused   chronic inflammation which is at the root of so  many chronic diseases and they cause the insulin   receptor to down regulate so you get insulin  resistance which is really what causes type 2   diabetes and by the way half of the population  today is diabetic or pre-diabetic it cost three   hundred and twenty two billion dollars last year  just in the US alone but when you change your   diet and lifestyle if you've the good carbs your  body becomes more insulin sensitive you can most   people who go on insulin or able to reduce or even  get off of it all together under their doctor's   supervision just like the cholesterol-lowering  drugs and their blood pressure pills that they're   told they have to take forever and so that's  you get the feeling like you're actually really   getting better when you make these changes that  you can reduce and get off these medications that   you were told that you'd have to take forever  so so you want so good carbs are our fruits   vegetables whole grains legumes and soy products  in the natural form as they come in nature so we   agree to reduce the bad carbs but you don't want  to replace them with bacon and pork I'd love to   tell you the bacon and pork rinds and sausage for  health foods I grew up in Texas eating them all   the time until I was 19 but they're not you know  it doesn't should you never eat them that's your   a personal choice but don't kid yourself into  thinking they're really good for you because   they're not what's that well good fats you know  are things like olive oil let's say and canola   oil and things like that but the studies you know  this is you know the the Gary Taubes is and others   say you know Americans have been totally less  fat they're eating less fat they're fatter than   ever low fat is dead it's all sugar well it's not  all sugar it's not all anything it's all of these   things number one number two we may have been told  you less fat that I went to the US Department of   Agriculture database where they actually tracked  hire us food supply and every decade since 1950   we've been eating more fat more carbs I mean more  fat more sugar more meat and more calories so   not surprisingly we're fat or not because we're  getting too little fat because reading too much   of everything now what about the Mediterranean  diet it's a higher fat diet and didn't that show   that was better than a low-fat diet well there's  a study called the predamond study in the New   England Journal of Medicine the short version is  they said that the headline was Mediterranean diet   better than low fat diet and preventing heart  disease well number one the low-fat diet went   from 39 to 37 percent fat hardly any reduction at  all they replaced fat with sugar which is never a   good idea but in fact they found no difference  in heart disease in the two groups they only   found a reduction in stroke rate because when you  have more of the omega-3 fatty acids that you can   get in salmon but you can also get them in the  plankton base the vegan base which is where the   salmon get them from anyway that reduces blood  clots from forming and ninety percent of strokes   are due to blood clots so a Mediterranean diet  a higher fat called good fat diet is certainly   better than I then what most Americans are eating  but even better is it is a plant-based diet that's   low in fat and low in sugar and refined carbs I  find it fascinating that we have better weight   loss data than weight watchers even though you  never set out to have a diet this was a lifestyle   that happened to include a way of living because  you know fat has nine calories per gram and   protein and carbs have only four I wrote a book  20 years ago called eat more weigh less because   we found the average person in our studies lost 24  pounds in the first year but they weren't trying   to lose weight you know because they were eating  more food and more frequently but because the food   is so much less dense in calories you can eat the  same amount of food and quantity and still get 1/3   fewer calories but you're not hungry because  we're eating the same amount of food and that   makes it sustainable I love that part of your book  where you could actually eat more you don't have   to eat less to lose weight that's right right is  excess weight and gain house all the side effects   are good ones which is great we have several  questions from people who apparently are quite   convinced about the benefits of a plant-based  diet Whole Foods plant-based diet which is great   but they know a lot of other people who are not  as well convinced and they're asking for advice   it's a there's some quick arguments some quick  statistics they can give to their friends and   family to show they should really all be eating  vegan I think the best I can voice I can give   you is wait until your asked you know the best  example the best teacher is a good example and   nobody wants to be proselytized nobody wants to be  lecture to and so if people ask you then you know   tell them this is what I found really works for me  and then if they ask you even more then say well   you know the studies show that you know I mean  look if you had a plant based diet what's good   for you is good for the planet you know what's  personally sustainable is globally sustainable   so you're you're you're eating lower on the  food chain so you're getting you know better   erections you're getting better new blood cells  