My thoughts on Dean Ornish, at last
Published 9.9.2025: I have listened to Dean Ornish, MD speak for years, and I don't think I've ever opined about him… or at least not recently. Ornish of course, was one of the earliest vegans to claim that the diet could reverse heart disease. Of course, his intervention was not limited to the diet, and so people dismissed his results. That hasn't stopped him from researching or spreading his message, but it has limited his effect in the grifter set.
One way Ornish is different from other doctors, is that he has worked to get his program approved by Medicare and insurance companies, which means his way of treatment would be paid for. It takes time to do this, and if your primary purpose is how much money you can make, you don't go this route.
On this day, his focus is on prostate cancer— which he's researched and found is helped by eating more plants. In addition, he doesn't only focus on changing the diet. Ornish is explaining why he changes so much at one time… even if you can’t say what caused it. So he, AGAIN, is saying you have to do it with your doctor… and he is saying that some cancer patients need treatment.
Ornish, like Fuhrman, thinks that heart disease, cancer and dementia all share the same root cause. So he likely WOULD recommend specific foods. Valter Longo is hamstrung by data… humans have lived longest by not eating a vegan diet, they’ve eaten an all-but vegan diet, but not vegan. Longo shared the story about the oldest women then alive ate raw eggs in her final months, because her doctor was worried that otherwise she wouldn’t get the nutrients she needed.
In any event, Ornish is less doctrinaire than Fuhrman. He apparently came close to committing suicide when he was younger, so he is far more understanding of human frailty (or at least more forgiving of it) because of that. (That is MY interpretation, by the way. The doctors may disagree.)
Ornish says that the response to treatment depends on how closely the patient adheres, the more adherence the better the response, but there are no guarantees. Fuhrman does it very differently— expecting full compliance and being frustrated when his patients don't live up to that (and they don't). They are pretending they are saying the same thing… but they really aren’t. Though Fuhrman has had the experience of people adhering while at his retreat… but not afterward. He gets pissed, where Ornish does not.
Ornish brings up Chef AJ and the need for humility (AJ was a long time vegan who was following John McDougall's teachings— in fact, I know he was, there are videos and articles on the web). Fuhrman then ends the talk (I think he was critical of McDougall's teachings). There's a bit of kissy face and the talk ends.
Ornish to me is a "meet them where they are" type, whereas Furhman is here are the facts, and if you want to be healthy you'll do exactly what I tell you. Between the two, I think, if I were sick, I'd prefer Ornish's practice— but I might have better results if I went the Fuhrman direction.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!
One way Ornish is different from other doctors, is that he has worked to get his program approved by Medicare and insurance companies, which means his way of treatment would be paid for. It takes time to do this, and if your primary purpose is how much money you can make, you don't go this route.
On this day, his focus is on prostate cancer— which he's researched and found is helped by eating more plants. In addition, he doesn't only focus on changing the diet. Ornish is explaining why he changes so much at one time… even if you can’t say what caused it. So he, AGAIN, is saying you have to do it with your doctor… and he is saying that some cancer patients need treatment.
Ornish, like Fuhrman, thinks that heart disease, cancer and dementia all share the same root cause. So he likely WOULD recommend specific foods. Valter Longo is hamstrung by data… humans have lived longest by not eating a vegan diet, they’ve eaten an all-but vegan diet, but not vegan. Longo shared the story about the oldest women then alive ate raw eggs in her final months, because her doctor was worried that otherwise she wouldn’t get the nutrients she needed.
In any event, Ornish is less doctrinaire than Fuhrman. He apparently came close to committing suicide when he was younger, so he is far more understanding of human frailty (or at least more forgiving of it) because of that. (That is MY interpretation, by the way. The doctors may disagree.)
Ornish says that the response to treatment depends on how closely the patient adheres, the more adherence the better the response, but there are no guarantees. Fuhrman does it very differently— expecting full compliance and being frustrated when his patients don't live up to that (and they don't). They are pretending they are saying the same thing… but they really aren’t. Though Fuhrman has had the experience of people adhering while at his retreat… but not afterward. He gets pissed, where Ornish does not.
Ornish brings up Chef AJ and the need for humility (AJ was a long time vegan who was following John McDougall's teachings— in fact, I know he was, there are videos and articles on the web). Fuhrman then ends the talk (I think he was critical of McDougall's teachings). There's a bit of kissy face and the talk ends.
Ornish to me is a "meet them where they are" type, whereas Furhman is here are the facts, and if you want to be healthy you'll do exactly what I tell you. Between the two, I think, if I were sick, I'd prefer Ornish's practice— but I might have better results if I went the Fuhrman direction.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!