About 13 years ago, I was hearing a lot about Dr. Dean Ornish, a medical researcher who preached a low-fat, plant-based diet. His book, "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease," was a New York Times best seller. His research, published in medical journals, showed that a vegetarian diet limited to 10 percent of calories from fat reversed the clogging of arteries in patients with heart disease, as evidenced on heart scans. (In comparison, the American Heart Association's old "Step I" diet restricted total fat to no more than 30 percent of the day's calories.) If you eat around 2,000 calories a day, on Ornish's plan, you would be limited to 22 grams of fat per day. A Big Mac alone is 30 grams of fat.
"Low-fat" was the health mantra of the time, and then around 1995, the fen-phen phenomenon hit — why diet when you can lose weight with a pill? On the heels of that fiasco, the Atkins/low-carb frenzy took over the popular diet scene.
So whatever happened to this low-fat guru of the '80s and '90s?
I was glad to see that Dr. Ornish is alive and well and speaking last week to the Utah Dietetics Association here in Salt Lake City. Before Dr. Robert Atkins' death, he and Atkins had numerous debates on the merits and demerits of their diets. Ornish's clients include former President Bill Clinton, McDonald's and Pepsico.
Folks may be surprised to hear he's rubbing shoulders with the so-called "bad boys" of the nutrition world (I'm referring to McDonald's and Pepsico, not Bill . . . ). But Ornish said he's been involved in the rollout of nutritious, low-fat products such as McDonald's premium salads and Baked Lays chips.
So, after his talk (covered by health writer Lois Collins in last Saturday's Deseret Morning News) I had to ask him, how did the low-carb frenzy gain so much attention, when it flew directly in the face of all the research?
"It's not just low-fat, you can go on some very unhealthy low-fat diets," he said. "People were eating all these refined carbohydrates like Snackwell low-fat snack cakes, so they were gaining weight on a low-fat diet."
If you eat a diet high in refined carbs and then go on Atkins, you will lose weight, he said. "But now people are rejecting the Atkins diet because they find it's an unhealthy way to eat."
The South Beach diet, which advises more low-fat meats and whole grains, is a step in the right direction, he said. "But President Clinton was on South Beach right before he had his bypass. I think that says something."
He says the nutrients that you include are as important as what you exclude. By eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains, you're getting at least 1,000 substances that protect your body against disease. Besides diet, important parts of his program include stress management, not smoking, exercise and taking either flax seed or fish oil supplements. And Ornish says depression and loneliness are risk factors. Friendships, love, altruistic service and support groups "are not just good, but they're also good for you," he said.
He's working to get more health insurance companies to underwrite his diet/lifestyle program, which he says could save costs for heart surgeries and make health care more affordable.
The joy of living is a more powerful motivator than the fear of dying, so that's where the focus should be to "sell" lifestyle changes, he said.
He started working with McDonald's seven years ago, after he found himself seated next to McDonald's CEO at a breakfast hosted by President Clinton.
"I asked him why they didn't have healthier things on the menu," he said. "They have 47 million customers a day. Even a little incremental change on that level could make a big difference. Also, they are in the behavior modification business, too, and they know how to make things seem fun and sexy."
E-mail: vphillips@desnews.com