growing blood to your brain new neurons growing   in your brain your heart disease is reversing your  athletic performance is increasing you're reducing   global warming and you're feeding the hungry okay  that's one's camp the other camp is the opposite   okay now how is it that we got to a place in our  country but that's considered normal and this is   considered radical it's like you know the studies  were showing that after 40 years of doing stents   and angioplasty the randomized trials have shown  that in stable patients they don't work very well   they don't prolong life they don't prevent heart  attacks and they don't even reduce the angina and   and yet that's the conventional approach I mean  when we were trying to get Medicare to cover our   program about halfway through the head of Medicare  at the time said okay well do a demonstration   project but you have to get a letter from the head  of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of   the National Institutes of Health saying your  program is safe for older people I said safe   compared to getting your chest cut open or having  sense for them he goes yeah that it's just safe   for older people to walk meditate you vegetables  quit smoking a loved one I said you must be joking   and he wasn't we had to do a whole literature  review on that that's where it's so topsy-turvy   is like that's that's the conventional approach  and this is the radical approach even though now   40 years later when they finally got around to  doing around randomized trials that doesn't work   and this does and a fraction of the costs and  again the only side effects are good ones for   both you and the people you care about and for  the planet that's my short answer but only one   asked different kind of a question that's why  that's why film is so great because they need   to take them to see one of Louie's films and then  they can just see for themselves you don't have   to say anything there's a different question  here that may have been brought about by all   the conversations about erections which is what  percentage of your research subjects women and   the prostate cancer studies zero you sexist in the  Alzheimer's study it's about 5050 here's a here's   a more technical question what are your thoughts  on the supplementation of collagen peptides for   gut repair and arthritis and joint treatment and  the potential collagen peptides being considered   as ace inhibitors that's a technical one yeah I  mean you know there's part of what I talked about   in the book there there's this whole idea that  if leaky gut and there is something to that but   you know a lot of the practitioners of functional  medicine and other things like that just happen to   have all these great supplements that are gonna  fix that and thousands of dollars in lab tests   and so and I just don't you know you do I don't  criticize anybody for doing that but the fact is   is that when you eat a Whole Foods plant-based  diet that's low in refined carbs and the kinds   of things we're talking about particularly when  you combine them with the other three aspects of   our program your leaky gut syndrome gets better  too you don't necessarily have to have these   expensive supplements and so on to do that now I  think I take a few supplements I think having a   good you know multivitamin without iron some some  omega-3s I take some curcumin because it can help   because Alzheimer's runs in my family it helps to  increase glutathione which is uh helps to rid your   body of some of these toxic substances but for the  most part you know if you eat and live well you   don't necessarily need a lot of these expensive  things yeah we talked a little bit about stress   and about how much you write in the book about  how much of our culture is all about getting and   doing rather than just being that hit home for  me got a friend of mine said to me recently said   mark you're not really a human human being you're  more of a human doing there was something to that   so you've talked a little bit about some of the  stress reduction techniques but primarily focused   on meditation great but Ann you're right about  four or five other ones that I thought we're very   interesting and very very doable as well can you  talk about a few other options yeah the ones that   are simple for people yeah so the five techniques  that we've proven to be the most beneficial are   gentle stretching and so we think of yoga at the  same time it's not the type of yoga that's the   pretzel type of yoga this is more of a restorative  way of moving slowly consciously and finding our   edge and sort of massaging our our edges with  awareness so that another is we talked about   meditation mindfulness is obviously become better  and better documented for its benefits in you know   Silicon Valley and anyone who wanted ease wanting  to perform at a high level but for me also as a   mom meditation and I know so many other moms out  there it's it's like me time it's mama time and   it allows us to be that much more calm and present  and loving for for those that we love especially   our kids and and our family imagery is another one  so our we can't tell the difference between what   we're imagining and what's really happening and  in the first film that came out was a train that   was coming at people and everyone in the audience  sort of jumped like the train was coming at them   so it's it's similar when we can imagine positive  outcomes so for having a surgical procedure or   even an interaction that we're gonna have maybe  at work or with someone that we care about we   can begin to imagine how it feels to walk through  it to chart out a successful path for ourselves a   healing outcome a productive outcome and then it's  that much easier to manifest so again these are   all the things we can do from the inside out I'll  add to that breath awareness so yes the largest   improvements that we've been able to measure  come from people who are practicing these stress   management techniques for up to an hour a day the  more that they practice these techniques the more   improvements we've been able to measure at the  same time we all that's not possible every day and   I always feel that the breath is the most readily  available and powerful tool we have so when we get   stressed which we all do out there on the we're  driving home tonight notice that when stress   arises that our breath pattern becomes a little  more shallow and rapid and so just by noticing   that becoming aware of that and then manually  re-patterning the the tone of the breath by just   taking three breath cycles that are more slowly  and deeply breath breathing with an emphasis on   the real letting go type of out-breath in just  three breath cycles you can completely retool   your nervous system manually from the inside out  no matter what's going on outside your you can't   you can't change that but you can kind of create  your own inner sanctuary with just three breaths   lastly for the five techniques is deep relaxation  so this is my favorite one before bed because it   really sets you up for the most restorative REM  sleep so by generally going through each of the   muscle groups in your body and then consciously  tensing each parts they like the right arm and   then relating it relaxed roll it out move to the  next one and if you systematically go through each   muscle group in each part of your body then you're  set up it's like this magic carpet right into   sleep and it actually is been shown to help people  heal much more rapidly and to get that sleep that   we also need and there's been so much talk about  you know needing less sleep being more productive   and you can talk so well about the the power  of sleep and how it helps us detoxify and but   those would be the the most powerful techniques  that again you can do it in three breaths and to   take it your idle downtime when you're waiting  in line even waiting at a traffic light for a   moment to just practice conscious breathing three  very practical Thank You yeah unfortunately we've   come to the time of the program where we have  time for just one last question so I'm gonna   ask the same question of each of you since I know  that you follow your own prescriptions but it can   sometimes be hard so what's the hard part for  each of you of following the program that you   recommend and we'll start with you the hardest one  I think probably this is interesting I am more of   a savory tooth than a sweet tooth so I think that  you know the the vegetarian vegan thing for me is   really comes down to cheese and fortunately it's  a it's become easier and easier with there's so   many great vegan cheese's even ones that melt well  so it's become easier and easier but I think that   and in the early days that was probably one  of the things I was holding on to yeah Dean   what about you I guess for me it's actually  exercising surprisingly I love to meditate   I love to eat healthy I love to love but exercise  is something that I think it's cause I grew up in   Texas and exercise was always used as punishment  you know seriously like you know go take a lap   you know and and so for me running it was always  associated with that so I I have a trainer who   comes two or three times a week just to motivate  me to do it because given a choice I'll probably   avoid it we also like to reward and have a little  healthy competition so called we call each other   true love so we called the true love Olympics  every week and who beat each other so I think   that a little and if you win you get you get to  write you get your wish for anything related to   your your date that night so it's it's highly  motivating I was wonderful I think we better   wrap up they are thanks to dr. Dina and Ornish of  the preventive medicine Institute and co-authors   of undo it how simple lifestyle changes can  reverse most chronic diseases we also thank   everyone here in San Francisco as well as the  audience is on radio television and the Internet   thank you for these wonderful questions so many  of you submitted this program has been part of the   Commonwealth clubs food lit series underwritten  by the Bernard Osher foundation that's also been   held in conjunction with the club's health and  medicine forum I want to remind everybody here   in San Francisco that copies of our guests  book are on sale and they will be pleased to   sign copies outside of the room immediately  following this program i am mark sitter and   now meeting of the Commonwealth Club the place  where you're in the know is adjourned thank you

Channel: Commonwealth Club of California

Views: 29,812

Keywords: Dean and Anne Ornish, Food Lit series, UnDo It!, health, lifestyle change, recipes, exercises, stress relievers, health field

Id: UlHhtb9w-sc

Length: 67min 15sec (4035 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 30 2019